If you’re not using a local number, you’re losing. Big time

Source: https://www.voxbone.com/blog/local-number-consumer-trends-survey
Local phone calls are still the most effective way for a
business to speak with its customers, regardless of their age and despite the
growing popularity of emerging communications technologies. That’s the headline
finding of our new survey of US consumers, which reveals that nearly two-thirds
(60%) prefer picking up the phone to receiving text messages when it comes to
communicating with businesses.
It may be tempting to dismiss the importance of the
telephone in favour of social media, chatbots and other newer technologies.
These channels certainly have their place, but voice remains the fundamental
touchpoint between contact centres and their customer base.
Taking down the
stereotypes
We questioned over 1,000 US consumers ranging from Baby
Boomers to Generation Z about the type of communication that they prefer to use
when interacting with a business. Going against the stereotype we have of
youngsters with their thumbs glued to their smartphones, some 65% of Generation
Z (0-21 years old) and Millennials (22-37 years old) admitted they actually
prefer phone calls over text messaging and are 39% more likely to answer calls
than any other generation!
If you’re operating your contact centre in multiple markets,
being able to quickly and easily create a local voice presence anywhere in the
world is essential. In fact, our research shows that consumers are more
trusting of local phone calls than those coming from out-of-state numbers.
What’s more, they are 3x more likely to answer a local call than one coming
from an international number. With more businesses operating across borders and
the average consumer receiving nearly 23 unknown calls a week, the competitive
advantage of dialling from a local number really cannot be overstated.
Not using a local
number? You’re losing out
By leveraging local phone numbers, companies can maximise
the likelihood of engaging with their customers, with consumers 3x as likely to
answer the phone when receiving a call from a number within their geographic
area. As well as this, respondents are 34% more likely to be receptive to
taking a sales call when from a local number. So it’s not an exaggeration to
say that local presence dialling is the holy grail for businesses.
Voice of a generation
Surprisingly our data reveals that Generation Z and
Millennials prefer to be contacted with a phone call almost 4X more than
Generation X (38-53 years old). So there’s no denying that the telephone is
still the most important communication channel and you should modify your
contact centre outreach accordingly.
Know your customers
While voice is critical, good CX (customer experience)
involves a joined-up approach across channels. And that means supplementing
calls with texts, emails and any other channel that your customers prefer. One
of the most interesting aspects of our findings were the geographic differences
in preferences between voice and SMS. Interestingly there was a strong
preference for texting along the western seaboard, while voice is strongest in
the middle and east of the country.
At the extreme ends of the scale, 83% of those in the Pacific region stated a preference for receiving texts, while 71% of New Englanders and 75% of those in West South Central preferred phone calls.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
To explore this topic further or to meet with Voxbone, why not Register Free here for Customer Contact X 2019?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________