Countless companies recognize the growing importance of big data. However, many of them lack the insights needed to acquire and utilize data effectively. There are so many possible sources of data, but they don’t tap them to their full advantage.
One of the most overlooked sources of data is from inbound calls. Companies are finding new ways to leverage call data to their full advantage.
Inbound Call Data is Critical to the Long-Term Viability of Major Businesses
Customers might reach your business through a variety of channels. They might see your poster on the side of a busy road. They might have been googling some specific term or other. Your services might have been recommended to them by a friend. Some of these sources obviously provide more data sources than others.
It might be easy to suppose that, once the customer has actually converted and made a purchase, their journey is over – and that the exact route via which they arrived is pretty inconsequential. But this would be a mistake. By closely analysing the path taken by multiple customers, we can use data-driven insights to assess which of our marketing strategies are effective, and thereby optimise our investment in an informed way that’s designed to bring in the kind of customers we’re looking for.
Inbound call data is among the most potent sources of information. But exactly what makes it so special? Let’s take a look.
What makes inbound calls so important?
There are a few reasons to value inbound calls. To begin with, the modern customer wants a choice about how they can get in touch. Sometimes, an email is the preferred way to communicate. Sometimes, it’s a phone call. By keeping the options broad, you’ll avoid unintentionally alienating some of your would-be workforce.
A phone call provides an opportunity to upsell without being intrusive, and to build a rapport with specific customers. It often means less time wasted for the customer, and therefore less frustration. Even if you’re being called with a problem, an inbound call is an opportunity to create a good impression.
Finally, we should consider that the proportion of web browsing that’s taking place on mobile devices is steadily climbing. People who do this are more likely to click on a phone number and call you directly – so putting in place the infrastructure for inbound calls is likely to be justified in the long-term.
How can inbound call data be collected?
The most powerful method of collecting inbound call data is through call tracking software. This helps you to determine, among other things, where the inbound lead was generated. This is typically done through the use of multiple phone numbers, each presented to a customer who arrived via a certain way. So, visitors who’ve googled one term might actually ring a different number than those who googled another.
Other metrics, like the length of the call and the outcome, might also be tracked, and then correlated. The language used in the call itself might also be informative – you might discover that certain phrases lead to positive outcomes, while others lead to negative ones.
How can the data be used?
This data allows us to understand which methods of marketing are truly effective. You might be unwittingly wasting money on campaigns which simply aren’t converting. If you don’t know about the problem, then you’ll be powerless to fix it. Data-driven marketing campaigns are constantly evolving in response to the data the guides them.
If a call-handler has information about a given customer based on the number from which that customer is calling, they’ll also be able to start the call from the right position. There’s nothing more frustrating than having to explain the situation repeatedly – but through the right call-tracking, this can largely be avoided.