Every small business is in search of cost-effective ways to better understand the needs of their customers. This can often be confusing since customers have different requirements. As your business grows it is nearly impossible to note every detail of inquiry, concern, or praise while taking in-bound calls. More often than not, your team is working to fix problems quickly and reference a database or CRM system that stores information; which makes it even more difficult to catch every nuance of a conversation. This is where call recording software comes into play.
But before you hit the record button, there are a few legal tips you should know. According to The Daily Dot, “Under federal law, only one party in a conversation has to give consent to record a phone call. But each state also has its own rules on the subject. All but a few states require dual-party consent—meaning both people involved in a phone conversation have to give explicit consent before a call can be legally recorded. If you’ve ever wondered why most customer service calls at big companies start with pre-recorded messages letting you know that ‘your call will be recorded for training purposes,’ that’s why.”
Call recording is one of the most underutilized, yet powerful, tools available to small businesses. Sure! Recording customer calls can help you train employees and keep you out of legal hot water, but you can also leverage customer calls to improve your marketing and sales strategy.
Here’s a look at three ways call recording software can boost your bottom line:
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Measure customer sentiment.
Other than recording call interactions, a call recording can help you understand the good and the bad concerning the products, services, campaigns and communications of your company. When you are in business, customers will inevitably call you with feedback. This authentic input can help you learn more about their attitudes, opinions and point of views.
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Get real time market feedback.
Listening to your customers is an essential means of improving your business and better serving their needs. For example, if you own a pastry shop that only sells local pastries, you may come to realize that some customers have special requests. If you handle a lot of inbound calls, or if your staff is not able to recall key conversations, call records can help you pick up on ways to innovate and better acknowledge customer tastes and preferences.
During a busy sales day, it’s not likely that a sales representative will remember every inquiry and question that comes their way. Instead, they are more likely to say, “We don’t have it,” to close the sale on what you do offer – missing strategic growth opportunities in the process.
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Delegate with confidence.
Some customers will call your company simply to learn more about it – and not to buy anything at all. However, an initial inquiry, handled correctly, can turn into a future sale. So, access to a call recording can help you identify a potential sales lead that a junior employee may not recognize. Meanwhile, it will help you loosen the reigns a bit, and allow your team more ‘face time’ with customers – freeing you up to grow your business, and keep tabs on their progress.
It’s important to understand your customers – even if you can’t speak with them directly. If you truly want to understand what customers want, a call recording system can help bridge the information gap – and turn feedback into real-time results, course corrections, and innovation.
This article has been edited and condensed.
Arundhuti Roy is a professional business blogger writing on behalf of Voicetree Technologies Pvt. Ltd., a an India-based cloud telephony company that offers affordable telephony solutions to small and mid-sized businesses. She holds a BA in English from the University of Delhi. Connect with @MyOperator on Twitter.
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