One of the best technologies to come out in recent years has been call capture. This is a growth industry, with many technology companies vying for the leadership position in providing call capture software and systems to customers in many different vertical markets.
Some of the markets where technology is increasingly producing amazing results for those willing to apply it are:
- real estate marketing
- Mortgage Origination
- Online Marketing and Coaching
- Any marketing campaign that uses phone-generated leads
How does it work
Without going into the technical details of how a typical system works, the output is something like the following:
1. The salesperson purchases or subscribes to call capture software, typically a hosted web application that acts as a control panel for marketing campaigns set up to use the system.
2. In the best systems, the vendor can buy phone numbers like web vendors buy domains. Ideally, each phone number will only appear in one advertising spot, so the performance of that campaign can be closely tracked. The cost of phone numbers ranges from $5 to $20 per month, depending on the company and call volume.
3. The marketer then advertises in various publications using different call pickup phone numbers. For example, one number may be used for Craigslist ads, another for a particular print publication, and another on the company’s website.
4. Then sit back and watch the results to measure performance and collect leads from each source.
Information collected on call pickup
Different call capture systems collect varying amounts of sales intelligence and contact information from a potential customer. Most provide the number the prospect called from, even if their number is normally blocked. Most also provide systems for requesting specific information, often in exchange for free downloads, website access, or other benefits you wish to provide.
You can offer free access to search your MLS listings if they go to a specific extension and say their name. Or you can offer a free home appraisal in exchange for leaving your email address. There are as many ways to gather valuable marketing intelligence as there are marketers to think about.
That’s the best of a good call capture system. It allows you to apply your own marketing creativity to your own business. You gain the ability to measure the effectiveness of your marketing dollars and channel your resources towards only the campaigns that work for you.