Well the holiday season is finally here, the 2005 selling season is almost ended and we at Capture the Call have had an outstanding year. We are so blessed to have the the greatest customers in the world supporting our company and the greatest call capture technology supporting our customers.

This year we established relationships with Midas, Bed Bath & Beyond and Linens and Things.
Through the gurus at our corporate technology think tank we added Smart 800 numbers, the ability to route calls geographically, blacklist telemarketers and close the selling loop with our answer center capability.

We have the ability to private label our product for advertising agencies and marketing companies, we record all calls and we can even color code them for easy identification. It just can't get any better.

But wait ~ we also established strategic alliances with incentive companies to provide the very best in cost effective incentives to DRIVE callers to your phones. How about Get Up & Go. How about a $6 price tag for a $560 drive away get away? We can do it!!!!!!!!!!!

One final thought, as you begin to plan out your upcoming year. Remember to thank those who helped you get to where you are because without their help and support where would you be?

So thanks to all who helped us have a great year in 2005. Let us know what we can do to help you and we will sure try to pay you all back for your support or if possible pay it forward.....Heaven knows we will surely need more support in the future.

Have a great day!

In these days of out of control litigation it seems that you can be sued by anyone, for anything, at anytime. The government watches us all closely as well. What if you could monitor and record all the calls that rang into your office from your advertising? Would it be beneficial to record these calls and keep them in a database, organized by name and date for as long as you like?

Enter Capturethecall.com . For as little as $2.oo a day you can protect yourself from unwarranted lawsuits, unscrupulous employees, misrepresentations, misstatements and "do not call" list violations via this solution. With us, you have the solution destined to help small to medium size businesses who don't have the budget for $300,000 phone systems that would allow them to do what we do by themselves. We will be the answer for years to come!

How do we do this you ask? ~ Good question! It is very easy. Have you ever heard of Call Capture ? If so, you know that our technology tracks all of the calls that come into your office via your phone lines. By using our numbers in all of your advertising you can automatically track all of the callers on these lines. You then are able to see all of the caller data in real time on our detailed call report and you are able to automatically record and review the conversation from the time the caller dials your office until you hang up. All of the calls are stored by name in our system for 1 year and you can download the recording as MP3 files and store them on your own personal computer. Or you can place the recordings on a CD and store them indefinitely. The great thing about our system is that the information is stored by name NOT by a recording number. SO, it is much easier for you to retrieve the information AND show that the recording is associated with the person you are feuding with.

Another question that comes up is "how would I use this as a solution for outbound calling compliance?". The answer lies in the ability of our system to be used as a low cost recording and storage facility. What we do is set up a line to go directly to our recording program. When needed, your sales people simply put their caller on hold, call our number and conference the two calls together. They get the callers consent to continue the call while recording. Ultimately everything discussed on the call is recorded and stored. At the end of the call both parties simply hang up and the call is processed into our catalogue system.

In the yellow page industry as reps ,we did this all of them time when we were renewing small ads, via the phone. We would speak with the owner on the phone and discuss the ad that they wanted to run. If they simply wanted to renew current advertising with no changes we could do so via the voice confirmation system. The conversation was recorded so in the event there was a question we were protected. I can tell you from personal experience that this service saved my hide a number of times when customers tried to get out of advertising. All I had to do was play the recording and I was safe.

Imagine the cost savings from have the ability to make and verify sales without leaving the office. It is a tremendous tool to use for smaller, low margin accounts that renew year after year! Your sales people don't have to waste the time to go on site which further adds to the sales optimization that we generate with our technology.

And so it goes in call capture. More ideas later!

As in past postings I have tried to give you ideas on how to enhance your business through the use of innovations created at the hands of our tremendous technology gurus. I think that what I am talking about today is a huge step forward in the Call Capture world because it actually follows the inbound prospect call from initiation through the close of the sales cycle AND provides a way for the owner or sales manager to be automatically advised when an opportunity is lost that exceeds a threshold level, say a $2000 sale, BEFORE the prospect can make a buying decision with a competitor.

Here is how it works ~ The basic concept was to couple a contact management program with our call tracking service. It was decided to have the program reside on the desktop of the person handling the calls, so when a call came in our program would "pop up" with the caller information thereby letting the sales person know who was calling. Further, if information was missing, we would allow the sales person to fill in information on the caller, the reason for the call, the outcome of the call and the estimated value of the potential sale.

With the information gathered and the call complete our system then classifies the call as positive, negative or neutral based upon criteria established by management. Our software then color codes the call for easy identification: Red for a negative outcome, Green for a positive outcome and Yellow for neutral. The higher the dollar value of the opportunity the deeper/brighter the color would be. So if you had a negative call on a $50,000 opportunity it would be a bright red. The sales manager would be made aware of it within about 7 seconds of the call. This is where it gets good.

The sales manager simply checks the reports in the system and can easily identify the calls that need his/her immediate attention. These "urgent call's" contact information and recording is reviewed and a recall strategy devised. This whole package can be sent to a different sales person to go back after the opportunity before it is lost! Many deals have been saved in this way!

Imagine how successful and focused your sales team would be with immediate feed back and Call Tracking/Call Capture. It is truly remarkable.

To see a demonstration of the product click here!

Have you ever heard of a "Smart" 800 Number?

Primarily known as Call Capture or Call Tracking ~ companies that provide advanced Call Management Services (CMS) have a veritable gold mine of tools in their arsenals to offer to our customers. All of the tools we offer at Capture the Call are cutting edge & very affordable solutions in call management, that most business customers don't even know about. It is our mission to get the word out about these exciting innovations so our customers can reap the savings and benefits that these programs offer.

As part of the ever expanding product line we now offer Smart 800 numbers with "Geo-Routing". This dynamic service utilizes toll free numbers that, via our software program, know where a caller is supposed to be routed by the telephone number that has dialed it.

As an example, lets say a call comes in from a national 800 number using our services. This caller dialed in from L.A.. In milliseconds our smart 800 number/Geo-routing program matches the phone number with a list of possible offices in LA. Then, based upon the prefix, we further route the number to the office or sales person that is closest ~ geographically~ to to the caller.
In this way the caller is always talking to the correct location. The whole process takes milliseconds and does not typically require input or press throughs from the caller. It is all done automatically.

Ultimately, you can then advertise a single 800 number and have it ring to the correct office all over the country.

Our primary purpose for this service is companies with geographically dispersed office locations, slaes people or retail outlets. These companies are always searching for ways to more efficiently manage their inbound customer calls. This system offers a tremendous savings in both phone numbers needed and advertising expense related to advertising multiple numbers in different regions. All of the numbers used in conjunction with this service are tracked so Capture the Call reporting and call recording is included in the cost of the service. Bottom line is you will know, down to the store location, sales person or office what happend to every call. You can also listen to how the caller was serviced, monitor compliance and evaluate sales strategy. All from one control page available 24/7 via the web. All of these recordings are stored as mp3 files for one year on our server by name & date and can be downloaded to your desktop for use in training meetings or litigation if necessary.

So, if you are looking for a cost effective way to manage your calls give us a shout. You may be surprised at what we can do for you.

And so it goes in Call Capture. More ideas later!

The question of call recording calls comes up often in the discussion of Call Capture. Many customers first response is that they see no real need to record the inbound calls that arrive from their advertising. After all, the real goal is to see how well the ad worked and to track the NUMBER of responses to that ad. Ultimately, they want a technology to quantify results once and for all so they can cancel that pesky Yellow Pages ad that they think does not have a return on investment, but are not sure.

In fact, most have said that if they could verify how each ad was working, then kill the bad ads, that the money saved would more than match the "cost" of our program. We agree! You should spend a small percentage of your ad budget, say 5%-7%, to confirm that the money is wisely spent and that the advertising is providing a return on investment. We believe you should never trust the advertising salesperson's statistics when you can run an ad, include a tracking number and know exactly how much each ad generated in call volume and actual sales.

Consider though, that the story does not end there. You make and save real money PLUS have a much higher return on investment via sales optimization. These dramatic improvements are realized by recording the calls, analyzing performance, then coaching your sales team to higher closing ratios. Once optimized, a sales organization closes more business from the leads that any advertising program generates. Therefore, it is important to quantify how many leads were generated but it is equally, if not more, important to understand how the leads that were created are actually handled inside your operation. As a business owner or sales manager responsible for the bottom line, you would be amazed at how your sales people and customer service people treat your customers on the phone. Numerous missed sales opportunities, failure to close for an appointment, incorrect information, short responses.

From an operational perspective you can't afford to not record. Your sales people do a stronger job, you can identify recurring mistakes, you can implement strategy and hold the sales team to it, you can record "bad calls" for coaching sessions and use good calls to praise and to help teach the other sales people how to handle frequent objections. It is not uncommon for our customers to save 4-6 deals a week as they launch our program and train the team up.

This process is truly key if you are an advertising or marketing professional that is providing programs designed to drive traffic for your customers. How many times have you heard a customer say that they were not going to do the program again because "it did not work", "we did not get very many calls", "the calls that came in were garbage", "we got calls but we did not close any business". The adage in the industry is "we make the phone ring but the rest is up to you"!

That statement and our call capture system will make you more money. Here is why. Lets say that the ad did only generate 2 calls but those calls were for $250k deals. What if the callers were perfectly suitable prospects but they were miss handled by the sales staff at your customers company? Was it the ad program OR his/her sales staff that is the problem. Maybe the call volume was great but they simply don't perform on the phone.

Enter Call Tracking. As a marketing professional, if you record, you can go back to all of the calls that the ad generated and identify callers that were closed for appointments, callers that failed to be handled properly, callers that left messages to be called back and never were and on and on......For the first time you can do an operational assessment of how the calls that you generated flowed through their system and put the blame for poor performance where it belongs. Sure it could be your ad program but more than likely the phone is ringing. They just need to perform better. Once they do the owner or sales manger makes more sales, you are credited with more business, your program is proven to work and they buy your services year after year. A true win/win!

And for those of you faced with COMPLIANCE ISSUES here is the perfect answer. Call Recording that does not cost an arm and a leg to implement!


SOOOO, as a Business Owner, Marketing Professional, Ad Agency or Sales Manager ~ when you are deciding if you should include call recording in your call tracking strategy~ the answer is a resounding YES!

And so it goes...More ideas later. Peace!

As owners of a Call Tracking company we are constantly looking for ways to improve the amount of phone traffic that our customers receive. Many would say that the best way to improve call count is to increase the amount spent on advertising or accelerate the rate of outbound calling activity that either your sales people or telemarketers provide.

Good ideas, but at Capture the Call we know the best way is to effectively manage both. Focus the amount spent on PRODUCTIVE advertising(as measured with a call tracking technology) AND get the team on the phone more often. Our idea, though, requires a different "bag of tricks" to help keep your ads and the sales team invigorated.

The key is to add something to the "cold" offering that is different than what the other competitors are offering in your market. Differentiate yourselves by providing your prospects with a real benefit of doing business with you. After all once they hire a company, they will get what they bargained for ~ your services performed by a competitor. What can you affordably offer IN ADDITION to the basics?. Create excitement with something that the prospect can touch and feel. Provide an offer that is compelling for them yet inexpensive for you. Generate something that the prospect is bound to talk about at the water cooler tomorrow. In that way your single cold call will not inspire one call but many calls. Basically, instant referrals.

The answer to all of these challenges is Incentives. Our basic premise was developed for our Mortgage Industry customers to support our ~ For Sale By Owner ~ program but it applies to every market and company. The concept is this. Trade a $560 incentive promotion(which costs as little as $6) for a 15 minute appointment, where you get to sell your product to the customer.

It is especially good when leaving messages to get the prospect to go to a website or give you a call back. Remember the only time they get the incentive is when your sales person does the appointment. You never give them anything until you have the opportunity to close a deal.

1. On the phone the approach sounds like this ~ Mr customer this is Bryon with Capture the Call. We are a call capture and advertising tracking company and we have been extremely effective in helping business owners and sales managers increase sales and reduce advertising expense through the use of our Call Capture technology. We are so sure that you will like the program that we are willing to trade a $560 incentive program for 15 minutes of your time to explain what we do. If you decide that we would be a benefit great, if not the $560 incentive program is yours to keep and use as our gift.
2. The exciting thing about this "Get Up & Go Program" is that I can buy this particular incentive program for as little as $6 per promotion.
3. The program offers a drive away get away with 21 super locations to choose from. Get Up & Go will provide over 600,000 incentive packages this year alone. It is a top notch and highly respected company with tremendous customer service practices. In the time we have been using the concept we have had a tremendous response.
4. For those of you who think it this is "to good to be true". Do yourself a favor and do research. Your competitors may be using this idea against you in your market right now.
5. Imagine the benefit of giving away a gift with a $560 perceived value to your potential customers. It truly does make them talk about you at the water cooler.

In closing I have one more idea that can be used to get that "shopping" prospect back to your company for the "last look".

• When the prospect calls for "information" train your sales people to provide them the information that they need BUT offer a reward if they call back after the research is done.

1. The call sounds like this: Mr customer I know you are just information gathering right now. When you are done and you are ready to buy give us a call back for "last look" to see if we can provide you a better option. If you will do that we will give you a $560 incentive just for your time. If we can beat the deal great, but if not you will still get the incentive just for giving us the final opportunity to earn your business.
2. We have found about 20-30% of the shoppers call back at the end their research. This is a much better process than asking them to call back when they are ready to buy. Yellow Pages research shows that the average caller will dial 5-6 companies before making a buy. If everyone offers basically the same thing they will usually buy from one of the last calls they make. Great, if you are the last call ~ not so good if you are the first. This is the reason it is critical to offer an incentive to return.

Of course all of these processes can be tracked using our Call Tracking Technology . Finally, you can know for sure what is working and what is not!

And so it goes with call tracking. More ideas later ~ Peace!

As we work in the office and receive calls from our customers or potential customers I am amazed at the resiliance of the single most frequently asked question ~ "How much does your call tracking service cost?". "Nothing" ~ Is our favorite answer. It is free we quip. In fact, we almost pay you to use our Call Capture technology.....

WHAT~ How can we pay you money? The answer is in the value of our service.

Here is an example: Lets say that you are a mortgage broker who has 10 LO's(loan officers) who you are providing leads for. These leads cost you about $38-$40 to procure. (They get pricey if the leads don't close don't they?)

In our experience in working with our customers and their teams the LO's range in capability from new to very experienced. So, how do we develop these new sales people to be better and the experienced ones to stay hungry and close more of these $40 leads???? By installing Call Tracking of course!!!! With us you can actually hear all of the calls that come in on your lines. Once you do this an amazing thing happens.

1. Your sales people try harder because they know you may be listening
2. You can quantify your calls, calls to prospects and finally prospects to loans
3. Hold the sales people accountable for the leads that they get and the close ratio that they have
4. Use the recording feature to do training and assessment to coach them to higher skill levels.
5. Hold the team accountable to a sales strategy. Are they actually selling the way the management or the owner wants them to.

At the end of the day call capture has an impressive impact on the sales of teams that use us. We offer many possibilities for Sales Optimization training that helps to increase sales immediately.

Here is a great example. One of our customers was loosing 5 mortgage opportunities a DAY. Net on most of them would have been about $2000. So that is about $10000 a day. Why?

Because his receptionist was telling potential clients that they did not have a sales office in the callers local market....Hello~ we can do this by fax and phone. She did not know she was making a mistatement. Once identified she just got a loan officer on the phone and let them deal with all potential customers. Imagine the lost revenue in 5 years...ouch!

Once our system was installed we immediately saved 6 deals. So, in the first week, of the first month, we had already MADE this company $12,000. His whole program for the month was $600 and for the year $7200.

I know for a fact that we had answered his "how much does it cost" question! For him it was about $1 million dollars LOST! If he had only had call tracking sooner he would have saved a bunch of money!

Brother, I would gladly trade $7200 for $100,000,000 any day of the week. And now he will to!

And so it goes with Call Capture. More examples later...peace!