Will this ?Must Have Tool? Boost Your Website?s Conversion Rates?

Will this ?Must Have Tool? Boost Your Website?s Conversion Rates?
"55% of travel and hospitality web site visitors prefer to
speak to someone before booking." ? Jupiter Research.

A few months ago I had a rather unpleasant experience of
losing my web hosting server. A large power failure at
their data center, plus their failure to backup properly
caused them to go out of business and it was not possible
for me to renew my domain name or hosting. So I had to
transfer everything over to a new server. Part of the
hassle with all this was that my database, containing some
two million business contact details was locked out and so
was any data submitted from new website visitors.

I had to abandon the contact forms on my site and rely on
prospects contacting me via the phone or email. One new
service I installed during this time helped fill the gap:
click-to-talk.

Click-to-talk, also known as click to call or push to talk,
is a website to phone contact service which enables a
website visitor to contact the business easily, immediately
and free of charge. The visitor clicks on a hyperlink or
icon, enters their phone number, clicks "Talk" and a few
seconds later is connected by phone (cell/mobile or
landline) to the business. It ?humanizes' the sales and
support process and this is what many website visitors want
according to a Jupiter Research report where "55% of travel
and hospitality web site visitors prefer to speak to
someone before booking."

Most businesses will have their contact phone number on
their sites, maybe including a freecall number, so what's
the attraction of Click to Talk? Well, firstly there's the
?wow' factor ? although click to talk has been around for a
few years it's still not common on e-commerce sites, so
it's regarded as cool.

Secondly businesses are finding that customers no longer
want to fill out lengthy contact forms when they want
immediate answers. The successful sites which use the
service tend to have it deployed at strategic points in the
sales process to aid their prospects' decision making
process or address support issues.

The service may include a number of features not found with
other phone systems. Each number is logged, allowing the
business to call back if they are called out of hours. To
prevent abuse, all IP addresses are also logged and a phone
number or IP address can easily be banned.

Some services allow the business to change their incoming
number at will or to set up different numbers at different
times of the day and week. Callers using the service after
hours may be greeted with an appropriate message on screen
and with some click to talk services the interface screen
is fully customizable with the company logo and text.

One advantage offered by some providers of click to talk
services over traditional freecall numbers is that there
may be no monthly fee, so the business only pays for the
calls they actually receive. Such providers may charge a
one-off set up fee instead, so look for a lifetime upgrade
and support as part of the deal.

So is Click to Talk suitable for your website? Well, it
won't bring in any more traffic to your site, its job is to
increase your website response rates once the visitors
arrive and thence your sales. So if you have the traffic
but your conversions could do with a boost, click to talk
will be a part of your strategy.

Next, do you do business locally, nationally or
internationally? Different service providers may cover
different geographic regions, so check that out. When it
comes to fees, do you opt for a monthly subscription or a
one-off lifetime license? If you opt for the latter, check
that it includes support and future upgrades. Does the
service provider offer other telecommunication products ?
such as international redirected numbers - that your phone
account may be used for? Check the type of phone
connection being offered ? PSTN (traditional phone service)
or VoIP? Is the quality of VoIP good enough for your
needs? Are you being offered a guarantee?

According to some research, customers' concerns about
privacy may be an issue when deciding to use a click to
talk service. Just as with gathering email addresses, the
website owner needs to have their privacy policy and legal
statement in a reassuring position before the prospect
enters their details. Does the service have an option to
enter this statement on the login screen?

Perhaps the most important question to ask is "Is it worth
paying a dollar to talk to a prospect who has just seen and
is still seeing our website?" Service providers obviously
think so, with websites claiming the value of "talk to your
prospects while they are hot for your product!" So only
you can decide. Click to Talk is being used in all sorts
of businesses: real estate, training consultants, lawyers,
hotel and accommodation bookings, holidays, furniture
manufacturers and many others. As one client put it "It is
easy to install, cost effective and provides immediate
results. I would recommend this to any company that wishes
to be in closer, more immediate contact with their
potential consumers. This low cost Click to Talk
technology will soon become a ?must have' tool."

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Michael Taylor is an online marketing and media consultant
and Director of CAN Telecom in Australia and New Zealand,
licensee for the Parlay Click to Talk? service. See
http://talkaus.com.au/clicktotalk.php