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Matter of First Impression: Should We Use Automated Call Tracking?
Posted on July 5, 2011 at 9:30 am
First impressions are lasting impressions. When we meet someone for the first time we remember something good about them or something bad about them—and it sticks with us, whether the meeting was in person or by phone.
Recently Greenfield/Belser added a call-tracking capability to our search engine marketing—including a dedicated phone number that receives and records incoming calls from prospects.
We listened intently to the recording of our first incoming call and were able to better appreciate what prospects feel when they call Greenfield/Belser for the first time.
We want our first impression to be friendly, sympathetic, approachable, experienced, personal and trustworthy—we want to convey that we have your best interests in mind and will be pleasant to work with. The insights gained from the recorded calls have indeed proved useful in training our marketing people and administrative team on the tone of voice, type of greeting and, especially, the importance of calling the prospect back as soon as possible. So far, so good.
But listening to the calls also raised serious concerns about call-tracking in the first place.
With call-tracking in place, the first thing the prospect hears is: “Your call is being recorded to ensure good customer service.” We are required by the FCC (http://www.fcc.gov/) to keep the warning in place, whenever we intend to record a call.
What impression does the warning make on the prospect? Does the warning give the impression we are a bigger establishment than we are? Does it clump us with Best Buy, AT&T and other big corporations—rather than the small, specialized, brand design firm we really are?
The debate: the ability to track the ROI of each of our ad campaigns (valuable in planning every aspect of our mission) versus sacrificing our image and altering the first impression we want to give future clients.
What’s your impression? Is call-tracking right for us or not?
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