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The cost of a phone call

By Rob Bright

BTT

MOST people have the approach that if they miss a call, the person will leave a voicemail if it is important. That’s not the case; when do you actually call someone? Usually, it’s because you need or want the information right now. From a sales perspective, you are ready to make the decision.

Studies have shown that businesses in the UK lose over £30bn every year due to missed calls.

How many calls are you missing?

Most phone systems have call analytics built in with them. Should you not have that, don’t worry, you can have a separate analytics and reporting function which integrates with it.

We are going to assume that you have some basic call reporting function. Log on and check the following:

1. The number of missed calls (Call Abandonment) in one week and one month.

2. The average number of missed calls per week and per month.

3. Number of voicemails left

4. Peak times of missed calls

5. The number of engaged calls.

Breakdown each of the above by department.

Use this Formula

Average Number of Missed Calls per week x Average Sale Value = Value of missed opportunities

For example: 80 missed calls x £250 = £20,000

That is a huge figure. Now, there is always a cynic who doesn’t believe that every call is a sales opportunity, so for you, work out 20 per cent:

16 missed calls x £250 =£4,000

That is still not a great figure to be losing out on. Imagine if you work out your annual potential sale loss! (Please note that we cannot be held responsible for any heart attacks.)

Can you afford to miss a call?

Analysing your call reports can help you to identify areas that you can improve on so that you never miss a call which means you never miss an opportunity.

Don’t have good call analytics?

We will give you a free 30-day trial of our call analytics system which will monitor your phone calls, real-time. Call Rob on 0330 222 033.

Companies mentioned in this article

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