In the world of broadcast direct marketing, when a commercial airs, it's imperative that the call center be ready to receive the inbound inquiries. After all, such consumer calls represent a finite opportunity that occurs in real time. If things go awry, those inbound calls can evaporate in the blink of an eye. But disasters occur, natural and otherwise, that can disable a call center. That's why at Dial 800 we strongly advocate that direct marketers consider not putting all of their eggs in one basket, and that they also consider the benefits of call routing services. Effective call routing services allows a marketer to distribute inbound call allocations to multiple destinations and to do it immediately, on the fly, in the event of an emergency or other change in circumstances.
While call centers are suppose to maintain redundancies such as back up energy sources, even these are subject to failure in the wake of a disaster, so it is imperative that the marketer control the ability to route calls to other places that are unaffected. Call routing software such as Dial 800's AccuRoute enables a marketer to route their calls to multiple destinations from their computer using the Internet at anytime and anywhere, and take their destiny -- literally -- into their own hands. When you combine this powerful tool with other components such as call tracking and call recording, the marketer gains enormous advantages that can help optimize a direct marketing campaign. But if the call is lost in the ether due to unexpected circumstances, it is all for nought; hence, call routing should be an imperative part of every direct marketing campaign.
As a service provider that controls tens of thousands of toll free numbers through our RapidRecall service, at Dial 800 we make it our business to understand the important nuances that are going to give direct marketers the very best results. Well here is the 411 on toll free numbers (TFNs): not all TFNs are created equal! Even though 888, 877, and 866 prefixes have now been around for years, consumers are still programmed to dial 800 first.
The proof? Just last week 2,652 people accidentally dialed our number 1-800-XXX-CELL instead of 1-877-XXX-CELL in an attempt to reach a low coast cellular service provider. And that was just in one week! Imagine how many lost opportunities that represents over the course of a campaign and/or business' life -- literally tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of missed sales!
Many marketers and their agencies are under the misperception that 800 numbers are simply unavailable. Not true! Service providers like Dial 800 allow marketers to lease numbers, often at a cost of what adds up to a nominal cost per lead, that can have a marked impact on results. A good quality 800 TFN may cost a few hundred dollars per month, but let's break down the math. If the marketer cited above lost 10,000 leads due to misdials and each inbound lead was worth a conservative $5, that's $50,000 worth of leads lost in a single month. The monthly cost to lease the 800 version of their number and gain the advantages of Dial 800's call tracking, call routing and call recording software? About 38 cents per lead. Calculate average closure rates and revenue and the cost versus the ROI is obviously through the roof!
An article I wrote in Response magazine recently examined the marked advantages of 800 toll free numbers over other prefixes that were introduced to the marketplace years later. In response to the article, entitled “The Right Numbers Add Up to Increased Profitability”, a senior media director contacted me expressing his surprise, “I would have thought the market is knowledgeable enough to recognize 888, etc. by now.”
Yet the evidence that consumers are pre-conditioned to dial the 800 prefix first continues to pile up. Businesses using non-800 prefix toll free numbers such as 888 and 877 are missing hundreds if not thousands of leads due to misdials. Here’s a case in point:
I went on the agency’s website, found their client, an animal humane society, was using an 888 prefix number on their website for animal poison control. Next, I phoned the 800 version of the same number where I encountered an exasperated small business owner who explained that the misdials were literally ruining her life. Hundreds of misdials occurred every year from panicked pet owners who had called her business by mistake, even though the number is right in front of those dialing in black and white. Worse, the business owner has the calls roll over to her home number and is frequently woken in the night by the distressed, creating even more stress!
This is just one illustration of why it is imperative that any direct marketer using a toll free number use an 800 number, particularly in broadcast advertising. But, as our media director observed, “The problem I found is that there are no 800#’s with good repeaters left.” While it’s true that virtually all 800 numbers are spoken for, there are services such as Dial 800’s RapidRecall that make numbers available on a lease basis. When combined with powerful call tracking, call routing and call recording software the incremental cost of having access to the right toll free number can have an exponential impact on the bottom line of a campaign. Given how hard it is to generate a lead and then close a sale, capturing hundreds if not thousands of additional consumer inquiries keen on your offer is absolutely critical.
Dial800 had a tremendously successful Great Ideas Summit in New Orleans February 1-3. Presented by the Electronic Retailing Association, of which Dial800 is a Platinum Member, the direct marketing summit set a new record for attendance. Here Dial800 COO James Diorio (front left) and BJ Global's BJ Fazeli (front right) enjoy the company of industry colleagues at SF Video's blowout 20th Anniversary party at the House of Blues. Dial 800's latest research, which shows the power of toll free repeater numbers, was met with tremendous reception at the conference as was its call routing, call tracking and call recording software, CallView 360. Dial800 has signed several new accounts as a result of the show.
