Bored Browser or Motivated Buyer? The Phonecall Tells the Story

During this time of uncertainty we’ve all become more familiar with medical terms like contract tracing, community spread, and false positives and this last term, 'false positives', is one that is also applicable to your business. What data are you using to project your recovery? A phone call can tell the difference between a motivated buyer and a bored browser.

Iovox provides call tracking to businesses in more than 65 countries and across several sectors. With a unique perspective on global economic activity, the company has recently released a detailed research report examining pre-lockdown, lockdown, and transition lockdown call traffic. The report includes call volume from Italy, France, Belgium, and the United Kingdom across seven sectors including, property, classifieds, hospitality, directory, automotive, utilities, and finance.

The full report is available for OnlineMarketplaces readers to download here.

Impact Per Country

Of the countries studied, Italy was the hardest hit in terms of call volume dipping to 12% of its pre-lockdown level with Belgium being among the most resilient, even during the peak lockdown phase. As easing has been implemented, all countries are marching towards pre-lockdown levels of call traffic.

Calls (and sales) Being Missed

Not only did the research highlight a 30% increase in calls going to voicemail during lockdown but calls that were ‘ringing out’ (meaning no voicemail or no live answer) were up approximately 166%. Sales conversions related to missed calls would obviously decrease due to the inability of the businesses to field inquiries in real time or follow up on missed opportunities.

Many Sectors Returning to Normal

Of the sectors studied, property, classifieds, auto and finance have rebounded above their lockdown levels with directories and utilities not far behind. With the global impact on travel, it is no surprise that the hospitality sector was the most severely impacted and continues to operate below lockdown levels.

Business Continuity (and Growth) Demands Flexible Telephony – Call Tracking Is Critical

Among the many things this global crisis has demonstrated is that operational flexibility and the ability to change procedures quickly is critical to business continuity and growth. Whether it’s shifting to a work from home model, or just improving operational performance, how your business handles phone calls is important.

BrightLocal research indicates 60% of consumers prefer to contact a business by phone after finding them online.

Likewise, for fast answers to detailed questions, particularly for high consideration purchases, connections to real people are important. Phone calls are an indicator of intent and according to Forrester Consulting, phone based inquiries convert 30% faster than other forms of lead flow and spend an average of 28% more.  

Using iovox call tracking, businesses have the ability to dynamically forward calls to other locations, or utilize the new virtual mobile call center functionality to enable small teams to share call answering duties while remote.

If teams are worried about answering business calls on their personal mobile phones, the iovox whisper solution enables a short notification to be played before the call is answered so the person answering the calls knows in advance whether it is a business or personal call.

When calls cannot be answered in real time, features like missed call alerts via email or SMS, sent to a team, can help companies stay on top of customer inquiries and new leads.

With iovox, these call events are tracked as easily as clicks on a web site.

In your business, in good times or more challenging times, paying attention to phone data is just as, if not more important, than paying attention to web visits and online interactions.

Phone calls tell the story.

Exclusive iovox Offer

A leading provider of global call tracking since 2007, iovox is a trusted source for a variety of call tracking solutions. In light of unprecedented times businesses face in redesigning operational procedures to be more dynamic and flexible, iovox has developed an unprecedented offer.

The exclusive offer of $50,000 in service credits; $10,000 each for the first 5 clients is available immediately. The offer is valid through July 31, 2020. If you’ve always wondered whether call tracking was right for your business, there is no better time than now to explore the capabilities iovox has to offer. Click the image below to find out more.