Zohaib Hassan is the Founder & Partner at Lead Origin. A modern consulting firm focused on digital transformation & intelligence.
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With the existence of advanced smartphones and personal computers, along with accessible Wi-Fi connections almost everywhere, prospective and/or existing customers are often expected to inquire about products and services online. However, as surprising as it may seem, many people still prefer calling a company’s phone line instead of filling out complicated online forms or live chats.
For small businesses, call tracking can be a very beneficial tool that can help analyze their performance and discover opportunities based on the phone calls they receive. I know this because my agency uses a customized marketing strategy that intertwines with clients’ calls in order to get the most out of their marketing investment and help grow their business.
What is call tracking?
Call tracking is the method of tracking which marketing activities are generating calls and sparking interest among potential customers. This information will help you assess which marketing strategies are effective and plan your next advertising budget. Call tracking also gathers relevant caller information that you can use for customer satisfaction and marketing purposes. Call tracking helps small businesses make smart, data-driven marketing decisions.
How does it work?
How call tracking works involves two major parts:
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1. Set up call tracking.
When call tracking is set up for your business, you will be asked to choose if you want a toll-free number or a local number. You will also decide if you want the calls to be forwarded to your office or home, your company’s sales department, a third-party answering system or even your cell. You will then choose which marketing campaign or source you’d like to track—Google Ads, Facebook Ads, offline ads, newsletters, etc.—and it will be paired with your phone tracking number.
2. Collect and analyze information.
When a potential customer calls your number, it will go through a proprietary phone system that will monitor and track the call. Important phone call information will be collected, including the call’s origin, time, length and whether the call was answered. Caller information will also be provided, including the caller’s full name, location, purchase history, etc. Most importantly, call tracking will identify which marketing campaign influenced the potential customer to make a phone call.
Why is call tracking important to small businesses?
These are some of the reasons call tracking is important for small businesses:
Analyze and improve marketing ROI.
Call tracking is a powerful tool that can help businesses discover which keywords, ads or campaigns successfully attract potential customers. By knowing the marketing strategies that work well for your business, you can focus your budget and efforts on boosting effective campaigns so your business can get more conversions and a higher ROI.
No more unanswered calls.
Unanswered calls due to busy lines can be disappointing for customers. Call tracking sends a real-time notification, through email or voicemail, every time a call has been lost. This will let call agents take immediate action once they’re available.
Increase conversion rates and recover lost leads.
Call tracking provides accurate conversion metrics. Since you’ll use a unique phone number, you can trace the source of the call back to a specific campaign. Call tracking also lets you record phone calls so you can analyze all the details of a lost lead, including the product or service the caller was interested in and their concerns. You can use this information to create retargeting ads or emails that will address their queries.
Improve the customer experience.
With call tracking, you can find your target audience and discover how you can capture their interest. When they call you, call tracking will provide important caller details that can help the customer service representative personalize their interaction with the customer.
Understand the customer journey by analyzing your sales processes.
By using call tracking, you will get a complete understanding of your sales processes and, eventually, your customers’ experiences when they call your company.
Call tracking helps you get insights into:
• Days of the week when people reach out the most to you.
• When during the day people call your business.
• How well your team members handle callers.
• Who answers the phone.
• If your call handlers perform well or require more training.
• If you convert leads into appointments (and how often).
• The intent of the caller.
Improve employees’ call-handling skills.
Call tracking lets you record incoming and outgoing calls. By listening to recorded calls, you can evaluate the performance of your employees during phone calls with customers. You can assess if they are following the company’s call scripts or prompts, handling bookings well, properly executing sales techniques and more. You can identify which call handlers need additional training.
Get in-depth caller information.
If you use call tracking, you will get in-depth caller information that you can use for marketing, customer service and quality assurance purposes. The following caller details can be provided:
• Phone number.
• First and last name of caller.
• Geographic location of caller.
• The campaign they’re calling for.
• If they’re a first-time or repeat caller.
• Length and quality of the call.
• Reason for the call.
• The caller’s purchase history.
Discover untapped geographies.
Call tracking can be a useful instrument for small businesses to look for opportunities and expand their company. When you track calls, you can see the geographical data of the people who call your company. You will discover the areas where most of your callers come from, and you can use this information when you plan new marketing campaigns.
Be more efficient during peak call hours.
By tracking calls, you can find out when your company receives the most calls from potential customers. With this information, you can efficiently manage the working hours of your staff so you can accommodate all calls during peak hours.
Call tracking is a simple but highly useful process that small businesses can benefit from in many ways. It will help you understand your customers better and determine the most effective marketing strategies for your company.
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Author: Zohaib Hassan Patoli, Forbes Councils Member
