Telmetrics Rings In Call Tracking for VendAsta's Rep Management
If getting customers to pick up the phone is the first priority for SMBs, the second is vetting caller traffic to distill quality leads from noise … and to understand the drivers behind each activity. “Bridging the online-offline gap” is emerging as a critical component of SMB reputation management. VendAsta is now incorporating call tracking intelligence from Telmetrics into its white-label reputation management platform that publishers can offer to their local clients.
In addition to monitoring customer reviews across social networks and online review sites, VendAsta’s Step Rep will now offer a layer of speech-to-text call tracking through Telmetrics’ Voice Trends that will enable deeper understanding of customer sentiment through keywords spoken and call duration, location, demographics and time.
VendAsta’s ultimate goal in this integration is to paint a comprehensive picture of consumer interactions with SMBs. This connects online presence to offline lead generation in a more holistic reputation management solution. It also allows businesses to build off of phone conversations to push into social media and deal-a-day offers through a deeper understanding of met and unmet customer demands.
BIA/Kelsey forecasts that local advertising spend on ERPM will reach $3.5 billion in revenues by 2014, and several major brands — Marchex, MerchantCircle, ReachLocal (through SMB Live), Yext (Yext Rep), Yellowbot and others — are lining up to compete for these SMB dollars.
Telmetrics President Bill Dinan told BIA/Kelsey that VendAsta’s move into call tracking represents an important step in the company’s “drive to distinguish” in this crowded sector. “The wave of the future in local search is that you have to specialize in somthing.”
StepRep is one of many white-label products that VendAsta offers for publishers to rebrand for their local merchants. The Saskatchewan-based software provider offers a daily deal white label called Daily Deals 3S that has been picked up by both DirectWest in Saskatchewan (MySaskDeals) and Winnipeg publisher EX Finder (EZ Deal). Its suite also includes a social recommendation engine to validate consumer reviews through users’ personal networks.