CallTrax

How This Call-Tracking Feature Can Transform Your Marketing

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

You’ve heard of our CallTrax™ feature—our very own call-tracking tool that comes with every Starter, Core, or Premium program. But did you realize exactly how vital it is to your campaign?
By keeping track of all the phone calls that come through your CallTrax number, it transforms the way you interact with your program. If you take advantage of this powerful tool, we’re confident you’ll see remarkable results.
Here’s how our call-tracking tool is just what you need to achieve the results you’ve been looking for.

Call-Tracking Provides 100% Transparency

The numbers don’t lie. Not only do they keep us informed, but they also keep us honest.
First of all, looking at your call data and assessing how many calls per month you have will let us know if there’s an issue with your campaign’s performance. You can notify us if you see a drop in calls, which will help us diagnose a potential problem before it becomes more serious.
At the same time, your call volume will also tell you how effective your campaign is. Wondering if our program is delivering on its value? Simply check your call log and see how many calls you’re getting per month. The call log only records calls that come through your CallTrax number, so they’re directly attributable to our marketing efforts. We can’t fake anything.

Call-Tracking Keeps a Record of Contacts

Our call-tracking feature doesn’t just tally your number of incoming calls—it keeps track of contact information, as well. That means your call log is a virtual contacts list of all prospects and customers. Since losing track of missed calls and forgetting to follow up with certain customers can cost you valuable jobs, this feature can be a real lifesaver.
Plus, there’s also a way for you to rate your contacts and label which calls led to booked jobs. This way, your call log can give you a quick, at-a-glance report that tells you how many jobs you’ve booked this month. By using this, you’ll not only be able to see how many calls you’re getting, but how many calls are actually turning into jobs. Because booking jobs is your ultimate goal, this insight will help you stay on track.

Call-Tracking Helps Improve Customer Service

Did you know that our call-tracking feature also records all the calls on your LeadTrax line? There are many purposes for this. One of the main purposes is that it helps you assess your own level of customer service.
Getting lots of calls but not booking many jobs? Listening back to your conversations with callers may help you identify a problem you didn’t know existed. For instance, maybe you’re having trouble talking to or connecting with people on the phone. Replaying those conversations can help you figure out where you need to improve in order to book more jobs and keep customers happy.

Call-Tracking Keeps Team Members in Check

In addition to assessing your own customer service, call recording may also help you train your team members to answer the phone properly. You can make sure they’re answering the phone with a professional greeting, using appropriate language, giving out correct information and price quotes, and so on.
Of course you don’t want to feel like a helicopter boss, hovering over your team members at all times. However, it’s important to make sure your business’s service is up to your standards. You want to be certain your customers are getting a premium experience. Listening back to old conversations on occasion is a discreet, convenient way to do this.

Call-Tracking Helps Target Customer Needs

Do you feel like you’re hearing a lot of the same questions and/or requests from customers? Our call recording lets you listen back to conversations so you can take note of these specific concerns. Then, you can start thinking about adding them to your service offerings if you don’t already offer them. These conversations offer priceless insight into your customers’ minds, and you’d be crazy not to take advantage of it.
Once you’ve identified the customer needs and additional services you’d like to target, let us know right away. We’ll get right to work marketing those services so your campaign can reach the next level.
Having trouble accessing your call log through the Client Portal? Want to learn more about its capabilities? Don’t hesitate to reach out at any time.

What You Need to Know About Missing E-Mail Notifications

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

Some clients have not been receiving their usual e-mail notifications about incoming phone calls. Is this happening to you?
Before we jump into an explanation, we’d like to make one thing clear: You are still receiving incoming calls. You just aren’t receiving e-mails notifying you about them.
We could use a lot of technological mumbo-jumbo to explain what’s causing the delivery failure, but that would probably just create more confusion. So, to put it in the simplest terms, the problem boils down to spam-fighting changes made by your e-mail provider.

Here’s what you need to know:

E-mail notifications about your phone calls are sent by a third-party phone provider.
For some reason, your e-mail server is rejecting e-mails from this third party.
- It’s difficult to say exactly why this is happening.
- It could be that your e-mail provider recently updated its e-mail authentication protocol, which is causing it to block the messages. (You can read more about e-mail authentication here.)
- Or, it could be that there’s been an uptick in the number of e-mails sent by this particular third party, and this tripped a switch somewhere in the authentication protocol, resulting in the decision to start blocking these e-mails.
Whatever the reason, you aren’t receiving e-mail notifications about your phone calls because your e-mail server is rejecting them.

We understand how the sudden absence of e-mail notifications can be alarming—especially if you’re used to receiving dozens per month. But remember: You’re still getting incoming calls.
Plus, that call information is not lost. It’s in your call log! Checking your call log is easy: Just sign in to the Client Portal, and all of your callers’ information will be there.
Like we said, there’s not a whole lot in anyone’s control with this issue. If you want to continue receiving e-mail notifications, you can try “whitelisting” the sender’s address so it stops getting rejected. Here’s how to do that.
On our end, we’re looking into ways we can revamp our systems and for ways we can pressure our vendors to change theirs. Unfortunately, there’s no quick fix. In the meantime, just keep in mind that e-mail, by its nature, is never 100% reliable. To make sure you’re getting all the info you need, continue checking your Client Portal regularly.
If you have any further questions or concerns about this issue, feel free to call or e-mail us.

Why Do Rewarding SEO Campaigns Demand Your Patience?

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

Wouldn’t SEO campaigns be so much easier if you could just flip a switch and watch them go? Alas, the Internet simply doesn’t work that way.
Launching an online marketing campaign takes a lot of time. To ensure extended success, Prospect Genius—and many standup companies like us—must run through an exhaustive, time-consuming process when setting up any new campaign.
If you’ve been asking yourself why your Core campaign took so long to get off the ground, then this blog post is for you. Here, you’ll get a thorough explanation of all the work Prospect Genius typically does when launching a Core campaign. You’ll also find out why this process is worth the wait.
Let’s jump in!

How We Create a Campaign

As soon as a new client accepts our terms of service, we pull the lever and get the ball rolling on your campaign. Each step leads to another, and they must be completed in the right order. We cannot skip ahead. Remember the game Mouse Trap? It’s kind of like that.
Here’s what the process looks like from beginning to end. By the time you get to the bottom of this list, you’ll understand how much work goes into getting a campaign off the ground:

Basic background check. Before beginning any work, we investigate what kind of information and listings are already out there for your company. This will inform us on how to proceed.
Address check. We need to ensure you can receive mail at the address you gave us. This is how Google verifies your business’s location. If you can’t receive mail there, we must figure out a legitimate workaround before we can continue.
Call forwarding setup. We order your call forwarding number, a.k.a. your CallTrax™ number, which allows us to track your incoming leads for you. Once we receive this number from our provider, we set up call forwarding and add it to our system.
Photo collection. We gather photos of your business found during our background check or submitted by you. We save these photos in a collection so we can use them when we build your LeadTrax™ site. If you don’t have any photos, we will find relevant stock photos for you.
Review collection. We search the Internet for reviews of your business. We record and save all of the positive reviews so we can display them on your LeadTrax site.
Google Maps setup. We find out whether you have an existing Google Maps listing. If you do, then we try to gain access to it by having you name us manager or by submitting a claim to Google.

And that’s just the initial setup! Now, your campaign moves on to the writing and assembly stage.

Keyword research. We do research to discover the most appropriate keywords for your site. This enables us to formulate the best approach for on-page SEO.
Fresh content creation. We write all of the copy for your LeadTrax site from scratch. No content is duplicated for new clients. You get totally unique content for your site.
Error proofing. Writing content from scratch means it has to be meticulously combed over for mistakes. We double- and triple-check your content to certify its accuracy.
Site building. Once your content has been crafted and carefully edited, we design and build your site based on our templates. Our templates leave plenty of room for customization, though, so it’s never a one-size-fits-all scenario.
Quality control. Before we launch your site, we check it one more time to make sure it looks great and represents your business accurately and positively.
Resource setup. After your LeadTrax site has been launched, we create Bing and Google accounts so we can set up Webmaster tools and resources for your campaign.
Social media setup. We also create social media pages for your business on Facebook, Twitter, About.me, and Foursquare.

This covers the first several weeks of your campaign. Then we move on to the trickiest part:

Online promotion. Over the next 60 days, we create and/or claim a series of online listings using the most up-to-date information about your business. However, this process is performed in multiple stages, spread out over weeks. (Find out why below.) The efficiency of this process is partially dictated by your cooperation in claiming and verifying listings.

Once this phase is complete, you’ve reached the end of what we call your “ramp-up period.” It usually takes about 90 days, or three months, to get here.

Why Does It Have to Be Done This Way?

We aren’t the only ones who take our time establishing a campaign. Any reputable Internet marketer knows a campaign can’t be launched overnight. Building the foundation for a long-lasting presence takes weeks and weeks and weeks of meticulous, strategic work.
Why do we thoroughly examine your company’s web presence before we even begin? Because we need to correct any past missteps and start your campaign on a solid footing. Otherwise, the actions of your campaign may contradict existing information and inadvertently work against you.
Why do we write all of your site content from scratch? Because we understand that your business is unique, and your content should represent you. Plus, copying content from other campaigns is a surefire way to get penalized by Google. Duplicate content is a huge no-no any way you look at it.
Why do we perform your online promotion in multiple stages? Because creating or updating all of your listings at once will lead Google to mark them as spam. We strategically spread out the creation of your listings week by week so your growing presence appears more organic. This nurtures your site’s rankings without risking penalties from Google.
In other words, we take our time because that’s the only way to do online advertising right.

How Come Other Companies Get It Done Faster?

It’s true—some companies can get your campaign up and running in a week. And after reading all about our setup process, you have to ask yourself, How is that possible?
There’s no simple answer to this, but it boils down to the fact that it’s easier to take shortcuts. Many Internet marketing companies sacrifice long-term presence for quick results. They set up your campaign as fast as they can, and then they forget about it.
But here’s the thing: You only get a super-fast turnaround when your web history hasn’t been thoroughly examined, when your content has been copied and pasted, when your business is promoted like spam, when your campaign is just another carbon copy.
So if an online advertising company is promising you unbelievable success within mere weeks, it’s because they’re cutting corners. Don’t take the bait.

A banner we proudly display in our office.

Why Does Your Business Have So Many Missed Calls?

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

Have we told you lately how important it is to answer your phone?
We’ve noticed many of our clients have a staggering number of missed calls.
It all started with Google. In doing our day-to-day marketing tasks for clients, we discovered many clients are consistently missing important calls from Google. Not only is this a pain for us—because then we have to schedule another appointment for you to speak with Google—but it also makes us worry about your phone habits in general.

Why aren’t you picking up the phone in the first place?
In this newsletter, we’ll explore two major reasons to answer your phone. We’ll also offer some tips to help you stay on top of incoming calls.
Let’s get started.

Why Should You Want to Answer the Phone?

The caller might actually be Google.
The caller might be an interested customer.

If It’s Google:

You want to answer the phone because missing this call will prevent your listing from being verified. This is especially urgent at the beginning of your campaign, when we’re setting up your listing. However, we’re constantly checking your listings and making necessary changes throughout the duration of your campaign, so Google may call to re-verify your listing at any time.
Without verification from Google, your local web presence will suffer because your listing will not be visible to users. As a result, you could miss out on serious money in lost business.

If It’s a Customer:

You want to answer the phone because missing this call means your customer will be giving their money to one of your competitors instead of working with you. Consistently missing customers’ calls is another way you could be losing thousands of dollars in business. That’s a pretty strong reason to pick up your phone.

How You Can Take Action Without Much Effort

Now that you’ve discovered what’s at stake, arm yourself with the right knowledge and tools to avoid missed calls in the future. Here’s a quick rundown of what you need to know:

Legitimate customers may be calling from out-of-area phone numbers. Thanks to cell phones, area codes don’t mean anything anymore.
Always answer any call from the (650) area code. This is Google.
You can use call forwarding for your CallTrax number so you don’t miss calls while you’re out.
You can also use a professional answering service if you’re bothered by constant disruptions or marketing calls.

Don’t Automatically Dismiss Out-of-Area Phone Calls

Many local business owners might see an area code from out of state or even out of their service area and assume it’s not a legitimate customer calling. However, area codes are essentially meaningless nowadays.
An out-of-area phone number doesn’t necessarily mean the call isn’t coming from a local resident. Many people exclusively use cell phones, and they keep their phone number when they move from one state to another. Area codes only tell you where an individual first signed up for their phone plan.
On top of that, unless your business is located in the San Francisco Bay area, Google’s calls will always register as out of area for you. Remember: Google will be calling from a (650) area code. If you see that number, answer it.

Call-Forwarding for Your CallTrax Number Is a Game Changer

Have you tried out our call-forwarding feature?
When set up correctly, our call-forwarding feature will ensure you never miss a phone call. Without it, you miss any calls that come to your main CallTrax number every time you’re out on a job or leave the main office.
Setting up call-forwarding is easy. Through the Client Portal, you can add the phones you would like your CallTrax number to forward to. You can have calls sent to your cell phone instead of the main office during certain times of day, like when you’re back at home for the night. You can also have calls routed to a second and even third phone number after the main phone misses a certain number of rings.
However you decide to set it up, keep track of which phones calls are forwarded to at different times of day. Don’t leave your cell phone in your office all night if your calls are being forwarded to it after hours!

Professional Answering Services Are Available if the Phone Just Isn’t Your Thing

Some business owners just don’t like being on the phone, and that’s why they avoid answering it. While we totally understand how uncomfortable it can feel to talk to strangers, and how disruptive it can feel when you’re in the middle of a job, we can’t let you miss that many phone calls. It’s harming your business.
If you really can’t stand being on the phone—or you’re simply too busy—hire a professional answering service to do it for you. While we don’t endorse any particular company, we have clients who successfully use AnswerConnect as their answering service.
(Bonus: An answering service will screen out marketing calls so you never have to deal with them!)
Explore other strategies for handling missed calls.

The Good Outweighs the Bad

Make it a policy to answer your phone as often as possible. What do you have to lose?
Even if the caller turns out to be a solicitor, you’ll only be wasting a minute or two on the phone. Isn’t it worth losing just a minute of your time if it means you’ll be there to speak with Google and countless prospective customers when they call? With literally thousands of dollars on the line, we feel it’s well worth the risk.

Phone Package Upgrade: Scam or Necessity?

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

Has your phone package recently been upgraded? Are you confused about why the phone package upgrade raised your bill by a few extra dollars per month?

Some clients have been vocal about their confusion—which we always welcome—and have even shared their concerns about it with us. Now, we’d like to explain why we have to handle the phone package the way we do.

First, Here’s What You Need to Know

Before we dive into our explanation, let’s make a few points clear:

The level 1 upgrade results in a 2.9% increase (about $9) in your monthly bill.
Your package is only upgraded after you exceed 100 minutes of phone time on your CallTrax™ line.
This is a pass-through cost. We’re not charging this fee to earn more profit, but rather to cover the increased cost we incur by buying more minutes for your campaign.
We don’t automatically build these extra minutes into your plan because we don’t want clients to have to pay for them unless they’re actually using them.

Now that we’ve established the facts, let’s get into why the upgrade is truly necessary.

It Keeps Our Interests Aligned With Yours

Why can’t Prospect Genius just cover these extra costs on your behalf?
The answer has to do with keeping our interests aligned with yours. You see, as your LeadTrax™ campaign performs better and better, it will generate more calls from customers. That’s why you hired us, after all. But if we were to pay out of pocket for all of our clients who exceeded their allotted phone minutes because their campaigns were too effective, then we would be incentivized to do a worse job so that you receive fewer calls (thus minimizing our payments).
Obviously, that would be against your best interests. You want us incentivized to send you as many quality leads as your business can handle. That’s why we pass the phone costs on to you. The way we see it, asking you to pay a nominal fee of $9 to the phone company is worth it if it enables us to continue working hard for your business.
If we didn’t do this, then we would wind up footing the phone bill for some ultra-successful clients, which could actually do some serious damage to our own finances. Take, for example, a taxi company in NYC that we work with. This particular business was fielding so many calls that it once racked up $900 in phone charges in one month! We wouldn’t be able to continue to do good work for all of our clients if we had to pay out of pocket every time that happened.

It Keeps Us Motivated to Do Good Work

The good news is that, as long as you pay the nominal fee for extra minutes, we have only the incentive to provide you with quality advertising services and to send you the valuable leads you want.
That’s what sets us apart from pay-per-lead advertisers. Unlike them, Prospect Genius’s bottom line is not dependent on the number of calls we send you. Pay-per-lead advertisers, on the other hand, earn their profit by charging you for each lead they send to you. This means they have the incentive to send as many leads as possible, even when they aren’t legitimate or relevant to your business. As a result, low-quality leads are common with these advertisers because they’re trying to maximize profits.
Thankfully, our flat-fee model means we’re free to only do good work for you, no matter what. That’s probably why you chose to hire Prospect Genius in the first place. But if our finances were suddenly tied to the number of leads we sent you, this would inevitably change. Again, that’s why we pass the phone costs on to you.

It’s a Small Price to Pay for a Successful Campaign

If you’re still unsure about paying an extra $9 per month, try viewing phone minutes as just another minor business expense. In this context, the phone package upgrade should be a no-brainer.
For instance, let’s say you’re a traveling repairman and you have a set budget for gas every month. In May, you unexpectedly start booking more jobs and, because you’re traveling so much, you end up surpassing your gas budget by the end of week three. Would you increase your gas budget to cover the fourth week, expecting that your increase in jobs will more than make up for it? Or would you pass on any incoming jobs for the rest of the month because you refuse to pay a little more for gas?
Or, let’s say you own a car audio and accessories shop. You have a set budget for the electricity bill each month, but in December, you suddenly get a lot of new customers looking for holiday gifts. Would you take the extra jobs and run up a slightly higher utility bill as a result? Or would you stop accepting new customers as soon as you reached your limit?
In either of these scenarios, we’re guessing you would probably accept the slight increase in costs in exchange for more jobs. Paying a little extra for phone minutes shouldn’t be any different.

Ultimately, It’s About Transparency

Some other advertising companies avoid the issue of a phone package upgrade by building extra phone costs into their monthly prices. As we explained in an earlier blog post,

Every company in this business must pay phone line charges. No matter who you deal with, those minutes must be paid for. If an SEO company never raises their phone package price or never adjusts your bill to allow for more minutes, that means they’ve been unnecessarily charging you for the biggest package from the get-go.

But we don’t think that’s honest or fair to the client. Wouldn’t you rather start with a lower baseline price and then only pay extra for minutes that you’re actually using?
We think our approach to clients’ phone packages is the only way to remain open and transparent. It also keeps us doing honest, good work for your local business. While you may not be ecstatic to see your bill go up, remember that the upgrade is just a side effect of a strong, vital campaign.

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