How well you process inbound calls makes you a winner or a loser, with no room in between.
But don’t worry! You will succeed if you consume this easily digestible read to the very end.
Read on to become the boss of your inbound calls.
To manage inbound calls effectively, you must understand the customer journey that suits your business model:
This simplified example illustrates the touchpoints where you can collect the caller’s data while qualifying them and addressing their needs. The customer journey is more complex, with more variables and outcomes.
The focal point of inbound call management is call tracking and analytics software, as it’s the only way to get the precision, speed, and call processing volume. Not for nothing, half of businesses use automated software.
The truth is that there’s no alternative to using inbound call tracking and analytics software, as this solution makes it impossible to manage calls manually, regardless of your business model or size.
Before the phone starts ringing, it’s vital to get as much information on the caller as possible and transfer it to a relevant sales agent.
Here’s how you can dissect the caller:
Phone numbers can be static and dynamic. Static numbers are adequate for conventional inbound call marketing channels (TV, billboards, etc.); dynamic numbers – are for online campaigns. With static phone numbers, you need one number for one traffic channel, ad, etc.; with dynamic numbers, you need around 33 numbers for 10,000 website visits.
Any inbound call gives you a glimpse into the caller’s location and the marketing channel that triggered the call. Usually, you can know much more.
An IVR can handle any number of calls simultaneously and solve requests independently of sales reps. Among other advantages are fraud prevention and a customizable brand voice.
As the caller interacts with your IVR, the system analyzes their answers to redirect them to a relevant sales rep.
Callers distribution criteria
Factor | Pros | Cons |
Availability: the first available agent – or the most relevant of the available agents – receives the inbound phone call. | Instant call processing | Possible mismatch if an irrelevant sales rep picks up the call |
Location: the nearest sales rep – or the one best aware of the features of the product in question – gets the call. | High call processing accuracy (for example, a California-based agent will likely succeed in selling earthquake or flood insurance in California) | Possible disbalance in the number of calls for agents from popular and unpopular locations |
Performance: agents with top call handling skills take the call. | Increased conversion rates | Low conversion rates by aspiring agents |
Simultaneous distribution: the first agent that picks up the call gets it. | Instant call processing | Possible mismatch if an irrelevant sales rep picks up the call |
When the sales prospect is distributed to a sales rep, you can track the rest to get a full picture of the call:
Sales prospect tracking doesn’t end at the end of the call. Once the caller hangs up, call analytics software steps in.
Phonexa’s call analytics software comprises:
Statistics don’t lie:
Inbound call management is a surefire way to grow your bottom line, but nowhere near the exclusive one. You can also increase your sales by incentivizing your agents, investing in supervisors, and keeping an optimal number of sales agents.
To motivate your agents to sell better and more, provide incentives. From individual statistics to personal feedback to monetary benefits, choose what your sales agents are susceptible to and make it your standard practice.
For example, you can use various inbound call metrics – average inbound call conversion rate, abandon rate, handle time, first call resolution, call satisfaction rate, Net Promoter Score, etc. – to reward the best agents.
Training your employees to handle calls, especially when the situation escalates, requires more than setting up the software to track their performance. Investing in call supervisors is paramount to improving your sales.
As much as you want to automate your calls, the lion’s share of customers will speak to a live agent. For young companies, to estimate how many callers you may have, analyze your competitors and survey your customers on your other channels, such as, for example, social media.
There are two types of calls: inbound and outbound calls.
Call centers may be designed to handle either inbound or outbound calls exclusively or deal with both inbound calls and outbound calls.
Sales prospecting software is a set of tools helping you to automate or simplify the search for leads, leads qualification, conversion, and creating your prospecting database.
When choosing between paid and free sales prospecting tools, it’s worth comparing the features and level of automation of the tools in question, as free prospecting tools are usually limited in features and time of use.
The best practices for call centers include:
These call center practices can significantly increase your inbound call center conversion rate.
To increase an inbound call conversion rate, your sales rep must build a relationship with their callers. In other words, they must create value before asking for commitment.
The standard inbound call handling practices, such as keeping a positive tone and overcoming objections, may work better if supplemented by data collected by inbound phone call tracking software.
As much as you may want to load your sales agents with calls, you have to keep in mind that an agent can process a limited number of calls before their productivity drops. As a business owner, use your agent performance data to ensure all agents perform as expected and are in good shape.
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