It’s no secret that our world is constantly changing and one means of communication will be replaced by the next. With the rapid development of technology, many things can be done online. This might give you the impression that good old telephony is dying. But is it?
Before describing the importance of phone calls in the life of a modern person, I would like to tell you about my day. If the weather is severe in the morning, I prefer calling a taxi to get to work (unfortunately, I do not drive). While sitting in a car, I pull out my mobile phone and call my hairdresser to schedule an appointment. When it’s time for lunch, my colleagues and I often prefer calling food delivery services. Oh, and I forgot that today I’m meeting my friends! I’m going to call the restaurant and book a table in advance.
Of course, not all of these happen in one day and it’s very possible that many of you call businesses less frequently than I do, but the fact remains: this ancient form of communication — that is, the telephone hasn’t been forgotten just yet (although you may have heard that rumor). Moreover, with the development of the mobile internet, users now make calls more often. In fact, 70% of mobile users looking for goods and services online press the call button first.
And now let’s look at the other side. Why are phone calls important to businesses?
1. Smartphones Are an Essential Part of Our Lives
91% of adult U.S. citizens have their mobile devices within arm’s reach 24/7. There are more people on our planet who own a mobile phone than people who own a toothbrush. By 2020, there will be 6.1 billion smartphone users worldwide, which would be about 79% of the world’s population, which is predicted to reach 7.7 billion by this time.
What do all these stats tell us? Add in this final stat — 94% of users have needed to call a business after searching for it on their phones — and it’s clear. Marketers simply can’t ignore the telephone!
2. Your Customers Love Personal Communication
In a bricks-and-mortar clothing store, responsive sales consultants help you decide what to purchase and assist you in choosing the item that best meets your criteria.
In an online store, you’re on your own. As you spend hours sifting through dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of options, you get lost and start to seek help if possible. You need advice, you want to know the product dimensions, or what the material feels like. And there he is! A real, live person, speaking with you on the phone, giving you personal recommendations, and getting to the bottom of your questions.
This type of personal approach makes you feel important and valuable. Those feelings in turn make you more likely to return to this online store in the future, without even considering a competitor.
3. Calling Can Be the Quickest Way to Make a Purchase
How do customers shop online? There are two popular ways: filling out an online form and calling. When customers are purchasing from a smartphone, it can be uncomfortable and time consuming to type in credit card and shipping information. In these situations, many users prefer to simply press a click to call button in order to make a purchase. In fact, Google research shows that 59% of customers use click to call to quickly get an answer and accomplish their buying goal. This reaffirms that customers value their time and know that it’s often quicker to purchase by calling.
4. Expensive and Complicated Products Need Phone Calls to Be Sold
Only during a live conversation can your sales reps resolve clients’ concerns and convince them that your product is the best. They can propose alternatives and make the personalized offers that will turn potential customers into closed accounts.
When it comes to buying home appliances, cars, real estate, jewelry, and other expensive goods, customers want to explore the market and compare options. According to our case study, more affluent clients prefer to pick up the phone and call in 79 out of 100 cases.
Similarly, for B2B companies with complex products or services, live communication is the best way to describe their offerings’ advantages and explain how they work. As a B2B services provider, Ringostat is a good example. Our sales reps say that they need three calls to convert a new company into a client.
Despite all the advantages above, phone calls remain a blind spot for marketers. How can marketers track and understand what initiatives are driving them?
“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” — John Wanamaker
Fortunately, this often quoted sentence was long ago made irrelevant for online conversions, and, with the invention of call tracking services, is now also no longer valid for phone calls either. With call tracking, you can see the source of each phone call and thus determine the most efficient and inefficient marketing channels. Call tracking services also provide you with a detailed call statistics needed clear insight into marketing performance.
Advantages of the Ringostat and Woopra Integration
Ringostat is now the first call tracking service to integrate with Woopra. With this integration, you’ll be able to:
Create analytics reports with call data in Woopra
You will get powerful reports detailing the number of inbound phone calls, their sources, duration, and targeted actions.
See the call activity of clients in their Customer Profiles
It’s extremely insightful when your call agent can open a user’s profile while speaking with him/her on the phone. The history of previous interactions and the user’s journey on the website will help your agent personalize the conversation and make his/her work more productive.
Pin call reports to your Woopra Live Dashboard
Having all your key data, including call data, collected in one place allows you to quickly estimate the state of affairs.
Get Started with Phone Analytics
With this newly formed partnership between Ringostat and Woopra, you can now supplement your web analytics with call tracking data and see each user’s history of phone interactions, including call durations and sources. This will allow you to develop a personal approach when engaging customers while also improving your marketing performance by properly attributing results.
To get started with the Ringostat and Woopra integration, you will need Ringostat and Woopra accounts. Visit the Ringostat website to start a free trial and create a no obligation Woopra account here.
This post was written by Julia Holovko, the Head of Marketing at Ringostat. She is responsible for all things marketing — strategy and tactics, growth and lead generation for Ringostat. She is also a mobile marketing enthusiast. Follow her on Twitter at @julia_holovko.
