Running a small business can seem like juggling multiple balls, whilst standing on a tight-rope.
Except that, the balls are on fire, the tightrope is made out of floss, and the room is pitch black.
So really, we take our hat off to small businesses everywhere.
A small business needs to make sure every penny counts. That every channel is working in perfect tandem to generate results for the company.
Call us biased, but we know that the phone channel is an extremely important one to utilise at the beginning stages of running a business.
And while 60% of consumers prefer to call a small business1 to make a purchase, get information, or deal with an issue, it makes sense to make this channel work hard for you.
At Infinity, we’re data-driven. So we’ve obsessionally analysed our own data to discover valuable insights that small businesses, who sell via the phone, absolutely need to know in order to succeed. For this piece, we looked at a mix of SMB clients of ours, and put together the following results from over 130,000 calls.
The data doesn’t lie
- When are you most likely to receive phone calls?
Small-to-medium businesses, on average, receive the most phone calls between 10:00 am - 12:00 am. Covering phone lines at this time maximises your chances of answering as many of these calls as possible, and could result in converting more customers.
- How often did customers call SMBs in the last 12 months?
Customers, on average, called businesses over 8,597 times each in the last 12 months. This enforces the fact that phone calls are a huge influence in a customer’s journey with an SMB, and a worthy investment.
- How many of those calls were missed?
7% of those phone calls were missed. So, let’s say you’re a car dealer who relies on phone calls for booking test drives.
If you're missing 7% of you 8594 calls, that's 602 calls per year.
How many of those could have been test drives, and what impact does that have on your revenue?
- How many direct-to-website visitors ended up calling a small business?
2.4% of website visitors ended up calling a small business after visiting their site. Ensuring your phone number is accessible keeps your customers engaged, and more likely to buy from you.
What can you do with this?
Whilst we give you time to ponder this, allow us to present a few solutions to some of these problems.
Missed calls
A small-medium call tracking package includes Infinity’s missed call alert feature.
Let’s say you’re busy taking an order over the phone, and you receive another call from a different customer. Naturally, you can’t be in two places at once. Infinity will log the details of the call, and email them straight to you.
As soon as you’re off your call, you can use this information to call the other customer back straight away.
Calls received
Valuable calls mean nothing if you can’t make more of them. A small business package will grant you access to the Infinity Hub. Here you can see where your calls are coming from, which ones converted, which ones ended in a sale, and how you can get more of them.
Robocall blocker
We recently wrote about how much robocalls cost a business. Side note, it’s a lot. But, with Infinity’s soon to be released “call blocking” feature, you can spend time talking to the right people. Simply flick the switch to block a robocaller and free up your line for the right sort of calls.
Keeping the lights on
Infinity offers small business packages starting at £49.00. With these packages, you won’t need a gargantuan setup, bespoke strategy, and in-depth technical know-how.
They are simple-to-use packages with 24/7 digital guidance.
Click the link below to get started.
Get the most out of your phone calls
References
1. Consumers calling small businesses, BrightLocal, (2019)
