This was really frustrating. Because I had to explain to my wife I hadn't done what she wanted me to do (get an eye test sorted) and doubly annoying because I had to call them again. (At the third attempt I did manage to get through - only because the pain from being "reminded" was more painful than hitting redial).
WHAT REALLY IRKED IS THAT NOBODY EVER CALLED ME BACK.
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT.
After experiencing this call-engaged-hang up scenario, I thought maybe Boots were using local tracking numbers and they would soon call or text me back. My local search soon told me that they were not using unique numbers.
If this was happening to me in Reading, I figured it was happening all over the country. (Just as it does with Estate Agents who miss 19,734 calls every month).
I decided to take this personal experience and talk to the head of marketing. A few weeks later, the issue was raised with the now ex-head of customer care at Boots. And this is the reply I got.
"Whilst your product is fascinating, we don't use the telephone as a lead or order generator it's simply a traditional customer care operation. All of our advertising is geared towards converting customers to purchase in store or on line."
Not Using The Telephone To Get Leads Or Get People In Store?
I should have been shocked but it's a familiar story with lots of companies that invest money on marketing and then don't even pick up the phone!
Here are some things we know that Boots could do to get sales using AdMeter;
- Capture missed callers and phone them back
- Send an SmS text apologising for the missed call
- Send an SmS reminder of appointments to Optician customers
- Send an SmS text promotion e.g. free prescription sunglasses
- Find out what people are calling for and improve marketing response
- Discover geographic areas people are calling from, (marketing opps)
- Drive online and store sales through text
AdMeter can't be the answer to everyone's needs. Because not everyone is prepared to take the action to improve customer engagement, and sometimes it's difficult to get through to the right person that can make decisions. (Although we think a "No" in this instance is a "Maybe").
However, there are some easy low-hanging fruit opportunities within most companies big and small. Where Boots has 3,300 retail outlets and a huge number of engaged and missed calls the opportunity to drive sales may be in the millions. For smaller companies it may be a few thousand.
The only way to find out truly is to take a trial of AdMeter to discover the insights it can provide and the action that results in more profit.
Whether you a big chain and you want to track all calls, capture the call data and use it for promotions - or a smaller company and you want to make the best of your marketing...
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