BIA/Kelsey Report: Phone Calls Are the New Click

BIA/Kelsey recently published a report that explains how awesome phone calls are for generating and converting leads, and we're going on record to say we totally agree! The report has some great research, so we're going to give you the lowdown and give you some tips on how to stay ahead of the game with your leads.

They're Coming Fast

Nearly 55 percent of purchase-related conversions happen within one hour of initial mobile search, which means this is the prime time to contact them. To make that happen, you have to be prepared for leads every second of every day. Well that might be an exaggeration, but you do need to respond to them within this one-hour window.

The best way to do this is with a feature that will notify you as soon as a lead fills out a contact form on your website. You can call them immediately, maybe even before they're off your website! This will nudge them closer to doing business with you and will show them that you value their business.

They Love Calling

Over 66 percent of businesses rate their phone leads as "good" or "excellent," so be sure your staff's call handling skills are also "good" or "excellent!" There are a few ways you can do this, depending on how much time you have and how closely you want to monitor phone calls.

If you have a little more time on your hands and like to personally evaluate phone calls, call recording is perfect for you. You can record all inbound and outbound phone calls and review them in real-time or after the fact to make sure your staff is handling calls up to your standards.

If you're too busy to even eat lunch, then you need call scanning. Voice-recognition technology will scan your calls automatically to make sure your staff members are remembering to schedule appointments, say "thank you" and ask for a callback number. There's nothing better than letting robots do all the work, right?

If you agree with BIA/Kelsey and us, check out some of our other products to see how they can help you manage your phone leads.