“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, and the trouble is I don’t know which half” – John Wanamaker
We often discuss what home services companies can do to prioritize calls and focus on calls that matter. To re-cap, here are four easy to use, cost-effective technologies:
- Record all calls
- Utilize AI-powered call summaries
- Leverage call scoring
- Utilize a short easy-to-navigate IVR, if necessary for you to segment callers based on their needs
However, you might be thinking, “I’ve been recording calls for years. My software already generates complete transcripts, and we listen to calls to evaluate leads and agents. I am not a fan of using an IVR. Why is this so significant?” This is a fair concern. For all its benefits, call recording has its share of shortcomings.
Challenges with Call Recording
Indeed, recording calls has been a longstanding practice. One could argue that an entire generation has grown accustomed to hearing that calls will be recorded for quality and training purposes. Are you really listening to every call for quality and training purposes? Of course not. That would be expensive and time-consuming. There’s also the issue of bias. Can your internal managers listen to calls and remain impartial regarding the outcome of those calls?
Call transcripts often turn out to be extensive and perplexing. Additionally, transcription technology struggles to accurately render regional accents and language nuances. This issue could lead to a misinterpretation of the call, which might impact sales and overall revenue.
Benefits of Call Summaries
This is where utilizing AI-powered call summaries is valuable. These summaries condense the call content into three or four of the most crucial bullet points, irrespective of call length.
Artificial intelligence (AI) provides a wealth of opportunities for sales and marketing teams. These tools can boost over-the-phone appointment bookings, elevate overall customer service excellence, help optimize marketing spend and ensure you can seize any missed opportunities.
How much value do you estimate you’d gain from implementing AI-powered call scoring, complete with alerts for missed opportunities and concise summaries highlighting the conversations key points? Consider this: no human intervention means significantly reduced costs, AI-driven processing for quicker turnaround from call completion, and concise three to four bullet points detailing the conversation and outcome. This enables immediate action without the need to listen to lengthy calls or decipher perplexing transcripts.
Call Summaries in Practice
One home services company found success with call summaries provided by Marchex. This franchise industry leader worked with Marchex to gain a more detailed understanding of what took place during calls across the almost 2,000 locations, the goal being to improve customer service. Outcome-focused call summaries were a key tool that helped them achieve that goal. These short text synopses of calls highlighted caller intent, key events that took place, and topics covered. Here is an example of a call summary:
- The caller contacted business regarding issues with their AC unit
- Caller provided their information and described the problem, but ultimately declined the offer to receive a technician due to scheduling conflicts
- The caller mentioned that they would try another service provider and declined the agent’s offer to hold the appointment
Optimize Your Calls and Save Money
As a home services company, failing to implement AI-powered call scoring, missed opportunity alerts, and AI-powered call summaries within your call center (big or small) could result in wasting valuable marketing dollars and missing a sales or service opportunity.
Keep in mind that you likely don’t require more calls; instead, you may just need to optimize the ones you currently receive. By doing so, you’ll be well-prepared to expand your business and market for additional call volumes when the time is right.
