Oleksandr Rohovnin Content Marketer 12 minute read Table of Contents What Is Call Tracking?Call Tracking Lingo ExplainedHow Does Call Tracking Work?How Different Call Tracking Numbers WorkFree Call Tracking Numbers – a Limited Yet Viable Choice?Automatic Call Distribution vs. Interactive Voice ResponseHow Big a Difference Can Call Tracking Make?What Businesses Should Track Inbound Calls?Three Call Tracking Obstacles To OvercomeCall Tracking Metrics to Evaluate Your Inbound CallsFrequently Asked Questions Oleksandr Rohovnin Content Marketer 12 minute read This comprehensive B2B call tracking guide is here to help you understand the call tracking fundamentals and how to drive more calls from businesses. If you’re into B2C, here’s a call tracking guide for the B2C market segment. Note: I’ve made a Herculean effort to make this call tracking guide simple and helpful, and I will continue improving it until there’s nothing more to perfect. I hope you appreciate it and are about to fall in love with call tracking and the benefits it can bring to your business. Whether you’re a business owner, marketer, or solopreneur, if you’re selling products or services to other businesses, invest a moment of your time to learn what impact call tracking can have on your B2B marketing and sales, from attribution to conversion. I won’t say much to warm you up – just this: Phone calls convert up to 50% of callers, or 15 times more than web interactions. If this isn’t the reason to continue reading, I don’t know what is. We at Phonexa started a company – that’s how thrilled we were about the power of call tracking. Buckle up! Your call tracking 101 journey starts now. What Is Call Tracking? Call tracking identifies what draws customers to your business – as if you were asking them in person. “How did you find us?” “Did it go well for you?” “What could be done better?” – you can answer these million-dollar questions with a technology that costs around $100 a month. Here’s a short story about call tracking: Call tracking is affordable, not too hard to understand, and equally beneficial for B2B and B2C. The technological stack is almost the same across the board, so you’re killing two birds with one stone by learning about call tracking. Call Tracking Lingo Explained Designers have got it right: the simpler, the better. I’m pleased to demystify some allegedly complex call tracking terms you might have a hard time understanding. Without any further ado, let’s clear up the confusion: Call Attribution Identification of the caller’s marketing pathway to a call: ads, campaigns, keywords, and other touchpoints the caller interacted with before making a call. Call Routing Directing a caller to a matching live operator based on the information you know about the caller (demographics, psychographics, etc.) and available operators. Call Scoring Rating the performance of live operators based on their problem-solving abilities, adherence to call protocols, conversion rates, and more. Automated Call Distributor (ACD) Software that executes call routing according to predetermined criteria without interacting with the caller Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Software that interacts with a caller to qualify them for a matching live operator, collect insights, and even solve smaller requests on the spot. Call Tracking Number Unique phone number used for marketing and attribution, allowing you to track the traffic source and present your company in a unique way (vanity phone numbers) Dynamic Number Insertion (DNI) Call tracking technology that changes the displayed phone number for the caller based on predetermined criteria like, for example, location. This is done to track more data without disturbing the caller: the latter doesn’t know about the change, arriving where they intended to. These unsophisticated terms cover pretty much everything that can confuse you about call tracking. The downside is that no one will ever be able to impress you with their lingo. How Does Call Tracking Work? Now, it’s time to look under the hood of call tracking. Here’s how call tracking works: A good call tracking system does three things: Deciphers the caller’s journey Distributes the caller to the best live operator Transfers caller insights to the live operator that handles the call in real-time And now the banger: an AI-driven call tracking system can improve on its own and educate you about how to design your sales funnel so you can generate and convert more calls. Developing such a behemoth usually takes the synergy of three call systems: tracking, distribution, and analytics. And that’s what our flagship product Call Logic is about – all the right tools for all the right marketing moves: How Different Call Tracking Numbers Work Here’s the secret: not all phone numbers are equal, affecting the caller’s journey in different ways. From the visual perception of the number itself to the target audience, there are quite a few factors that can make one phone number better than the other. Here’s a bird’s-eye view of the main types of call tracking numbers: Phone Number Example Target Audience Advantages Disadvantages Cost for the Caller Price per Number Local 212-555-3232 Local Granular targeting & local conversions Unappealing to customers from other locations Location-based fees Low National 888-555-3232 Nationwide Country-wide reach Less personal than local numbers Standard call fees Moderate International +1-212-555-3232 Global No geographic limitations Higher cost & complex setup High call fees High Vanity 844-PHONEXA Brand-Focused Memorability High price per number Toll-free (optionally) The highest Toll-Free 800-555-3232 Customers preferring free calls Encourage customer calls High business costs Toll-free Varies Now, one of the major problems with choosing call tracking numbers is the spherical cow problem. Knowing the theory isn’t enough – you should also consider the real circumstances under which a call is typically made. For example, most customers are distracted, at least to some extent, when they make a call. They can be on the bus, in their car, or rushing to a meeting – you never know. But there are phone numbers designed specifically for creating a stronger caller-brand connection: vanity phone numbers (for example, 844-PHONEXA). With vanity numbers, it’s much more likely that the caller can remember the phone number even if they are distracted. Free Call Tracking Numbers – a Limited Yet Viable Choice? To test it out without risk, there’s a special group of phone numbers – free tracking numbers – provided by call tracking companies at no cost. These numbers can be local, international, and toll-free, serving you almost just as well as paid call tracking numbers do. However, a significant downside with free call tracking numbers is that they are usually a part of a limited free trial, an addition to paid software, or they come with technical limitations like a limited duration of call recording. Free call tracking numbers aren’t bad, but you have to scrutinize them profoundly in the first place. Remember, it’s not just the price that makes the difference but also how well the phone number resonates with your callers and how much information it unlocks for your business. Feel like you need deeper insights on call tracking numbers? Here you go. Automatic Call Distribution vs. Interactive Voice Response As users call your business, one of the two technologies makes the call happen: automatic call distribution (the simpler one) or interactive voice response (the advanced one). Both ACD and IVR address the caller’s needs, but there’s still a gap between them. Automatic Call Distribution ACD is a technology that routes callers to matching live operators WITHOUT interacting with them at all but according to the predetermined parameters. With ACD, you can factor in the caller’s location, language, motivation, and any other data you can access, but you can’t find out what the caller thinks or wants during the call. The limited nature of ACD will still allow you to set up a fairly accurate call distribution system, especially if you can collect profound caller insights before the call. ACD supports call queuing and integrates with complex CRM and call tracking systems, including those leveraging IVR. Here’s how ACD-based call routing works: Wonder whether ACD is enough for your business? Follow this comprehensive ACD guide. Interactive Voice Response Interactive Voice Response provides the ability to INTERACT with the caller in real-time, reacting to their responses while collecting even more customer insights on the fly. Besides distributing callers, IVR systems can independently handle payment confirmation, booking, scheduling, and other mechanical requests. Here’s how IVR works: Want to learn more about IVR? Here’s your best IVR guide. Overall, ACD and IVR complement one another, allowing businesses to get insights into phone conversations, determine the call volume, understand how many calls they miss, and identify problems affecting their operational health and customer journey. How Big a Difference Can Call Tracking Make? We won’t elaborate much on the marketing impact of call tracking – for this information, navigate to our call tracking marketing guide – but let’s just put a finger on it so you can be sure call tracking is the missing puzzle you need. Here are some of the opportunities call tracking unlocks: The impact of call tracking is so all-encompassing that you can feel it across many marketing avenues, from ad targeting to call routing itself to live operator training. As long as your business relies on calls, knowing your callers means knowing how to stay on top of things. Benefits of Call Tracking for Businesses Customer Insights You can collect valuable first-party data like where your callers are located, when they call, their demographics, and key interests, all to build accurate customer personas. Campaign Simulation Call tracking technologies like predictive modeling allow you to simulate outcomes and plot strategies that can increase your call volume without risks. Immediate Adjustments IVR-based call tracking unlocks real-time and strategic data, improving your call campaigns on the fly with optimal routing and call personalization (like when the operator knows the solution even before the call is started). Call tracking benefits are undisputed, but the scale of the system does matter. Learn whether you need a simpler call tracking system or an advanced call intelligence platform. What Businesses Should Track Inbound Calls? As companies across different industries see the value of calls, many may wonder where they fit in. They ask questions about when it’s the right time to implement call tracking or whether call tracking is a good fit for their vertical at all. Here are three of the many businesses that can benefit from call tracking: Call Tracking for B2B B2B companies and agencies often engage in a lengthy sales process, including many phone calls. Understanding the reason behind these calls – one call after another – is critical to initiate further calls (if needed) and finally, drive the caller to a conversion. Call Tracking for Insurance Trust is a cornerstone of the insurance industry — a strong bond must be forged between policyholders and insurance providers. Here, phone calls come into play, providing consumers with the person-to-person connection that insurance thrives on. Call Tracking for Financial Services Lead generators in financial services reach consumers in busy marketplaces, having to give them the peace of mind they crave in the face of complex financial decisions. Call tracking carries great weight in understanding what such consumers are likely to ask and what you should respond to convert them. Here’s the exhaustive list of B2B and B2C businesses that can benefit from call tracking – go find yourself there and check how you can grow with call tracking. Three Call Tracking Obstacles To Overcome Once you decide to track calls, you are laying the groundwork for many future benefits of a data-driven marketing strategy. At the same time, as any other technology, call tracking does pose some obstacles to overcome before you can reap its benefits. Cost Developing proprietary call tracking software is financially impossible for small-scale and even medium-scale businesses. However, you can rent a cloud call tracking solution at around $100 a month from a call tracking provider that will also help you set up and harness the system. Learning Curve Call tracking may require some technical expertise and niche experience. On the other hand, call tracking providers usually simplify things by providing round-the-clock customer support and guidance. Integration Not all call tracking solutions can integrate with all tech stacks, forcing you to consider this important nuance when making a choice. Call Tracking Metrics to Evaluate Your Inbound Calls The conversion of a call is never the end of the journey for a forward-looking business. Building a sustainable flow of call leads begs for constant call analytics, putting every bit of data to good use. Here are some basic call analytics metrics (expand to the full list of metrics): Call Origin Understanding which campaigns and marketing channels generate quality inbound calls will enable educated marketing decisions and better budget allocation. Caller Location Knowing where the call is coming from will allow you to improve ad targeting and call routing, especially for local calls and geo-sensitive products. Call Length and Quality Unlocking extensive call data with technologies like dynamic call tracking will help you estimate the quality of calls more accurately while filtering out spam, robot, and telemarketing calls. Visitor-to-Call Ratio (VCR) Calculating VCR will help you identify channels that drive high-intent phone leads versus channels generating call volume that doesn’t convert. For more information on call analytics, check out our comprehensive call analytics guide. Track Inbound Calls Like a Pro with Call Logic Phonexa knows everything about the power of a phone call – just like we know you won’t find a call tracking technology better than Call Logic. This AI-powered solution will cover your inbound phone calls through and through, connecting callers where you want them to and delivering unique caller insights on a silver platter. Embrace the power of Call Logic: Choose your call tracking software suite now, or schedule a free consultation to learn more about how Phonexa can improve your B2B call tracking, routing, and over-the-phone sales. Frequently Asked Questions What is IVR? Interactive voice response (IVR) is an automated phone system that guides consumers based on their answers to prearranged questions, all done via a touch- or voice-based menu. What is ACD? An automatic call distributor is a telephone system that instantly receives inbound calls and routes them to the best-suited live operator based on predetermined criteria. The routing technology itself is called automatic call distribution. What is call tracking software? Call tracking software is a piece of code that allows you to track phone calls, often including supporting tools for distributing and interpreting these calls. Call tracking helps you understand your callers better, so you can design data-driven marketing campaigns. How much does call tracking software cost? Call tracking software typically incurs a monthly subscription cost, setup costs, and usage fees, starting at around $100 per month. The exact cost of a specific call tracking solution will depend on how many users you need, how long you want to store data for, and more. Related posts: What is a Call Routing Software? Phone System for Small Business: What Is It and Why You Need It Professional IVR Voice Recording: How It Works Everything You Need To Know About a Dedicated Call Center in 2023 ACD Automatic Call Distributor Call Analytics Call Distribution Call Intelligence Call Logic Call Tracking Conversion Rate Optimization CRO DNI Dynamic Call Tracking Dynamic Number Insertion Lead Acquisition Lead Tracking Performance Marketing Traffic Flow Got Questions? Get in touch! We are available 24/7.