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What is Call Barging, and When Should Sales Mangers Use It?

3 min readJune 16, 2015

Here at Revenue.io, our continuing mission is to help inside sales teams automate and optimize sales activities so they can grow revenue. To that end, we’re always trying to improve our dialer with new capabilities that can help both sales reps and managers. One such feature is call barging. Though the name may sound intrusive, this feature actually enables sales reps to do a better job of helping customers. The result is that they can win more deals and close deals faster.

What is Call Barging?

Call Barging can be a life saver!

Call Barging can be a life saver!

For those of you who haven’t heard of call barging yet, it’s a call center feature that empowers managers to join calls at will. Think of it as a way for managers to instantly turn any call into a three-way conference call. This is powerful because it makes it easier than ever for managers to assist reps.  But as with any powerful management tool, there are some questions to consider. When should managers barge in on calls? Should managers barge in every time that a rep’s pitch isn’t strong?

In order to help our customers fully leverage this new feature, here are some best practices for when managers should and shouldn’t use the barge feature.

When to Use Call Barging

So when should you use call barging? Here are three scenarios where call barging can save the day!

When a Rep is Truly Stumped by a Question

With our call monitoring feature, managers gain the ability to monitor calls. There are bound to be times when a rep is asked a question that stumps them. But reps aren’t always going to ask a manager for help. If a rep is truly floundering, a manager can drop in and answer the caller’s question. This can be especially useful with new reps or following the launch of a new product. If you’re going to use the barge feature, make sure that reps are aware of it. You want to do your best to ensure reps and customers see barging as helpful rather than intrusive.

When Reps are Training

The barge feature can be helpful when onboarding new reps. The ability to barge in on calls can act as a safety net in the case that a rep is stumped. Managers can assist reps when are taking practice test calls or getting their feet wet talking to real customers.

When a Customer is Upset or Asks for a Manager

There may be times when your customer success reps speak with unhappy customers. Unfortunately, these situations can sometimes escalate very quickly. If a customer becomes exceedingly irate or directly asks to speak to a manager, it can be helpful for managers to use the call barging feature. This can help ensure that conflicts can deescalate as quickly as possible.

When Not to Use Call Barging

As a general rule, you should not use call barging if:

  • It is going to negatively impact your customer’s experience
  • It doesn’t add explicit value to the call

Just use discretion, and this helpful feature can make it easier than ever to assure your customers have a fantastic experience.

Want some awesome sales management tips from industry-leading authors, coaches and executives? Check out our free eBook, The 90 Day Inside Sales Success Plan!