If you think sales calls have gone the way of the T-Rex, you’re only partially right. Yes, businesses today have a lot more nuanced and effective methods of reaching out to prospects than simply picking up the phone for a cold call. But, phone calls themselves are still an important part of most buyer journeys. This is why a call tracking system could be advantageous. Here’s a look at some of the benefits of call tracking, along with whether it might make sense for you to handle it internally or to bring in agency management.
What is Call Tracking?
A call tracking system works pretty much how it sounds, with some variance depending on your provider and your goals. First, a unique number is given to every marketing source you have (e.g. social ad, banner ad, brochure, etc.). Then, when someone dials that number, the system captures the phone call data. This helps businesses find out how many calls are being driven by certain ads and other marketing tactics, providing a simple way to gauge how successful each one is. Call tracking also helps by gathering demographic details about the callers, which you can then use to refine your personas and your messaging. There are even more sophisticated solutions available today that include artificial intelligence (AI), and can make call data all the more useful. For example, it could flag one call as urgent while identifying another as highly likely to convert. Business leaders could go back and listen to the calls, and maximize future call quality based on what they learn.
Call Tracking Management in 3 Steps
If you’re interested in a call tracking system, your next decision becomes who should manage it. There are a few factors to keep in mind as you think this through:
Complexity & expertise
As we mentioned above, different solutions have different levels of sophistication. If you want something very basic, you may be able to manage it in-house, no problem. But if you have several existing technologies and want to invest in the best possible outcomes, you may need to loop in an agency that has the expertise to properly implement and manage this.
Time
If you do have the know-how to manage a call tracking system, the next question to ask yourself is whether you have the time? As with most marketing solutions, there really is no “set it and forget it” here. You’ll need to make sure you can regularly review the data and the call transcripts, make changes and stay on top of the tech and programming.
Marketing Machine
Finally, do you already have an agency working with you? If so, asking them to take on your call tracking may be a natural progression in your relationship. Marketing is becoming less and less siloed, so the more your efforts can be managed by the same team, the more seamless it’ll be for your customers. This also can give your marketers the data they need to make changes in other areas of your marketing, which they may not have insight into otherwise. They can still keep you apprised of reporting, and anything in the data you would want to know about, just without adding one more task to your plate.
If you’re tired of asking customers how they heard about you or having a blind spot when it comes to customer calls, a call tracking system may be for you. Need help implementing or managing it? Give us a call!
Work Habits & Productivity
Jay, the CEO of StringCan, oversees strategy and vision, building culture that makes going into work something he looks forward to, recruiting additional awesome team members to help exceed clients goals, leading the team and allocating where StringCan invests time and money.
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