The challenge that the companies face while marketing in India is that around 70% of the population resides in small towns and villages where digital connectivity and media outreach is limited. But they can instantly connect with this large proportion of Indian population through phones with over 1,040 million mobile and landline connections. Making the most of this connectivity, marketers across various sectors have vividly used missed call marketing for consumer engagement across the country.

The most appealing attribute of using free missed calls is that it encourages willful engagement from the consumers’ end and provides positive leads to the business. With customizable missed call service providers in India like us, the first Tata Elxsi incubate company, Big V Telecom, implementation of missed call campaigns is an easy task. Our service, DialnDisconnect provides highly quantifiable missed call services with powerful call data analytics.

Here’s how some of the leading industry sectors in India are utilizing missed call marketing:

• FMCG

In the Indian scenario of missed call marketing, taking the lead is the FMCG sector whose target audience includes people from different economic backgrounds. FMCG giants like HUL, PepsiCo and Cadburys have used multiple missed call campaigns to garner feedback on new and existing products and packaging. Companies in this sector have also used it to reach the most rural population, tailoring call-to-action responses to suit region specific target audience. One of HUL’s most innovative and successful campaign included providing free, on-demand audio entertainment in Bihar, UP and Jharkhand.

• Media and Entertainment:

The next widespread use of missed call campaign was made by the media and entertainment sector. The reality shows have been seeking participation from television audience in the form of missed calls to either vote for or vote out contestants while the talk shows based on real –life instances and social causes used it to know audience opinions on the same. The entertainment channels launched the missed call services for viewers to know show timings or set reminders while the DTH providers use it to provide customer support.

• Banking:

The application of missed calls in the banking sector has helped them boost productivity manifold.  Their ongoing missed call services have proved to be a boon by saving them time, money and resources used in accomplishing tasks like verifying mobile numbers of account holders, providing account summary and such other routine tasks. Not to forget, the benefits of generating credible leads for their telemarketing team by promoting different financial products through promotional missed call campaigns!

• NGO:

Lastly, the missed call campaigns that struck the right chords with the audience are undoubtedly the ones used by NGOs and government to garner support for social causes. Some of the causes that Big V is proud to be part of are the ‘Call Anna’ campaign supporting anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare and a co-initiative with Pune Police to reintegrate convicts with the society.

Many more sectors are opting for this lucrative marketing tool with latest to join the missed call marketing trend are the e-commerce and social media companies. Is your company using it? Do let us know!!

With rapidly changing economic scenario, businesses need communication systems that are highly dynamic. They need systems that go beyond merely providing connectivity and give the business additional benefits that provide competitive edge. This is what technologically advanced cloud telephony aims at providing your contact center.

Here are 5 ways a virtual contact center can give your business competitive edge:

1. A unified and uninterrupted communication system

A virtual contact center enables you to create a unified and intelligent communication on a single virtual number system for your offices at different locations across the globe. This helps you to streamline your business and enables you to create uniform brand identity across all locations. With cloud telephony you have the freedom to choose and drop the features as per your needs and thus ensure affordability.

Additionally, your business is up and running at all times with uninterrupted services from your virtual phone system. With its multiple call handling and auto response facilities, your businesses will not miss any calls and opportunities.

2. Makes business ready to adapt to changes

An organization’s sustainability and growth is largely dependent on its ability to respond and adapt to changes in the business environment. Cloud telephony solutions provide immense flexibility to businesses to adapt to changes as they can be modified and upgraded in no time.

For instance if you need to respond to a change in competitor’s marketing strategy in real-time then you can do so by greeting your callers with pre-recorded messages advertising your offers. Additionally if you are expanding your business, you can instantly add more extensions to your virtual number to accommodate more locations and employees. Virtual contact centers even add mobility to your business. As they entail no on-site infrastructure, you can shift location anytime without hampering business continuity.

3. Enables monitored customer interaction

The age old phrase ‘Customer is the King’, holds higher relevance today when customer is spoilt for choice and can switch loyalties at slightest dissatisfaction with a product or company. In fact over 75% of leading businesses consider customer service as prime factor determining sustainable growth. It is therefore important to continuously monitor and improvise on your customer care practices to stay ahead of the competition.

With innovative and affordable cloud telephony empowered contact centers, the call recording facilities are no longer meant for only big budget companies. They are now easily accessible even by small and midsized businesses, helping them maintain competitiveness with large scale businesses too. A virtual contact center can help track live calls and also retrieve and analyze other calls to make sure you do not miss any business opportunity or any customer over minor issues.

4. Optimize resource utilization by quantifying marketing initiatives

When you are running a business on a tight budget in a competitive sector, every penny spent has to have good returns. With cloud telephony you can easily quantify the success of your marketing channels and have credible data on the ROI each channel generates. This helps you to optimally allocate your available resources in the most profitable channels and gain competitive advantage.

5. Empowering Employees and Increasing Productivity

Your virtual contact center doubles up as an analytical tool that enhances overall employee and business productivity. It can provide detailed analysis of every business interaction, empowering employees to better resolve customer queries. It automatically generates customer database based on call records, assisting in employees in providing proactive customer support and also generating sales ready leads for future business.

With changing work patterns, companies today have scattered workforce and employees working outside office premises at flexible hours. Such workforce can be better managed with easy connectivity provided by virtual call centers.

Rightly designed and executed Outbound IVR campaigns can definitely strengthen a business’s ability to build healthy customer relationship, proactively handle potential grievances, and streamline customer engagement. Here are some key pointers to consider while planning your Outbound IVR campaign to ensure it achieves desired success.

1. Use an updated customer database

In order to make every outbound call effective, it is important to use an updated customer database in line with the purpose of the campaign. An entire database can be called to provide general information but if the campaign is being run for payment reminders then calling customers whose payments are clear could annoy them. It is also important to ensure customers are not troubled with repeated calls.

2. Keep your message short and to the point

Since outbound IVR campaigns are automated and carry pre-recorded messages, a long message could deter recipients leading them to hang-up midway. Use short and simple statements. If the Outbound IVR Campaign is a feedback survey then include just a few relevant questions with limited options to choose from. Simple options like press 1 for ‘yes’ and 2 for ‘no’ are known to receive better results. 

3. Personalize with multiple language options

With cloud telephony providers like Big V Telecom, the first to be incubated by Tata Elxsi, providing multi-language options for Outbound IVR services, you can personalize messages for customers in their local language. In a multi-lingual country like India, providing customers the liberty to hear the message in the language of their choice helps capture their interest and increases the probability of accurate responses.

4. Ensure value addition

Outbound IVR campaigns should be worth the customer’s time. Frequent IVR campaigns or calls with repetitive messages could lead the customers to opt-out of the campaigns. Automated voice messages for appointment reminders or informing about lowest price or discount or payment reminder would be appreciated by customers. On the other hand calling up a regular customer to take up membership card could be annoying. 

5. Provide option to connect with agent

Providing customers option to connect with your business representative at the end of the call can make the outbound IVR campaign more productive. Especially if the campaign is advertising launch of new products and services or is providing low cost deals, instant connectivity with cloud contact center could result in prompt sales.

The just-in-time concept of manufacturing is now gaining popularity in the service sector too. Just-in-time or on-demand services refers to availing the services only when required and paying only for the services when in use. This concept is especially beneficial for businesses that need to avail technologically advanced services like cloud telephony, which would otherwise demand high investment.

Minimize Operational Costs with On-Demand Cloud Telephony Services

Telecommunication as a service has historically been one of the important elements of business that required pre-planned implementation until the advent of cloud telephony. Cloud Telephony is redefining the way businesses today look at setting up their communication systems. With many established cloud telephony service providers, India has been able to provide large scale and affordable on demand hosted IVR solutions.

Since the services are availed from third party service providers, businesses themselves don’t need to make any additional investment in setting up infrastructure or procuring additional manpower. Additionally there is no need to sustain high maintenance PBX systems as it is all hosted on the cloud.

Instant scalability of cloud telephony infrastructure

On-demand cloud telephony has given businesses the liberty to take quick strategic decisions about relocating business without having to undergo delay in setting up required communication channels. Since the business phone system is cloud hosted it does not require any physical relocation and can be used without any interruption on your mobile phones as well.

In case of expanding business at a new location all that the business has to do is call up the cloud telephony service provider and ask for up-scaling services by adding new extensions that can be conveniently used on existing virtual number. The employees can use these numbers on their mobile phones too.

Aids Strategic Marketing

Affordable IVR services from providers like Big V Telecom, the first company to be incubated by Tata Elxsi, ensure that the businesses can take up informed marketing projects to gain a competitive edge without having to undertake large monetary risks. With real time and on-demand call analytics, companies can know the success rate of various marketing channels and invest in the most profitable ones.

Additionally for taking up marketing initiatives like missed call campaigns or outbound IVR surveys, cloud telephony service providers can offer short-term on-demand missed call and outbound IVR services on existing numbers for the stipulated time-frame of the campaign.

With cloud telephony at your hand you can upscale or downscale your telecommunication facilities as per your business requirements. You will no longer require spending on unnecessarily maintaining systems that might be of use only in future and can optimize the allocation of your resources for more important aspects of business.