Business sales still rely heavily on phone calls
Modern consumers place a premium on speed and convenience, therefore to provide quicker customer care, many marketers and service-oriented organizations have long invested in online communication platforms like contact forms, social media, and chatbots.
Does that imply that future client purchases will only be made through digital channels and not through traditional phone calls?
Simply put, no. For conversions, generating income, and ultimately client retention, phone conversations are just as crucial as ever. In actuality, phone conversations convert clients 10-15 times more than web leads do, according to a BIA/Kelsey study.
This article examines the continued importance of personal interaction in attracting clients to service-oriented enterprises. Additionally, we go over how call tracking software, also known as call conversion/attribution software or conversational analytics, can boost your sales by generating more phone leads and improving the effectiveness of your marketing initiatives. Move along!
The effects of digital customer service, both good and bad
To start, let’s examine the advantages and disadvantages of not using chatbots, email automation, social media, and contact forms to digitize your customer care, marketing, and sales processes.
1. The advantages
- responds to clients in a straightforward and timely manner
- creates profiles via data gathering
- offers customized services
- functions as a lead magnet
- increases the targeting of marketing
2. The drawbacks
- complex queries can’t be answered by chatbots.
- some clients prefer to speak with a live person rather than sending an email.
- some clients experience tech difficulties
- a callback guarantee is not provided via contact forms.
The significance of phone calls for firms that provide services
Seven out of ten respondents to a TCN survey stated that they prefer speaking with customer support representatives over the phone.
What are the advantages of human interaction for clients who are looking to purchase from service-led businesses? The benefits of phone calls for businesses are detailed below:
1. Reduces the sales cycle.
When it comes to customer reactions, time is truly of the essence. Customers are aware that phone calls are the best way to gain speed if they desire it.
If they don’t require a fast response or have a more informal, straightforward question, they might use email, chatbots, or social media.
However, they’re more likely to pick up the phone if they need to make a purchase, have questions about your goods or services, or are prepared to set an appointment.
Businesses that focus on customer service can qualify leads more quickly and hasten the lead to conversion process by speaking with customers directly on the phone.
2. Promotes trust and expedites lead qualification
When making a significant purchase, such as paying for a car, pricey vacation, or educational course, a person wants to speak with someone who can convince them that their hard-earned money is being invested wisely.
Your consumers may be under more stress or be perplexed by complicated procedures if they work in service-led sectors like health, finance, legal, and real estate. When this happens, conversing with a live person can actually help people feel more at peace.
A chatbot just can’t accomplish what human sales people can: they can respond to practically any inquiry, no matter how complex, and utilize their voice to inspire the customer’s faith in your company.
Your sales representatives may qualify leads faster and avoid spending time on low-quality leads by learning more about the customer’s worries and needs over the phone.
3. Promotes client loyalty
Customers naturally form a more intimate bond with your sales representatives while speaking with them over the phone as opposed to via chat or email.
After having a good experience with you in the past, customers are more comfortable making future purchases from you thanks to phone interactions that help create strong, trusted relationships between your company and your clients.
And if your sales representatives have any memories of them? That’s just one more justification for choosing you over a rival rather than starting anew.
4. Facilitates the sale’s closure
When a consumer calls you, they are starting the buying process even though they will still use digital channels for top-of-the-funnel activities (research, brief inquiries, pricing comparisons, etc.).
One of the primary ways service-led businesses market themselves, qualify leads, and generate income is through phone conversations. They may also provide your customers with the last bit of encouragement they need to make a purchase.
The likelihood of making a sale rises when you run call-based advertisements and have knowledgeable employees answer the phone. This is because staff can engage with clients more effectively and give them the package or service that best suits their needs.
5. Meets accessibility requirements
Even while online customer support tools are a great approach to assist clients when you can’t be reached or they don’t have time to call, not everyone will be able to use these technologies.
Some persons could struggle with computer use, have problems understanding chatbots, or lack an email address or social media account. Additionally, they may have a disability that makes it harder for them to use specific technology.
Calls are typically the most convenient approach to meet a variety of demands, making them the most widely used channel. Making phone conversations a priority in your sales funnel will guarantee that you don’t pass up these possible possibilities.
No matter your sector, phone calls are the most important sales channel since people sell most effectively when they are conversing.
Therefore, you should launch call-based campaigns to make the most of this channel’s potential while monitoring the outcomes with conversational analytics or call conversion tracking tools to make ongoing changes.
Are you keeping track of the campaigns that lead to calls from customers?
If you work in marketing or own a service-based firm, you probably already perform the following:
- Budget for advertising.
- Fill out contact forms.
- Use the CTA “Call now”.
- Track leads via contact forms and analyze campaign performance.
- Follow the routes of your conversions.
But do you employ call monitoring software and lead generation phone numbers to determine whether individuals are calling as a result of PPC ads, social media ads, searches for a particular keyword, or your website?
One of the best marketing tactics in the toolbox is something you are missing out on if you aren’t doing it already. As a result of using call conversion tracking software:
Boost your marketing ROI
You may raise your spending on what is performing best and stop wasting money, time, and effort on initiatives that aren’t working by identifying which campaigns, keywords, and channels are generating the most phone calls.
You can be more strategic with your upcoming campaigns the more call intelligence information you have about incoming phone calls.
Improve the customer experience
Increasing the number of calls to your company AND tracking those calls with call attribution analytics will:
- Greater understanding of your customers.
- Target them with greater precision.
- A better way to sell (since you know your customer better).
- Improve the effectiveness of lead qualification.
- Gain more insights about closing deals.
- Improve your understanding of revenue attribution.
- Record conversions at each touchpoint.
- Make omnichannel conversions possible.
- Improve marketing effectiveness to increase conversions.
- Stop wasting money on ineffective advertisements.
- Reinvest funds in different campaigns or business ventures.
You won’t have to rely solely on chatbots or other digital channels to effectively convert your clients if you increase the number of phone calls coming into your company.
Instead, you’ll be producing more effective customer service interactions that result in happy, devoted clients.
Delight your marketing clients
You must use more contact forms, chatbots, call-based CTAs, and phone-based ads, regardless of your marketing plan, to encourage potential customers to call in the first place if you want to raise call revenue.
Call analytics software is essential for marketers because it can show them where conversions are coming from precisely.
When customers can see the actual number of calls generated by your marketing campaigns, you’ll increase client retention and perhaps even get greater budgets approved.