Phone Calls vs. Qualified Phone Calls

The following is excerpted from the Keyword Connects eBook: 5 Online Metrics That Matter for Home Improvement Lead Generation (and Five That Don’t). To download the full eBook, please go to www.keywordconnects.com.

Pay-Per-Call services are growing in popularity. They generate home improvement leads in the form of phone calls to you. You pay based on the number of phone calls you get.

And unlike all the irrelevant, misleading and downright unethical means used to generate online traffic, inbound phone calls don’t lie.

Most of the time.

Remember, when you sign up a service to generate phone calls, it is in their best interest to generate as many calls as possible. Some of these calls will be great, others will be garbage.

One way that these lead gen companies increase call volume is by deliberately misrepresenting you in online directories.

Here’s an example. Many roofers don’t want repair work. They want full roof replacements that are worth their time and effort. 

But for pay-per-call companies, it’s not necessarily in their best interest to make that distinction. So, in their programs, they may also list you under “roof repair,” “roof snow removal” and “gutter installation.” They are incented to drive calls to you…but not necessarily for the type of work you want.

Then they trumpet their results back to you. “Look at all the calls our program is generating for you!”

Other shady tactics include putting your name and number out to cold call lists, auto-dialers, as well as having technology call you at night, after business hours. The more calls that come in, high quality or not, the more money they make – and the more money you waste.

The solution here is to monitor your telephone traffic. You must track the number of calls you receive and the number of these that result in issued leads. 

Lead Gen Insight #4:
Inbound phone calls are generally good quality leads. But make sure you’re not paying for bogus activity you don’t need.