When you miss a call, where is the first place you look to see who called you? If you’re like us, you check the call log on your iPhone or Android device to catch up on any missed calls. But if you don’t recognize the 10-digit number – or even worse, you see an 800 or 888 number – do you even bother calling back.
According to your customers, an unknown number is a huge red flag when it comes to trust.
Can You Trust Your Call Log?
Many businesses struggle to get callbacks from their customers. In fact, 87% of people said they don’t engage with unknown numbers. And making a call back to an unidentified number? Forget about it.
As a business owner, why would you expect a customer to call back a number they don’t recognize? Research shows that scam calls are big business. Nearly 1 in 3 Americans say they’ve fallen victim to a phone scam in the past year, resulting in a loss of more than $29.8 billion – that’s BILLION with a B – in one year.
Fraudsters are constantly pinging phones with unknown and illegally spoofed numbers. In a world where everyone is more connected than ever, what once was the most reliable way to reach someone has become the most unreliable – and frustrating – way to communicate.
CNAM Is So Last Decade
In the past, businesses relied on a technology called CNAM, Caller Name ID, to identify their outbound phone calls. CNAM is what most people know as Caller ID.
Fewer than 10% of people actually pay for these services through their mobile service provider.
Unfortunately, CNAM is also outdated and unreliable. Call names are pulled from a database that the business owner has no control over, meaning that a call from your number has a greater chance of being misidentified or misspelled.
Instead of “Mike’s Tree Service” your name could show up as “MIKES TREE SERV;” or worse, a completely incorrect name – hello, “Mike’s Bee Service” – misidentifying you and why you’re calling every time you make an outbound call.
Carriers rely on CNAM to correctly ID calls that are reaching customers, but if the name that is being pulled from a database is unidentified or wrong, then there is a greater chance that customers will perceive the call in their recent calls list as spam. And that means fewer callbacks, fewer conversions, and more frustration, for you AND your customers.
They Ain’t Gonna Call You Back
If you’re a call center or a business that’s calling from an 888 or 800 number, you can forget about hearing back from your customers.
When you make a call from an unidentified number, your customer is likely to see that number as untrustworthy, or worse, a spam call.
To put it simply: if you don’t identify your business, they ain’t gonna call you back.
Bad Number, Bad Reputation
First Orion surveyed 5,000 mobile phone subscribers in 2021 and unsurprisingly, 85% of people said they believe that an unknown number makes a business appear illegitimate.
Yikes! That’s a huge group of customers that will never answer your call just because your business number isn’t branded. Think of all the money you’re losing by sitting idly by, letting sketchy databases handle your information.
INFORM Branded Text Display
So, what’s the best solution to identifying your phone number and increasing those customer conversations? Meet INFORM Branded Text Display.
INFORM is much more than your typical CNAM service.
INFORM features a customizable 32-character text display that can showcase your name, a customized message, and your verified phone number. It puts the power of branded calling back in the hands of business owners.
When your customers know who’s calling, they’re more likely to want to talk with you. Even if they miss your call, when your name is clearly identified in the call log, they’ll feel more confident in making the callback.
First Orion’s INFORM Branded Calling can increase your callback rates exponentially. Identifying who you are and why you’re calling in your customer’s call history is a key step to getting there.
