5 things your customers want to do with local phone numbers
Businesses today are ready and actively embracing digital channels to enhance their customer communication strategies. Has technology replaced customer engagement? Not all! But engagement has certainly gone virtual with newer and better options to automate check-ins, support requests, and put customers in touch with the right team members at the right times.
A big part of that strategy? Automated calling and texting. Here’s a look at five things our customers are doing that your own customers might benefit from.
1. Turning a website into a lead gen powerhouse with click-to-call.
Phone numbers and websites are a match made in heaven, providing that direct link from a “just browsing” prospect to measurable ROI (and person-to-person contact). There are a number of ways to bring the telecom magic to your customers via click-to-call functionality including:
- Request a callback: Eliminate their time spent on hold by having them input their phone number to receive a callback once an associate is available. This is one of my personal favorites as a consumer!
- Click and dial via mobile: Allow them to click and call from a web link on their mobile phone, using the phone’s native dialer. And eliminate that customer that never writes the number down to call back later.
- Straight from the computer (webRTC): Let your customers click and dial straight from their browser, tablet or phone over VoIP—without ever leaving the webpage they’re on.
2. Staying engaged with customers via automated SMS/MMS and voice messaging.
It’s a fact that 99% of text messages are read*.
Are you helping your customers take advantage of this strategic channel? How about using IVR technology that lets them push voice notifications when text messaging isn’t enough? The opportunities here are endless – from automated appointment reminders to order confirmations, account notifications, marketing campaigns and more.
*Cellular Telephone Industry Association (CTIA), Pew Research
3. Managing customer interactions to provide better service.
For many companies today, phone calls and text messages end up in an offline black hole. Here’s why… In many industries, it’s not uncommon for sales and service team members to regularly (or exclusively) communicate with customers via mobile phone. But…
- How is management within those companies keeping track of those interactions?
- How can they use those touch points (or lack thereof) as part of the performance management process?
- How do they ensure that customers continue to get the same level of service when their main contact is on vacation?
Now you can provide your customers with the ability to assign a local phone number to every sales associate or agent – which allows them to easily manage, track and ensure high-quality customer interactions and service within your software platform.
4. Tracking phone calls to measure ROI.
Sixty percent of all SMB marketing spend, or $24.7 billion annually* , is geared towards generating phone calls. Wouldn’t it be great to measure that activity? Injecting your software platform with call tracking technology can pay off big time for your customers and your business as well. Give them a view into the calls coming from:
- Paid search
- Social media
- Website publishing
- Email marketing
*Source BIA/Kelsey, Call-Based Ads: Eliminating the Unknown From Advertising, 2012
5. Improving customer service with in-app calling technology.
Every customer service organization has a mobile app today—and a key strategy is driving customers to use that app. But within the world of mobile, the challenges are unique:
- How does the mobile app work cross-channel?
- How can you effectively manage customer engagement, as they toggle between typical in-app activities and then needing to contact you?
- Do you lose context as users work across the channels?
- Do your customers have to wade through IVR menus and re-authenticate?
This is where in-app VoIP calling comes in. Imagine your customers never having to leave the app…
Interested?
As with all Bandwidth blog posts, this material is presented for informational purposes only. Businesses seeking to implement the tools and functionalities discussed here should consult with their own legal counsel to ensure compliance with the TCPA and other obligations.
