What is Call Reporting?
Call Reporting allows you to track the performance of every call whether that call came through to an extension, geographical line or a marketing specific phone number.
Call reporting is important for business because it allows you to monitor all incoming and outgoing calls to the business and enable you to analyse areas where you may need to improve your business operations.
Does your business need Call Reporting?
Every business can benefit from call reporting when used correctly. The most common reason for a business to want to use call reporting is to understand; How many calls is my business missing?
It is a fair question to ask since those calls could relate to sales enquiries which means if those calls are missed, you have lost opportunities. It is also simply answered with call reporting software.
Don’t think your missed calls is enough to transfer into lost business?
Use this Formula
Average Number of Missed Calls per week x Average Sale Value
= Value of missed opportunities
Here is an example:
80 missed calls x £250 = £20,000
Ouch. 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%:
16 missed calls x £250 =£4000
I don’t know about you but that is still not a great figure to be losing out on. Imagine if you times that figure by 52 weeks to work out your annual potential sale loss.
(Please note that we cannot be held responsible for any heart attacks.)
Call reporting gives you the data you need to analyse if there is a reason for those missed calls, then it’s simply identifying the solution. For example, perhaps employing one more member of staff would help avoid those missed calls, or perhaps pulling in resource from other departments during lunchtime hours?
Standard level of Call Reporting
- Number of Outbound calls per day /week / month
- Number of Inbound calls per day /week / month
- Number of Lost calls per day /week / month
For some businesses, that is enough but for most, it only gives you a snapshot of the bigger picture.
Basic level of Call Reporting
The next step up from your standard integrated call reporting is the basic level which covers historical call reporting, scheduled reports, cradle to grave call reporting and trend analysis by multiple intervals such as half hour, per day, per week or per month.
Intermediate level of Call Reporting
The next level gives you more a business dashboard that helps you manage your telephony resources and usage costs effectively. It will encompass comprehensive real time call analytics which allow you to scrutinise and analyse your customers, supplier contacts and staff historically and in real time. A desktop wallboard is usually included at this level.
Advanced level of Call Reporting
Advanced level is what most larger businesses tend to opt for as it operates real-time and it allows you to conduct a more thorough analysis of what is happening with your calls.
Also, it means you can monitor KPI’s like call volumes, when and where the calls come from, call waiting times and call lengths, plus much more so you can work out your resources.
Advanced +
This is the most advanced call reporting software and is generally used in large-scale environments such as call centres where a supervisor needs to constantly, in real-time monitor the inbound/outbound calls so that no call is lost.
It does all of the advanced level but more because it allows you to successfully manage your staff, campaigns and resources effectively such as directing calls real-time to colleagues who don’t normally answer the main line; so that no calls are missed.
5 ways to Improve your Business using Call Reporting
- Peak time resource – Once you identify peak times, you know that you need more resource in those time periods. You can then pull the resource in from other departments. Or if it’s a huge figure – a business case to employ someone new. An additional thought to consider is to assess if any/most of those calls are happening outside core hours; perhaps your opening times are 9 am but you are missing a lot of calls between 8.30am and 9 am. Perhaps you can consider a shift change for some staff?
- KPI’s – If you can’t figure out why the phone wasn’t answered because you had enough resource, then I’m afraid it’s most likely to do with the phone answering culture. Most people are taught to answer within 3 rings. Set this as an expectation and then take it further by setting a KPI for all calls in the department to be answered X% of the time. Breakdown it for individuals, too. Reward or reset behaviours accordingly.
- Employ a Call Handling Service – This is particularly advantageous for small businesses with limited resources. It ensures that someone always answers your phone calls and you can train them to take orders, not just messages.
- Review the reports – If you are setting KPI’s, review them on a monthly basis. If you have everything sorted, still check them every 2-3 months as you don’t want to become complacent and see your figures dip.
- Voicemails – If it must go to a voicemail, make it interesting or at the very least “current.” We know a few businesses that change their voicemail every day. Try something like this, “I am so sorry that I am missing your call today but I am in Northampton seeing a great Hotel about how I can help their business. Please don’t hang up, leave a message and I promise I will call you back by 10.30am tomorrow morning.” I’d certainly leave a message to that voicemail – wouldn’t you?
Do I need to upgrade my existing phone system to get call reporting software?
In instances where the user wants to keep their phone system but would like a more comprehensive call reporting software, we often utilise a separate call reporting software from one of our partners which can be installed in conjunction with many different phone systems.
We would recommend a partner depending on the level required by the business and compatibility of their phone system.