With faceless e-commerce giants sucking up consumers like black holes, small business owners shouldn’t try to fight fire with fire in such a competitive landscape. Instead, they must go the opposite route—by leaning into the human element and increasing personalization.
And your most important channel when it comes to personalizing customer conversations? Your business phone.
Some naysayers might believe the phone call is dead. But far from being obsolete, phone-based acquisition strategies are alive and well…and critical to your business’s long-term success!
Gaining and retaining customers by phone relies on forging personal connections. Nurturing the right strategies will lead to faster business growth, so let’s review a few familiar techniques you may have forgotten about—and some unconventional techniques that might surprise you with their effectiveness.
Traditional techniques for over the phone acquisition
Warm calling
The average cold call success rate is only about 2%. So why not try warm calling instead?
Warm calling puts your existing customer and referral lists to work, enabling your business to approach potential clients with a certain level of built-in trust. Conversation rates for warm leads are as high as 14.6%; clearly, this is a better way for your business to spend its resources than the old cold call routine!
Scripting and preparation
Never underestimate the power of a finely-tuned script!
Potential customers won’t listen to someone rambling on the other end. Your calls must be compelling and on-target. The best way to achieve that? By using a script that immediately gets to the point.
Emphasize your business’s value propositions. Explain the clear benefits to the listener. Anticipate pushback and questions and have the persuasive answers scripted out. Lastly, deliver an impactful call to action that they can’t resist!
Effective follow-ups
Oh, you thought that initial call was a “one and done?”
Nope, if you didn’t close the deal, then that first contact can’t be your last.
Effective follow-up calls must walk the fine line of being persistent—without being pushy! It’s your job to make the person on the other end feel valued, not burdened. Just be sure they feel valued in a timely manner by not waiting too long to follow up.
Unconventional phone acquisition strategies
Social media platforms
Using social media to attract customers isn’t “unconventional.” But done right, social media and phone calls can go hand-in-hand, which is something many businesses forget.
Maximize the potential of sites like Instagram, X, Facebook, and LinkedIn to raise interest, start conversations…and drive customers to those phone lines! Always include your business phone number and a call to action.
SMS marketing
Business.com calls text message marketing “the ultimate mobile engagement tool.”
Imagine an eye-popping 97% read rate—within 15 minutes of delivery. How many ads get that kind of attention? Not many.
Your business can leverage the power of text to share news about sales and limited-time offers, delivering directly into the hands of customers and leads, no matter where they are.
Personalized voicemails
If your calls aren’t being answered, don’t be shy—leave a voicemail!
Try to avoid pre-recorded messages. Personalize it to resonate with the recipient. Pique their curiosity by avoiding generic pitches and focusing on a tailored message.
Won’t that take more time? Sure, but showing them you understand their needs and care enough to customize the message will pay off with more callbacks.
Combining techniques for maximum impact
Taking multiple approaches
On their own, the above phone-based strategies are proven to be effective. Combining them with other marketing channels can reinforce them and amplify their effect!
For example, an email campaign that highlights your business’s latest product can be quickly followed by a phone call to share details. Or a social media interaction can dovetail seamlessly into an engaging conversation by phone.
Teaming up your tactics just might launch your business to the next level!
Tracking and analyzing
When your business gets calls, are you taking notes?
Calls are an invaluable source of data, telling you everything from what your customers want to how you can most effectively sell to them. The key is to pay attention, capture the data, analyze it, and track it to look for changes and trends.
Doing so allows your business to continuously refine its phone-based strategies. Maybe that means tweaking a script to highlight a product or service feature…or simply adjusting follow-up call time
Effective phone-based customer acquisition technique training
No matter how effective a technique is, it’ll only work if your people are trained on how to implement it.
Training ensures your team is up-to-speed on how you want things done—and recurring training helps them stay up-to-date on any changes you need them to implement. The more organized you are with training, the more effective your call strategies are going to be!
Supercharge your customer acquisition with Ruby!
The phone call remains an invaluable implement in your customer acquisition toolbox. Whether you’re a solopreneur doing it all on your own, or a growing business with limited time and resources, Ruby’s team of virtual receptionists is here to help!
For over 20 years, we’ve partnered with 14,000+ small businesses in every industry imaginable, integrating seamlessly into their established teams. Our trained virtual receptionists are available 24/7 to connect with customers, and are experts at creating the kinds of conversations that convert first-time callers into lifelong customers.
Interested in learning more? Reach out today to discover how we can help you win more business both over the phone and online!
