An Old School Method Meets a New School Culture: Make Room for Phone Calls

There is still a vital place for the telephone. Social media may be more than just a phase. Still, the reality is that in the era of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the many other virtual platforms meant to bring us together, people are actually more disconnected. The computer is just a substitute for a real human being. Holly Shakya, co-author of a published study that tracked Facebook use and well-being over time, found the use of the social network was negatively associated with factors including physical health, mental health, and life satisfaction. And while consumers may do their initial research using the Internet, discover new products via social media, or develop correspondence through e-mail, relationships are still established and maintained through the use of the telephone.

Since relationships are initiated and nurtured on the phone, your business needs to leverage this reliable form of technology in your marketing strategy. The phone as a tool for customer relationships remains compelling because it’s personal, immediate, and allows for authentic human interaction. 92% of all customer interactions still occur over the phone. To use the telephone most effectively, it’s important to collect data about how your sales team communicates with leads and customers. This will help you make informed decisions about establishing a solid sales pitch across your entire sales team.

The following are seven reasons why you need to go beyond just talking on the phone to actually listening to what is going on as well.

Receiving Feedback

It’s important to understand what works and what doesn’t because this is the information that will direct you in successfully moving forward. While there is certainly no need to reinvent the wheel, the truth is that you don’t know what to invent if you don’t even know what the wheel is in the first place. Receiving feedback can give you just the starting point that both new and seasoned sales representatives may need.

And working with a team of marketing professionals like Lobster Marketing brings in a unique and targeted perspective. Because they are specialists in the field, they know what sells and how to leverage timing and information. There are more possibilities than you may realize.

Regardless of the feedback you decide to implement, looking at your calls from a new lens will add strategies to your toolbox to help you communicate effectively.

Keeping Customers Satisfied

Being an effective salesperson requires understanding how to establish and grow relationships. Whether you realize it or not, you are in a relationship with your customers. The only way to keep them happy and satisfied in the relationship is to know their needs and meet them. That’s one reason why it’s important to keep information organized. Your sales team is busy, and they likely flow from one call to the next, so organization is key. It’s so easy for valuable information to get lost. If a sales representative receives a useful piece of information or does something beneficial for the company, it’s important to document and share what happened. The same is true on the other side of the coin. If things don’t go as planned because of a mistake on the part of the representative or a general grievance filed by a customer, there’s still an opportunity to document, learn, and grow. Keep your customers satisfied by knowing their needs and responding to them. Listening to phone calls gives you the information to do that.

Improving Your Online Marketing Strategy

To be an effective marketer, you have to come at your audience from multiple angles. Besides digital advertising, social media, and a website with updated content, you should also be taking advantage of phone communication. Each facet of your strategy should communicate with and strengthen the others. For example, the data you get from digital advertising may offer talking points to use on phone calls. In the same manner, if you notice trends as you’re in conversations with multiple customers, you may address the needs expressed in those conversations through your digital marketing. This type of data-driven marketing has the power to make your content more purposeful and relevant to your customers.

Protecting Your Customers and Employees

There isn’t one legally operating business that can escape some form or fashion of regulation. Some actually require you to record phone calls as a record of a transaction that is indisputable. This serves as mutual protection for both your customers and your employees. By recording phone calls, you limit legal liability by documenting verbal requests, authorizations, and disputes.

Educating Your Marketing Team

Education is about the sharing of information. If you want to educate your team, you need the data to do it. One place to find that information is in your phone calls. You can find out what’s working and what isn’t, see gaps in your work process, and hear direct customer feedback. This is information that is beneficial across your entire marketing team.

A Training Tool for New Employees

An effective training tool needs to prepare new employees for the good, the bad, and the ugly of what can happen in the scope of their job. Having a record of calls that went well and ones that missed the mark will serve as an all-encompassing training tool for new hires. They will experience both success and defeat and then be able to think about the best way to move forward from each.

Measuring Marketing Strategies

Measurements show the distance between two points, but they can also help you to see how to best travel between the two. Measuring your marketing strategies does something similar. Recording content can help you determine how you are or aren’t generating leads. You will have a record of successful phone calls and insight into how customer service representatives and salespeople achieved that success. Measuring your marketing strategies shows you how to travel the distance between your content and your potential customers. Understanding where your leads come from and how you land new clients will help determine employee performance and inform how you spend your future dollars.

An effective marketing approach must come across multiple channels. Email, social media, well-written web content, digital ads, and phone calls allow you to reach your audience where they are. The Lobster Marketing experts are trained in how to leverage each of these platforms.

Contact us today to find out how to make your phone calls more worthwhile.