Most of us have heard of the great things that Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) can do for businesses. These include lower telephone bills, diverse functions, and increased mobility. But did you know that VoIP can also give you better access to customer data? Here are five ways it can work for you.
Time/Date data
The information that nearly any VoIP system should be able to access easily are the time, date, and duration of calls. Since most businesses usually have tight budgets, they can learn a lot from analyzing this data to help decide how many employees are needed to answer the phones and at what particular times.
For instance, most calls happen on Mondays, but the lines are usually dead by Tuesday afternoon. Knowing this can improve the way your staff works. Find the right time and day that calls are expected and days where no one has to work the phones.
If you’re making outbound calls, pay close attention to the time that customers are most receptive. No one likes to get a call during dinner time, so don’t waste other people’s time. VoIP can help you refine your call schedule to ensure that you reach the person at the end of the line.
Location data
Location data is easy to track and a simple way to perfect your call strategy. Understanding how purchasing habits differ in various locations can improve your marketing, customer service, and client retention skills.
Ask your VoIP service provider about call-routing options, so you can direct the call to the right person depending on the customer’s needs. With the right amount of preparation, you can help anyone regardless of that person’s location as if your company were right around the corner.
Customer intelligence
Combining VoIP services with your customer relationship management (CRM) software can reveal new data points. How many times have you called a support line regarding an issue and have had to explain your history with the company all over again?
Even if you spoke to the same representative every time, the chances of the latter remembering you and your story are slim to none. With proper CRM integration, your VoIP system can route callers to the same service representative every time they call and provide your staff with a detailed support history.
Customer habits/personalities
Analyze call habits and predict how to contact and assist clients even before they need help. Match clients with your service and sales representatives based on their personalities. Take note of your employees’ age, gender and average call time to route customers to the best possible representative.
Product/Service trends
Whenever possible, tie data to specific products and services with every call and look for patterns that result in a successful connection. If you notice that most customers who bought your product come back to buy accessories within three months, don’t waste money marketing accessories during the original sale and trust what your data tells you. Follow up in a month and ask if they’re interested in that ancillary product.
VoIP services track all your data, all the time. SMBs can easily view and analyze up-to-date data in no time. This can revolutionize how you design your customer interaction strategies.
Do you feel like you could get a better ROI from your VoIP services by examining your call data? The solution may be as simple as organizing your usage statistics better, or as intricate as installing specialized analytics software. Regardless of how you want to go about it, we can help you, so contact us today!
