A recent comprehensive study from Marchex provided insights into mobile click-to-call performance using data from Marchex, Google, and BIA/Kelsey. This report paints a picture of the current mobile marketplace and predicts future trends. One striking statistic revealed that 20% of calls originating from mobile devices are abandoned.

This finding was concerning for me as a strong advocate for call promotions through mobile advertising. However, I quickly realized that this challenge is more manageable than other PPC hurdles. By prioritizing a positive caller experience, businesses can significantly reduce call abandonment rates. This means minimizing hold times, streamlining connections to appropriate departments, and, most importantly, promptly answering calls!

Identifying Call Abandonment Issues

It’s easy to overlook call abandonment unless you’re data-driven. Here’s how to determine if you’re losing valuable calls:

Put Yourself in the Caller’s Shoes

The most effective way to understand your caller’s journey is to experience it firsthand. Call your business and assess:

• The number of rings before an answer.
• The effort required to reach the correct department.
• Hold times and hold music quality.
• Whether you reach the answering machine and the message’s effectiveness.

This exercise is valuable individually and when conducted by an impartial third party for unbiased feedback. Conducting these tests regularly at different times with various individuals can provide surprising insights into your prospects’ experiences.

Pay Attention to Caller Feedback

Frustrated callers often express their dissatisfaction, and while many vent to those around them, some turn to social media. It is essential to actively monitor brand mentions. Even a single complaint about long hold times, poor customer service, excessive ringing, or frustrating IVR systems warrants investigation and action. Remember, for every public complaint, many others likely share the same experience.

Utilize Call Tracking

Call tracking tools offer valuable insights into ad performance, providing caller details and call outcomes. These solutions track PPC-driven calls, including unanswered ones, allowing you to analyze the caller’s journey and identify reasons for abandonment. For example, a nexus-security client discovered their receptionist redirected callers to competitors when brand names were mentioned during calls.

Addressing Call Abandonment

Identifying the issue is the first step; taking action is crucial. A two-pronged approach is recommended: optimize your paid search settings from a technical standpoint and refine your team’s approach to handling calls from a business perspective.

Consider these PPC-related factors:

Language Targeting Settings

Imagine encountering an online search result and an ad in English, clicking to make a call, and encountering a call center staff fluent only in Spanish. Despite interest in the product, the inability to communicate would likely lead to a dropped call. This prevalent issue can be avoided by segmenting campaigns based on language and enabling call extensions only for supported languages.

Strategic Call Extension Scheduling

If your business doesn’t operate 24/7, unanswered calls likely contribute to abandonment rates. Leverage advanced scheduling to ensure call extensions are active only during business hours when staff is available. AdWords allows customized scheduling with specific times and dates. Day-parting is recommended for Call Only Campaigns to ensure ads appear exclusively during office hours.

(Image Source: AdWords)

Prioritize High-Intent Ad Groups

Highly engaged, purchase-ready searchers should be your priority. When dealing with limited call capacity, increase mobile bid modifiers for ad groups containing high-commercial-intent keywords to ensure prominent ad placement and visibility of call extension details. Conversely, use lower bid adjustments for ad groups targeting individuals in the research phase. Remember, high-intent visitors are more tolerant of hold times compared to those in research mode.

Adjusting your PPC strategy is just one aspect. It’s crucial to ensure your business is equipped to handle phone inquiries. Consider these steps:

Create a Dedicated Team for Incoming Calls

(Image Source: 2015 Click-To-Call Commerce Mobile Performance Report, Marchex) The graph above highlights that call abandonment rates are higher when contacting local businesses compared to companies with dedicated call centers. This difference can be attributed to call centers’ focus on the caller experience and their staff’s specialized training in handling calls. While establishing a call center might be impractical for smaller local businesses, having at least one dedicated staff member to answer calls is recommended.

Staff Training is Key

This aspect is crucial. In essence, training your call center staff is akin to optimizing landing pages for mobile devices. PPC advertisers meticulously optimize desktop landing pages to minimize bounce rates. This same strategy should be applied to mobile campaigns. Since the primary goal is often a phone call, your focus should shift to training staff who handle those calls. They need comprehensive product knowledge, strong sales skills, and a clear understanding of your call objectives.

Utilize Call Data for Employee Incentives

Set ambitious goals for metrics like calls handled per representative and average handling time. Encourage your team to achieve these goals by incorporating call metrics into bonus structures, promotions, or SPIFs.

Align Hiring with Call Volume

As you gather data on call volume and estimated call duration, develop a model to determine staffing needs. Factor in training time. If training a new call center representative takes two months, plan your hiring in advance to accommodate increased call volume.

Once you have a model, stick to it! Marchex suggests that proper call center staffing can boost overall ROI by at least 10%.

Improve the Hold Experience

While eliminating hold times might be unrealistic, you can certainly make the experience more bearable. Consider providing estimated hold times or queue positions (if reasonably short) to give callers a timeframe. Offering call-back services or incorporating creative with your music choices are other options. Remember to test these approaches to determine their effectiveness with your audience.

Optimize Your Voicemail

While it’s not ideal for hard-earned leads to reach your answering machine, you can optimize your voicemail message to encourage them to stay on the line and leave their contact information. Implement a customized greeting that outlines the information needed in their message and provides an estimated response time. This approach is more effective than a generic “You have reached the voice mailbox of ____” message.

As more data emerges on mobile call abandonment rates, experts will likely devise innovative ways to minimize missed calls. What steps are you taking to lower your call abandonment rates?