Continuing education calling playbook for program teams

What this playbook covers

CE enrollment calling is renewal-cycle arithmetic with a service spine: licensees buy the closure of a deadline, and the free credit audit is the honest way to sell it. This playbook covers queue building, block structure, cadence, the audit flow, the employer path, dispositions, the three-line workflow, and KPI ranges against production reference points.

Queue building and hygiene

Renewal month is the first sort; audit status is the second. A licensee eight weeks out with unknown hours is the best prospect in the category, and an audited licensee who never registered is the second best. Hygiene rules:

• Past customers carry documented purchases, which support calls as established business relationships under 16 CFR 310.2, an inquiry within 90 days or a purchase within 540 days.
• Cold rows get National DNC screening refreshed at least every 31 days per 47 CFR 64.1200(c)(2), because solicitation rules apply fully outside the relationship.
• License-state tags filter the queue: a licensee in a state where the provider’s courses are not approved is not dialed for that license, because provider approval is the provider’s obligation.
• Retired, lapsed and transferred licenses exit on first confirmation, and the exit is logged with the same respect it was delivered with.

Call block structure

Lunch block, 12:00 to 1:30. Professionals take these calls on their break; the audit conversation fits the window.

Evening block, 5:30 to 7:00. The highest-connect window for working licensees, and the block where employer-invoice follow-ups land.

Saturday morning block, 9:00 to 12:00. The deadline-rescue window as renewals approach, and the callback window for promised follow-ups.

All calls respect 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. local hours at the licensee’s location under 16 CFR 310.4(c) and 47 CFR 64.1200(c)(1), computed per row by the dialer.

Attempt cadence

Five attempts over sixteen days, working backward from the renewal date:

1. Day 1. The license-and-deadline opener, and the audit offer.
2. Day 4, different daypart. The catch window.
3. Day 8. Voicemail naming the renewal month; the audit email goes out the same hour regardless.
4. Day 12. Live attempt; competitor certificates requested here if the licensee has them.
5. Day 16, final. The honest exit: “The offer stands, but I will stop here unless the deadline moves.”

After five, the lead exits to the next cycle, or to the deadline-rescue queue in the final three weeks, which is a service motion with faster formats and a service tone. Attempt caps in the dialer enforce every stop, and revocations by any reasonable means under 47 CFR 64.1200(a)(10) are honored the same day.

The audit flow and the employer path

The audit is the call: hours completed counted honestly, including competitor certificates; hours remaining stated against the state’s actual requirements; the package quoted only against the gap; and the paper trail named, board approval on the course page and certificates posting to the account. Where the employer pays, registration happens today and the invoice with the course outline attached goes out within the hour, with a no-charge cancellation window before the course starts. Where a college delivers the courses, FERPA at 34 CFR 99.30 governs the education records, and the exports respect it.

Dispositions and what they mean

• Registered: login email triggered within the hour, reminder task set for two weeks before renewal.
• Credit audit needed: audit booked as a callback; the audit is a conversation, not a form.
• Employer pays: registration today, invoice and outline out within the hour, cancellation window stated.
• Needs a different format: format-matched package noted; the objection is a fit fact, not a no.
• Renewal moved: the new month becomes the queue sort; nothing is wasted.
• Not licensed in that state / Certificate requested / Callback requested / Left voicemail / Do not call: the mechanical set, stop requests honored the same day.

The three-line workflow and AI summaries

Three lines fit CE work when the audit runs as a conversation: one connect at a time, the license-and-deadline opener, the audit questions read as questions, and the package quoted only after the gap is stated. The AI summary carries license type, state, renewal month, hours remaining, format preference, payer, registration status and the invoice path, and it is edited before the next connect because the invoice and reminder tasks are built from it. Recording disclosure on in all-party consent states.

KPI targets

Ranges against production reference points. In production use across 3-line sessions over 90 days, the median operator ran about 85 dials per active hour and roughly 600 dials per operator day, with person connects around 17.8 percent. Planning ranges:

• Dials per active hour: 60 to 90; deadline windows run at the top.
• Person contacts: 12 to 25 percent, weighted to lunch and evening blocks.
• Audits completed: 20 to 35 per 100 person contacts on renewal-cycle queues.
• Registrations: 25 to 40 per 100 completed audits on the licensee’s own cycle.
• Employer-invoice share: 30 to 50 percent of registrations in licensed trades with firm employers.
• Deadline-rescue rate: 40 to 60 percent of audited, unregistered licensees reached in the final three weeks.

These figures are measured in production use, 3-line sessions, 90 days; they are reference points, not a promise of results.

Compliance guardrails

Solicitation rules apply to consumer course sales: 16 CFR 310.2 EBR documentation, 31-day DNC refreshes, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. local hours, same-day revocation honoring, and wireless autodial limits at 47 CFR 64.1200(a)(1). The B2B exemption in 16 CFR 310.6(b)(7) is narrow for training-manager calls and not a TCPA exemption. Provider approvals belong to the provider; FERPA at 34 CFR 99.30 governs school-delivered course records; and all-party recording consent states get the disclosure. DialBreeze enforces your internal suppression list, quiet hours and attempt caps. This guide describes rules, not legal advice.