When it comes to inside sales, you want to do everything possible to make a potential customer answer the phone. In this day and age, this can be a difficult task because many people have caller ID and are reluctant to answer numbers that they do not recognize or numbers that could potentially be sales calls, which has become easier to accomplish over time. Fortunately enough, you can use methods to increase the likelihood that your target audience will answer the phone. In this article, we will evaluate the strategy of using a local number to increase the responses you receive from your efforts.
What is local presence dialing?
Let’s imagine that your ACD call center is making a large volume of calls across the country on a regular basis and isn’t getting as many responses as it would like. Instead of continuing to produce the same output, you may instead be interested in local presence dialing, which is a strategy that makes it appear as though your number is from the same area code or from an area code that is close to that of the individual is being targeted. In theory, this method is supposed to improve the probability that the targeted individual will answer the call because the area code is familiar rather than another toll-free number or a number that is out of state. However, the most important question to ask yourself before you try to use this strategy is, does a local number make a difference for inside sales?
The evidence on the use of the local presence dialing strategy
As it turns out, the local presence dialing strategy has proven to be a successful method of increasing the responsiveness of customers who are not in the area where your call center is based.
Consider, for example, the statistics provided by a survey that was published on the Software Advice website. This survey recorded the responses of 2,310 random internet users scattered throughout the United States and asked them questions about receiving calls from different area codes and what their reactions would be. Only 7 percent of respondents claim that they would accept a call from an unknown caller using toll-free number, only 13 percent would be willing to accept a call with an area code that is out of their state, and, while it is not an extensive difference, the percentage of individuals who would answer a call from an unknown number with a local area code jumped up to 28 percent. In addition, people were less likely to immediately reject these calls than they were with the previous area codes listed.
Simply put, swapping out the true area code for your call center and exchanging it for the local area code of individuals who you are reaching out to dramatically increases the probability that they will answer the phone calls or will consider answering them. While local numbers will get you in the door, however, it should be noted that not everyone will take kindly if they learn that you are not calling from the area and may hang up the phone, which may happen anyway if they are not interested in your call.
A local area code can be an effective tool in improving the volume of calls that are answered and can be something that you can leverage to your advantage. If you are interested in local presence dialing, learn more about what it can do for you.
