When in the market for services, many consumers start their journey online. After this research, they often call businesses to set up a quote, schedule service, or engage another way. These calls are an often underappreciated yet valuable source of conversions.
This means that every day, consumers in your area are likely searching for businesses like yours. Nearly 60 percent of consumers indicated they conduct web research before making a major investment.
Those companies with a solid lead management strategy in place now stand to capture a greater piece of the pie in the next few years. Sitting on the sidelines isn’t a growth strategy.
However, investing in third-party solutions can get you there sooner rather than later. Software tools, like sales call tracking, have emerged as proven tools to help sales teams manage and track their sales calls. That’s why it’s essential to understand what call tracking is, why it’s important, how to execute it, and how to find a provider that can help you achieve your goals.
What is Call Tracking in Sales?
Call tracking gives business owners and sales teams data they can’t collect on their own. Sales call tracking platforms can capture such insights as who calls them, when someone called, their motivation, location, and even transcripts of what they said.
Sales call analytics can empower business owners to improve their sales process. It involves tracking, monitoring, and analyzing conversations between sales reps and customers to use to your advantage.
This technology can bring about efficiency, helping sales teams close more deals in less time. Here’s a look at a few of the advantages of using call tracking in your service-based business:
Record interactions for continuous improvement
Sales call tracking can capture exchanges between sales reps and prospects. From here, these recordings can inform training, employee appraisals, and even marketing content.
Maintain a complete record of customer interactions
Having a scope and scale of data of customer interactions can help business owners learn about their customer base. The data captured from incoming calls can help them better understand customer needs and problems to better cater to their pain points.
Log call duration automatically
On the surface, the length of a call might not seem like a significant factor, but it does matter. Sales call tracking can help business owners and sales teams calculate the amount of time invested in reaching prospects. This data can help them determine next steps and how to adjust workflow accordingly.
Schedule automatic follow-ups
Customers or leads can be hard to reach, even in a time when it seems like people are tethered to their devices. This technology can guide automated follow-up to reach unresponsive consumers, offering peace of mind that they’re not missing out on opportunities to connect and potentially lose out on business. It also helps in moving prospects through the sales funnel.
Generate reports to identify sales trends
Sales call tracking makes it possible to dig deeper into call metrics, like volume, duration, conversion rates, etc. From here, business owners can better understand and forecast sales so they can meet staffing needs.
How Does Sales Call Tracking Software Work?
Cloud-based call tracking software connects customers’ digital journeys to phone calls. Call tracking services provide businesses with unique phone numbers that can track incoming calls. When a customer follows up, the call tracking service records relevant information about the call.
These phone numbers are dynamic. Businesses can use different numbers for different marketing campaigns, to compare and contrast which marketing strategies are more effective.
Call tracking provides a high level of detail and data that companies can use for peak performance, including:
- Transcripts of all outbound and inbound calls
- Records of incoming calls so you can follow up
- How many phone calls you field every day and the times
- Which callers eventually convert
Who Can Benefit From Call Tracking?
Call tracking tools can be an asset to any company that counts on inbound calls from clients as part of its growth strategy. Here’s a list of some of the industries that can find value in investing in such a solution:
- Automotive
- Health and wellness
- Home services
- Retail
This list is not exhaustive by any means, but these are the types of companies that stand to gain the most, i.e. close deals if they track phone calls.
Why Are Sales Call Analytics So Important?
Sales calls can hold untapped potential in terms of the underlying data. There’s more to them than face value. These calls can help business owners in nearly any industry close deals and own the competition. Here’s how:
Uncover Trends & Opportunities
Sales call analytics make it possible to uncover nuggets of insights around trends and opportunities that might otherwise remain hidden. Patterns in customer inquiries, preferences, and feedback can guide business owners in their outreach strategy. For instance, a seasonal demand for a particular product or service can prompt businesses to launch marketing campaigns to meet the moment. On the other hand, an informed approach can save a company from a failure and unnecessary frustration.
Streamline Your Sales Funnel
Sales call analytics can introduce efficiencies in sales funnels. By tracking key sales metrics such as conversion rates, call duration, and follow-up frequency, sales reps can identify lags and take action to help convert prospects into customers faster. This can help them save money because they can invest their marketing dollars in sales automation strategies that address bottlenecks.
Sharpen Your Team’s Skills
Continuous learning gives sales teams an advantage. Sales call analytics—and the real-time feedback they produce—can guide training efforts. In reviewing recorded calls and analyzing performance metrics, sales managers can give more detailed feedback to sales staff. At the same time, collecting data can help them identify and recognize a job well done.
Enhance Customer Experience
Sales call analytics provides a window into customers’ needs, preferences, and frustrations. Taking all of this into account, sales leaders can know what message to push out and when. Personalized messaging sends a message to customers that the company cares enough to invest in understanding them and their buying journey.
VoIP Call Tracking For Marketing
Sales call analytics can help business owners or sales teams produce timely and relevant marketing campaigns and initiatives. For example, email campaigns, social media promotions, and advertising efforts can impact sales performance. Sales call analytics can inform how small business owners can best spend their marketing dollars instead of blindly executing.
Instead of going through the grueling process of trial and error, sales call analytics can help you hit the mark sooner than you would otherwise. VoIP call tracking can save your business time, money, and frustration from losing leads.
Consider this scenario. A plumber wants to discern whether they’re seeing results from their presence on Google or Yelp. By assigning different numbers to each marketing channel, the company can differentiate between the two and even customize the message based on the lead source.
How to Track Sales Calls: 5 Tools To Know
A quick internet search reveals several options for call tracking providers, from bare-bones to more sophisticated platforms. Here’s a high-level look at some of the top tools:
Expensify
Business owners can use Expensify for call tracking and expense management. Users can track receipts, reimburse employees, send invoices, and perform other actions associated with running a busy service-based business.
CallRail
CallRail is more than a call tracking and analytics platform. Users have visibility around call sources, keywords, and conversions, for instance.
Placetel
The cloud-based Placetel allows businesses to track incoming and outgoing calls and monitor call activity in real-time. Plus, it integrates with CRM systems so sales teams can coordinate outreach.
Zadarma
Zadarma provides call tracking, virtual phone numbers, and VoIP services. Sales teams might be most interested in its sophisticated call tracking features. Zadarma makes in-depth analytics on call duration, caller location, and call outcomes within reach.
Gong
Gong is an AI-based solution that uses natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to analyze call recordings. Users benefit from actionable insights that can improve sales outcomes.
How to Choose the Best Sales Call Tracking Software for Your Business
Not all sales call tracking software is the same. And of course, what works for one enterprise might not be the best fit for another. That’s why, when doing your research, you should put in the time on the front end to consider the following:
1. Define Your Objectives and Requirements
What do you want from a solution? Consider factors such as:
- What specific metrics and insights are important?
- How many user accounts will you need?
- Will you require integration with other sales and marketing tools?
- What’s your budget?
Having answers to these questions on hand can help you compare and contrast solutions.
2. Evaluate Features and Functionality
Some sales tracking solutions are simple, while others have a lot of bells and whistles. However, at minimum, each one should have:
- Call recording and transcription
- Real-time call tracking and analytics
- Integration with CRM systems and other platforms
- Customizable reporting and analytics interface
- Mobile accessibility for remote sales teams
- Compliance with data privacy regulations
3. Consider Ease of Use and User Experience
A sales tracking tool might be multi-layered but it’s only as good as its adoption and relevance to daily operations. With this in mind, it’s best to select a solution that’s user-friendly and won’t overwhelm your sales team. Consider factors such as:
- Ease of navigation and accessibility of features
- Availability of training resources and customer support
- Compatibility with existing workflows and processes
A software solution that actually gets used is the best kind. There’s no need to over-complicate things and risk turning off your sales force. Then you might have a bigger problem on your hands.
4. Assess Integration Capabilities
As mentioned above, a tool that plays nice with other platforms can help your team work more confidently. Seamless integration should be the rule, not the exception. In this context, integration pulls data from assets like sales CRMs and other databases. As a result, you get a bigger picture view of customer interactions. You’ll benefit from a deeper understanding of customer behavior, preferences and needs.
5. Review Customer Support and Reputation
Reputation matters when making an investment in an automated platform. You can start with reviews from existing customers. Your own experience with initial contact matters, too. A potential vendor that responds quickly to your questions and concerns is likely one that will deliver on your expectations.
6. Conduct a Pilot
Try before you buy—take advantage of free trials or demo versions to test drive the software in house. Engage key stakeholders and gather feedback that will help you make an informed decision.
7. Consider Scalability and Future Growth
Research the solution for its ability to grow alongside you. That might mean adding more users, expanding into new markets, or even requiring higher-level features. Whatever the case, a sales call tracking should support your goals and needs in the moment.
Podium: Your All-In-One Platform to Close Deals
Sales call tracking can be a business owner’s secret sauce when it comes to optimizing sales processes, enhancing customer interactions, and driving revenue growth. The right solution can arm sales teams with valuable intelligence that allows them to adjust course and outsmart the competition.
Podium Phones has three standout features that make it the clear choice in sales tracking software:
Missed Calls & Voicemails – Miss a call? No problem. You can easily view the call details, listen to the message, and send a response via your Podium Inbox.
Prompt Customers to Text – Pre-recorded messages can encourage callers to send a text and receive updates that way instead of wasting time on hold.
Missed Call Forwarding – Missed calls are routed to your inbox, allowing you to manage all facets of customer communication in one place.
Are you ready to grow and scale your business with leading technology? That was the case for Budget Blinds of Salt Lake and Davis Counties, who invested in Podium Phones. In only 9 months, the franchise increased their sales close rate from 45% to 60%. Even more impressive, their team saved countless hours by routing 25% of their phone calls to text conversations. Talk about a winning tracking tool!
If you’re looking to grow your business with a sophisticated VOIP system, learn more about Podium Phones or get a demo today!
