Telecoms provide a vital tool for your business, and not just to allow your customers to contact you, and you them. There are telecoms options available which give a range of other benefits.
VoIP is probably the most flexible telecoms option available to most companies, and can assist with projects and objectives above and beyond the capabilities of traditional phone systems.
Marketing is often difficult to plan and manage, with different companies taking different approaches. Pundits argue over which tactics work, and why, but the last line is that your company needs information to inform decision-making.
It is here where I throw the buzz-words “Campaign Tracking” at you. This is how Marketers track the enquiries and sales generated by campaigns.
You basically need a source of phone numbers, and some Marketing to link them to. Either a piece of work (such as a flier, email or magazine advert), or individual campaigns themselves, are allocated a specific phone number.
Then you simply look back over your records, and see the number of calls received for each number. This in turn allows you to track the most effective marketing for your company. More calls equals more effective Marketing. If you received more calls on the ‘Advert’ number than the ‘Flier’ number, then you know that the advert was the most effective Marketing work. It’s that easy.
VoIP makes sourcing and implementing new phone numbers simple, quick, and cost effective.
Another way VoIP can assist your company’s marketing is in the development of appropriate Sales Staff scripts. If your company uses Sales Staff as a way of communicating with customers, then it is essential to provide them with quality scripting to ensure they’re always ‘on message’.
The Call Recording function can be of benefit here. Managers can listen to calls made by Sales Staff, analyse what works and what doesn’t, and take an overview. This can be be difficult for the staff member, dealing with issues ‘on the ground’. The Manager or Team Leader can then take a view on whether the responses given were the most effective, whether they achieved the company’s objective, whether they represented the company correctly, and whether they were appropriate and correct for the customer. Sales scripts can then be honed and polished, in a way impossible without Sales Team Leaders or Managers actually sitting in with Sales Staff as they work.
The Call Recordings can also be used as part of the training process. New Sales Staff can listen to effective sales calls, and actually hear the progress of a good call for themselves. Guess work is removed and the new start has a benchmark which they can work to.
Many VoIP providers also give an ‘Eavesdropping’ function. Managers can listen in on calls as they progress, hearing any points raised by the customer, including tone of voice and emotional language. The Manager can gauge the engagement process with customers, and identify any weaknesses or points which need to be addressed. The company can then refine its customer conversation with actual customer feedback in mind.
More info on our Fully Managed Hosted service (which includes Call Recording and eavesdropping).
See The Chartered Institute of Marketing advice on campaign planning.