Several weeks ago, I wrote about how the phone is as important as ever when it comes to offering first-class customer experience in the contact center space. Part of the reason for that is the growth of click-to-call (also called click-to-talk or click-to-text), a web based communication that occurs when a person clicks a button or text to be connected to a live agent in real-time. These connections can happen via phone call, SMS or Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP). Most often offered as buttons on websites, click-to-call can also be initiated through hyperlinks in email and video.
According to a BIA/Kelsey report, a predicted 162 billion calls will be made to businesses from smartphones in 2019. What’s more, click-to-call technology has been shown by Forrester Research to increase ROI by an average of 143 percent upon implementation. According to Google research, 68 percent of consumers on smartphones used the get directions or call button on a smartphone local listing, and 70 percent of smartphone users think a call button is important.
Obviously, this is a communication channel that can’t be ignored. Yet a recent Google survey found that 95 percent of small- to medium- sized businesses are not using click-to-call technology on their website. Click-to-call buttons are easy to implement and can help boost sales, customer satisfaction, leads, and ultimately, your bottom line. Here are 3 best-practices to keep in mind when implementing click-to-call.
Get Ready
Because customers are connecting with you directly, rather than first going to a landing page for instance, it’s imperative that your contact center staff are prepared. Expect an increase in inbound calls and make sure agents have the information they need to answer callers’ questions quickly. I recommend closely monitoring call volume to be sure you are sufficiently staffed and running test calls to better understand and improve the caller experience.
If you don’t have 24-hour phone coverage, consider running your click-to-call campaigns only during business hours and be sure to display your ‘lines open’ hours. One of the benefits of click-to-call is connecting specific website pages to certain agents. For example, on a page with information about how to use your product, use a click-to-call button that goes directly to the agents with this knowledge.
Make it Obvious
Is your phone number on your business website? Is it easy to find? Does it encourage calls? Make sure it’s clearly visible and obviously clickable with placement on every page, and by creating a button around the phone number to increase visibility while signaling to visitors its click-to-call functionality. Other considerations:
- Use a contrasting color for your click-to-call button.
- Place the button so that it is visible without scrolling.
- Use a short and concise headline that is easy to read.
- Optimize the images and graphics to reduce their file size, to allow for a fast loading of your pages.
Mobile Optimization
Time spent on mobile devices is increasing, while time spent with other media is decreasing. According to research from eMarketer, from 2016 to 2017, time spent per day on mobile increased by seven minutes, for a total of 3 hours and 15 minutes per day. In the same time period, time spent on desktops decreased by one minute, and TV viewing decreased by five minutes. This highlights why your website must be optimized for mobile viewing.
Customer expect click-to-call functionality across all of their devices. If you don’t offer it – clearly – you risk customers leaving your site to find your competitors who offer easy access to live support. To learn more about how click-to-call can benefit your business’ bottom line and the best ways to implement it, call me today.
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