John Ragsdale, vice president of research at the Service & Support Professionals Association (SSPA):
Technical support is finally being viewed as a strategic part of a long-term customer relationship.
The SSPA's 2006 Technology Spending survey, examining companies with under $1 billion in revenue, estimates that 2007 spending by these companies in North America on eService, CRM, contact center and field service technologies will be $565 million, with 57% of budgets for new technology earmarked for CRM and contact center products.
ATG's acquisition of click-to-call specialist eStara provides online self-service with a new channel. This seamless transition from unassisted to assisted service provides an incredible customer experience. SSPA expects both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) companies to begin adopting this technology in 2007 for high-value customers, both pre- and post-sale.
With all the email clutter, it’s difficult enough to make a momentarily positive impression on consumers (i.e., open and read the offer). But what if your aim is to unveil a personalized experience that intends to generate buzz for a new product? And not simply for the near future but also for the long term? See how one European automaker synchronized video-messaging and telemarketing in a viral email campaign to create an unforgettable experience for users.
Most multichannel merchants do a fine job of branding across channels. But few are leveraging the information gathered across business units to enhance their multichannel strategy. For too long, companies have separated their online channels from their contact centers without realizing that the two units can work in unison to boost overall sales and improve customer experience.
Click-to-call combines the measurement and ad dollar accountability of pay-per-click online advertising with live interaction with a sales representative. After reading a product review, PC Magazine readers can click a link to call a product manufacturer's customer service representative directly.
The service will connect the shopper with the customer service representative by ringing the phone at each end.
Reston, VA-based Technology provider eStara, a wholly owned subsidiary of Art Technology Group Inc., powers the functionality. PCMag.com attracts first adopters and tech-savvy readers, who the magazine claims are more accepting of the still emerging click-to-call ad format. The channel may attract more high spend purchases as consumers will have the opportunity to speak to someone in person.
PCMag.com, has launched a service for its visitors, specifically those ready to make a major purchase online. Click to Call enables PCMag.com visitors to immediately connect to a product manufacturer’s customer service representative–by telephone–with a simple click of a button. In an exclusive partnership through eStara, the preferred provider of proactive conversion solutions for enhancing online sales, PCMag.com is a Web publisher to utilize this next-generation technology within its product review pages to deliver leads to national advertisers.
For businesses that primarily serve local customers, the promise of the Internet has long been tantalizing. However, the inability of search engines to match up customer queries with truly local ads has made collecting sales leads online difficult. That has begun to change, as Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO), Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), MSN, and AOL (NYSE:TWX) have ramped up their local search functions. Indeed, online local advertising is poised to jump 53 percent, to $2 billion in 2007, according to Web research shop eMarketer.com. Meanwhile, a number of start-ups targeting local advertisers are providing new vehicles for local online advertising.
In this podcast he discusses the future of self-service technology, its evolution from a tactical to a strategic imperative and how vendors in the market are innovating. He also shares his take on highly customized "microsites" that allow users companies to create personalized pages for customer eservice and the growing importance of "click-to-call."
eStara's Click to Call, Click to Chat and Call Tracking products were eyed by ATG in hopes of furthering ATG's mission of "enabling online sellers to find customers, convert them to buyers and ensure their satisfaction so they become loyal, repeat, and profitable customers," in ATG official boilerplate.
eStara's Click to Call solution allows an online consumer to request an immediate call from a salesperson or customer care agent, via the telephone or computer.
In the past year, click-to-call has been cast in the limelight, and for good reason: enterprises, search engines, online publishers and interactive agencies have all found new and exciting applications for the technology, and are leveraging it in innovative ways to proactively connect buyers and sellers. But with any new technology there will be both early adopters and early detractors.
In a pioneering move for an online media site, PCMag.com is teaming up with eStara to provide its visitors with a click-to-call feature that enables them to directly connect to a product manufacturer’s customer service representative—by telephone—with a click of a button.
Because sports teams compete not only with other teams in their area but also movie theaters and concerts for customers' disposable income, purchasing tickets is often an emotional decision for customers. That is why it is important to connect with customers while they are browsing your web site to capitalize on their enthusiasm. Any adversity the customer encounters during this delicate timeframe may result in an abandoned online cart, so companies must instill marketing strategies that engage customers. Faced with this dilemma, the Golden State Warriors chose to implement click-to-call and click-to-chat functionality within their marketing and sales channels to improve their online sales conversions.
In August, much ado was made about internet giants Google and eBay agreeing to jointly develop click-to-call text advertising. Click to call allows users to click on a button embedded on an online ad, and instantly be connected to that business over the phone. Google and eBay have adeptly recognized that, in many instances, a voice connection is the most efficient way to connect buyers with sellers and convert sales.
Here's why the buying may prove to be smart: in September, ATG beefed up its portfolio of services by acquiring e-commerce customer care specialist eStara for roughly $48 million. As a result, management has revised its full-year sales target upwards to $100 million to $108 million.
What's more, the additional capabilities offered by eStara, which are geared to help e-retailers close more business, could smooth earnings and boost cash flow. Meanwhile, analysts now expect ATG to grow the bottom line by an average of 20% annually over the next five years for a price-to-earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio of 1.14, well below the industry average of 1.46. That's good enough to earn a spot in my CAPS portfolio.
National franchise operations have marketed in the same ways for years and years. That is, the national budgets were applied to brand building and the local franchisees were charged with creating local lead flow.
But as they say: that was then, this is now. Certainly the approach I described above will continue to be the chief formula for many franchise marketing strategies for years to come. But new technologies afford franchises the opportunity to explore new formulas.
Hotel operators have been, for the most part, aggressive and smart in offering potential customers information about their properties online. In fact, the Web and e-commerce play such a central role in attracting customers, we often don’t think about how a Website might actually turn off prospective clients.
I’m a frequent traveler – hundreds of flights, countless hotel rooms and entirely too much time spent with unhelpful online booking services. The frustration has driven me to be disloyal to many well-known brands. My profile makes me the exact target customer that all of you are trying to reach. I travel all over the country several days a week. So I have a few helpful tips that might help you create stronger, more loyal relationships with frequent business travelers like me.
Hotels in the U.S. generated more than $105.3 billion in revenue last year. That number is expected to grow according to the American Hotel & Lodging Association. That said, here are five Website missteps that that are sure to turn off your customers, before you’ve even spoken with them.
Greg Cook is one South Florida real estate agent who doesn't mind when clients push his buttons. In fact, he encourages it.
Cook's Web site and e-mails contain buttons that say "Talk Now. Click here to speak with us." Click on the button, and within three seconds your phone will ring. A few seconds later, Cook gets on the phone to answer any questions you may have.
Technologies instantly connecting shoppers with merchants have been used by banks or others since the late 1990s, when Virginia-based Estara, now the industry leader in click services, began offering them.
In many ways 2007 has the potential to be a breakout year for call tracking and pay-per-call solutions.
Therefore, it was no surprise this week when eStara gained another local partnership, this time with Cox Newspapers. The publisher announced plans to embed eStara’s click-to-call platform across its major daily newspaper sites. The click-to-call feature will be integrated with both classified and display advertising. As newspapers continue to revamp their businesses to remain competitive with portals and search engines, offering advertisers a solution for tracking calls and consummating transactions has become a necessity.
Putting customers in touch with the service providers they need at the exact moment they need help is becoming increasingly important to businesses as more people make purchases and find vendors online. To prevent customers from abandoning a site or a sale because they run into problems or have a question, companies are now using a "click-to-call" feature, which lets people call a customer service agent directly by clicking an icon on the page.
Several links throughout Warriors.com give fans the opportunity to “talk with an account representative” or “chat with an account representative.”
The team brought on eStara—a company that provides solutions for enhancing online sales and support initiatives—to install the click-to-call and click-to-chat features.
“Our most recent forecast indicates that performance-based advertising, which includes pay-per-call and click to call services like eStara’s, will account for 26 percent of traditional directional ad revenues by 2010,” said Matt Booth, senior vice president, Interactive Local Media, The Kelsey Group. “We expect newspaper publishers will play a significant role in the demand for these services, as they look to attract the growing number of advertisers that are interested in performance-based options.”
Click-to-call and click-to-chat solutions provider eStara announced that Cox Newspapers is embedding eStara click-to-call technology in the websites of all of its newspaper properties.
Cox - which owns the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Austin American Statesman, among others - is the first multi-newspaper owner to offer click-to-call services across all of its properties, throughout classified advertising, customer service and advertising sales pages, eStara said.
"Our most recent forecast indicates that performance-based advertising, which includes pay-per-call and click-to-call services like eStara's, will account for 26 percent of traditional directional ad revenues by 2010," said Matt Booth, SVP, Interactive Local Media, The Kelsey Group.
Now, with the eStara purchase, ATG increases its customer care segment of its business. This means doing things like click-to-call, click-to-chat, and call tracking. For example, if a prospective online customer needs help, he or she can request an immediate call or chat with a customer care specialist.
The value proposition has been strong. Apparently, eStara's solution helps increase online sales conversions by 50% and reduces shopping cart abandonment rates by 10% to 45%. And it's enough to attract top-notch customers, such as DaimlerChrysler(NYSE: DCX), Dell(Nasdaq: DELL), Apple Computer(Nasdaq: AAPL), and Continental Airlines(NYSE: CAL).
eStara specializes in click-to-call technology -- an online e-commerce tool that lets a customer care rep contact a buyer online to see if the buyer has any questions, ATG Chief Marketing Officer Cliff Conneighton told CRM Buyer.
One of the ways retailers typically use the technology is to rescue a sale. For instance, if a potential buyer of a high-ticket item appears to become confused or seems to be dithering over whether to purchase the item, a talk icon appears on the buyer's desktop with a message inviting questions.
"It can be surprisingly beneficial to talk to an agent at this point," Conneighton said, noting that eStara's data shows retailers can increase conversion rates by 50 percent.
The technology can also reduce Web site and shopping cart abandonment rates by 10 to 45 percent, and reduce call handling time by up to 60 seconds, according to ATG.
Art Technology Group will acquire software maker eStara in a deal worth up to $48 million.
Reston-based eStara's "click-to-chat" and "click-to-call" software is used by customers such as Apple Computer, Dell and Verizon for connecting customers from their Web sites directly with customer service or sales representatives. The company says the service its software provides can cut Website and shopping cart abandonment by up to 45 percent.
Pay-per-call is a medium that is already growing,
and Google’s entrance in the market will help,
says John Federman, chief executive officer of
click-to-call technology provider eStara. Pay-percall
has been a bit slow to catch on with both
users and advertisers. Google’s name recognition
and reach, however, could soon change that.
“For the advertiser base, in terms of how they
quantify and qualify the value of those calls, I
think Google’s entry into the marketplace will
have a huge effect,” Federman says. “I would
liken that to the way they created the standards
for bidding for search results and what they’ve
done with AdWords.”
An increasingly popular online technology is making it easier for marketers to reach out and talk to someone.
So-called click-to-call technology allows consumers -- by clicking an icon on an email or a Web ad -- to either request a phone call from the marketer or else telephone the company directly using a microphone attached to the computer. Early indications are that the feature, embraced by a growing number of marketers, can significantly lift response rates for some ads.
Companies are beginning to use click-to-call in more creative ways, according to eStara CEO John Federman. eStara client Jenny Craig puts click-to-call links on its Web site and in e-mail. When a user clicks on the link to initiate a call, a recording of spokesperson Kirstie Alley plays, congratulating the user on their choice and passing the time while the system locates the nearest Jenny Craig franchise. The local franchise's phone rings, and they hear a message from Alley identifying the call's source, and the user is connected.
"Click-to-call can increase sales conversion rates, extend and deepen the brand experience, and localize leads," Federman told ClickZ.
Remember the golden age of e-commerce when the entire industry leaned almost exclusively on internet self-help tools to address their customer service? Finding a 1-800 on a Website was next to impossible. The problem with this singular reliance is simple: consumers shy away from large or complex online purchases if they are not 100% certain about their expenditure. One issue, however insignificant, can spook the potential customer, resulting in Website abandonment and great dissatisfaction.
"It's a logical extension for Google, as they try to create an easier path of new kinds of advertising," says John Federman, chief executive of eStara, a Reston (Va.) provider of click-to-call services to Amazon.com (AMZN), Verizon (VZ), Sears (SHLD), and others. "Consumers have absolutely embraced it." And that kind of enthusiasm is music to the ears of any Web giant.
But most of these tests so far, including those by Google, are focused on calling using regular phones, rather than calling by PC using services like Skype. Indeed, eStara, a company that provides pay-per-call advertising technology to companies including Verizon’s SuperPages.com unit, offers both telephone and PC calling options. It has found that only 10 to 15 percent of people choose to talk using their computers, and that this proportion is not increasing.
Click-to-call aims to solve a problem with online shopping: If customers are interested in a product but have a question, it can be time-consuming and difficult to get in touch with the business offline. Most businesses offer a toll-free customer service number on their Web site, but that can be slow and cumbersome, said John Federman, chief executive of eStara Inc., a Reston firm that provides click-to-call technology for Amazon.com, among others.
The click-to-call announcement, according to Leslie Ament, director of the Customer Intelligence Research Practice at Aberdeen Group, is "a welcome step in allowing advertising to directly track the ROI from their marketing investments."
Ten years ago, executives restructured the Yellow Pages so that it essentially became a print extension of SuperPages.com, now a subsidiary of Verizon Communications Inc.
The division produces 1,218 directory titles in the United States and has an online registry of 17 million business listings. SuperPages.com already partners with eBay and Google and has click-to-call and other advanced features.
"We wrote the playbook on getting small businesses to advertise online," said SuperPages.com spokeswoman Mary De La Garza.
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS fans can now talk or chat live with ticket representatives within seconds of clicking a button.
The team hopes that using this technology on its Web site will encourage more sales and customer satisfaction, especially in the tech savvy communities of the Bay Area and Silicon Valley.
"What better way to communicate with customers than through the Web?" said Warriors President Robert Rowell. He said the new features are creative, user-friendly and most importantly, fan-friendly. It will be easier for customers to get their questions answered and purchase ticket packages, he said.
Prospective ticket buyers simply click on a button at warriors.com and a sales rep is calling you up faster than a Baron Davis crossover. And the service is available from about 8:30 in the morning till 10 at night.
The technology, served up by a Virginia company called eStara, actually allows you to choose how quick you want to get that call. One minute. Two minutes. And so on. So, it might be more like an Adonal Foyle crossover than B-Diddy's handle, but that's your call.
Click-to-call, the technology that is bridging the gap between the online and phone channels, has garnered considerable attention from a range of businesses. With the click of a button, buyers can be connected immediately from any web site, by telephone, to a contact center agent.
Let’s start with a quick primer on the technology. Click-to-call services let users click a button embedded on a web site, an e-mail, an ad banner, a search engine, or an online directory listing, and immediately speak with a customer service representative. Customers can either place a call over the computer using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology or request an immediate call back from the advertiser by entering their phone number. Unlike a toll-free phone number, click-to-call services allow companies to monitor and control when and where online visitors can migrate from the web to the phone sales channel.
With more customers looking to deal with a real human, rather than a chat menu or FAQ list, banks are offering "click-to-call," which provides a live-conversation option for those who begin their interaction via keyboard.
TD Canada Trust, the retail bank division of TD Bank Financial Group, recently introduced a slew of online sales and customer-service tools, Easy Web, centered around click-to-call technology. The move, designed to increase sales on TD Canada's site, is also focused on customers with bigger needs, like a mortgage application, says TD Canada's Jeff van Duynhoven, vp of electronic channels. "People aren't going to buy a mortgage online, at least not most people. They want to talk to someone face to face or at least over the phone," he says.
To reduce its abandonment rate in the Equip & Price area and leverage its call center operations handled by agency BBDO Detroit, the Chrysler Group selected eStara, a provider of hosted voice-enabling B2C communications solutions. The automaker started its eStara pilot in November 2004 and went live in February 2005. The flagship product, VoIP-enabled Click to Call, enables Chrysler Group Web-site users to connect immediately to reps who can assist them with tasks like making a purchasing decision or applying for finance. Site visitors can click on an HTML button embedded in the automaker's brand sites and talk directly from their PC with a Chrysler Group rep.
I'm sure you've heard that many people believe there are no new stories, only repackaged tales with a different spin. I wonder if e-mail technology falls into that bucket. Six years ago, I got a revolutionary e-mail from a vendor. It contained a button that said "click here to call me." I did, and I was connected to him within 5 seconds. It was so much fun I immediately knew we needed to integrate that service into all the e-mail we sent. A lot of press and accolades came from being an innovator and using this revolutionary technology.
TD Canada Trust is committed to providing customers with the best in online products, services, features, and security. With the EasyWeb Security Guarantee, customers will receive 100% reimbursement in the unlikely event account losses occur resulting from unauthorized online banking activity. TDCanada Trust was the first among the major Canadian banks to offer an online security commitment. Two recent enhancements include a new feature called "Click to Talk," which makes it easy for online customers to reach a banking specialist right away, and Symantec Norton Confidence Online, a free anti-phishing tool that boosts security for customers.
E-mail Experience Council co-founder Jeanniey Mullen, of OgilvyOne, believes “email is one of the four key channels of communication (phone, mail, digital and face to face).”
The new Council’s mission is:
to enhance the image and celebrate the ROI value of email marketing through the proliferation of email and digital marketing best practices, trends and cutting edge technologies through the demonstration of applied success. Leading e-mail delivery firms and advertising agencies are backing the E-Mail Experience Council’s mission.
While this click to call promotion for the Opel Astra Twin Top is Dutch, we're told it's good and when we visited it seemed to be so if in a very weird way. Somehow the car is being promoted by having people blown into the sky by a jet airplane and then landing on a billboard. Oh, and there's this weird scientist dude who mumbles into a phone and holds up a sign. Yes, it all has to to with the Estara-powered click to call feature but we'll leave it to our Dutch speaking friend over at Adland to explain further. At least we think she speaks dutch or whatever language this is in because, clearly, we are just a clueless, lazy American who can't get off his ass to learn a second langauge. The campaign has generated 300,000 calls from 15 countries so we suppose "successful" would be a good label to give this campaign.
The home page opens with a globe welcoming people to Sheraton's "global neighborhood," which is organized by region and includes pictures and guest- submitted stories. Visitors also will be able to choose a 'click to call' option that will put them in touch with a Sheraton employee. The company has plans for a live chat feature where guests will be able to ask questions in real time.
What’s led all these performance-based call providers to look further afield than the traditional local mom-and-pop stores and service providers? For one thing, says eStara CEO John Federman, it’s that marketers recognize that voice calling around a transaction has grown from a customer service function into a sales conversion tool.
“Merchants get the opportunity to respond to questions and concerns in real time and close the sale,” he said, speaking before the eStara-Azoogle announcement. He pointed to the example of the Chrysler Group, which incorporated eStara Click to Call into its brand and dealer Web sites, originally to smooth the transition of high-value leads from the brand sites to the local dealerships. But the result was a bottom-line improvement in phone conversions: Up to 20% of Click to Callers bought a vehicle, compared to 10% conversions for traditional inbound calls. And those sales happened faster, too: three to five days for a Click to Call contact versus 35 to 40 days for a standard phone call.
“Voice is an effective catalyst for selling,” Federman says. “It takes a cold, generic Web experience and makes it a more personable, actionable one.”
AzoogleAds and eStara have reached an agreement to partner for a new AzoogleAds click-to-call service. eStara’s click-to-call technology will provide AzoogleAds advertisers with the opportunity to bid on live conversation and lead generation with targeted customers.
The Internet is a goldmine of information, but occasionally you hit a wall where you need a real person to answer a question.
Albert Clark saw that wall about seven months ago when he was booking some complicated flights through Continental Airlines online at about 11 p.m. He'd already spent a lot of time entering information about his trips when he had a question about the airline's cancellation policy.
Clark said a button popped up on the Web page he was viewing and asked if he had any questions. He clicked on "yes" and his phone rang in less than two seconds, he said. "They knew what page I was on. They knew where I was in the transaction so I didn't have to start from scratch," said Clark. And that was when he realized this option had to be made available on real estate Web sites.
A lot of buyers in the U.S. aren't familiar with Skype either-and that could mean eBay has to play catchup with a few established rivals. eStara Inc. has been offering so-called click-to-call services since 1999, including the ability for buyers to get an instant call back on a landline phone. "A lot of consumers still aren't comfortable talking through their PCs," notes eStara CEO John Federman. "The use of landline is really important to make it approachable to consumers."
Harris Bank, Chicago, is so pleased with its "Push to Talk" telephone technology that employees have nicknamed it "The Double Wow Application." The bank's senior vice president of e-channel services, Hilde Betts remarks, "It wows the customer and it wows our sales force."
"Todd Walrath, executive vice president of Leads.com, specializes in using the Web to generate business leads for clients. He uses eStara's call-tracking service to track calls generated from clients' ads on sites such as Yahoo and Google. Not only is it cheaper than purchasing a new toll-free number for each promotion, but customers can also check their logs in real time to see who has called in and from where--and not just the calls they got but the calls they missed. "What's really cool is that we can use the Internet to drive consumer demand through the existing phone network, which everyone has," says Walrath."
"It's lonely out in cyberspace, which is why the latest spin on Internet banking is to add a human touch.
Or, rather, a human voice. Through a new service introduced this month on the website of Toronto-Dominion Bank's TD Canada Trust division, people can arrange to have a bank representative call them while they're on-line to answer questions.
The service is called "click to call" and it's already in use by the on-line retailer Amazon.com and other companies. Customers simply click on a Web link, type their phone number into a pop-up box, and then specify whether they want to be called immediately or in a couple of minutes."
"Some online retailers, like Amazon.com and Verizon Superpages.com, reckon they have already proved that click-to-call can work in a text ad environment. These companies have figured out the right way to deploy the technology to make sure people can only click when they are most likely to make a purchase, or if they have a complex question the Web site can't answer.
For the most part, companies using click-to-call have not developed the technology themselves. Third party developers, like eStara, which is the leader in click-to-call deployments worldwide, have powered the trend, and their customers in this segment include Amazon and Yahoo UK.
The technology is being touted in earnings released by the companies who are using it, however. "The company introduced click-to-call, a new feature for our U.S., UK, German and French Web sites that allows customers to be connected quickly with a customer service representative who often already has the customer's account information in front of them, saving the customer time and increasing satisfaction," stated a recent Amazon.com press release."
"A customer-service clerk who knows exactly what you need sounds like science fiction, but it may be close to reality thanks to new technology. Call centres can now track customers' online activity to determine what they want when they call in for help. That may mean the end of frustrating touch-tone menus and agents who transfer callers to the wrong departments."
" eStara, a provider of multi-channel communications solutions linking buyers and sellers, has promoted Joe Siegrist to chief technology officer and Thibaut Behaghel to general manager of eStara’s European office. The company also has named Nancy Liberman senior director of marketing."
"It's a common dilemma: You're shopping online and have a question about an item, or hours, or shipping, but the only way for you to contact the advertiser is through sometimes slow, often unanswered e-mail. Until now."
"Click-to-call, the technology that enables instant phone leads, has garnered considerable attention from a range of businesses. With the click of a button, buyers can be connected immediately over the phone to advertisers from any Web site or ad listing."
Never Alone
TD Canada Trust - Television Commercial, May 2, 2006
eStara's Click to Call was recently featured in a television commercial for TD Canada Trust.
"Federman, whose company provides click-to-call services for Amazon, DaimlerChrysler and Continental Airlines said that after switching from form-based leads to click to call, DaimlerChrysler cut conversion time from 30 days to four days or less, and doubled conversion rates."
“Online retailers are using click-to-call technology to create immediacy and to raise the level of comfort,” says John Federman, CEO of Reston, Va.-based eStara, which specializes in click-to-call and call-tracking solutions. “The reality is that self-service cannot always be achieved online, particularly when making complex purchasing decisions; having click-to-call as an option reduces the friction between the consumer and the retailer. More retailers are finding that for high-value transactions, there’s nothing like the power of voice for closing the deal.”
Most people likely associate “push to talk” with the little chirp that is heard when a cell phone communicates with another on the same carrier using the short-range radio feature. But push to talk has new meaning for users of the online classifieds at The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post. Using technology from Reston, Va.-based eStara Inc., The Post (daily, 154,000; Sunday, 190,931) added a button that lets potential buyers connect to sellers in a very immediate way, according to Dan Shorter, PalmBeachPost.com’s general manager.
"Among its highlights, Amazon noted the implementation of click-to-call functionality for its US, UK, German, and French websites. That allows visitors to quickly reach a customer service rep for assistance."
"Just being able to create connectivity between the buyer and the seller -- that's worth it," Shorter said. "But to nail it with some branding and some validation of our part in the sales process -- that really puts it over the top, said Dan Shorter, general manager of PalmBeachPost.com."
"Verizon is taking a page from the Search Engine Marketing handbook and applying it to the traditional Yellow Pages as Pay Per Call ad auctions are sending phone calls to the top paying bidder in the Boston Area."
"Art imitating life, Web imitating print, and now it's print imitating Web. Since December, says the Associated Press, Verizon has been testing an auction model in its printed Boston Yellow Pages."
"PalmBeachPost.com recently introduced the Talk to Seller feature which allows users to click on an icon attached to an ad in order to be immediately connected to the seller. On the other end of the Internet connection, the seller sees a pop-up notation that reads, "Another lead from The Palm Beach Post."
"And we've got people like craigslist and eBay and Google trying to steal our business. They have a lot of cool tools, and we think of eStara as just one example of tools we need to add...to show [advertisers] that their local newspaper had some nice functionality, too."
"The Palm Beach Post is the first U.S. newspaper to use Click to Call technology in online classifieds, connecting buyers and sellers and proving the Return On Investment
(ROI) to advertisers."
"The call routing is handled by eStara Inc., which provides "click-to-call" services for Web sites, including Verizon's online directory. There, Internet users can click a button next to a company listing, supply their own phone number and immediately receive a call from the listed company.
For the printed SuperPages, eStara keeps track of what companies a consumer calls through the generic numbers."
"The other distinction is that we also have a very robust marketplace service the enterprise marketplace and so what one of the things we feel uniquely [able] to do is to take that experience of what we’ve learned through customers like Sears and Dell and HSBC and Allstate Insurance and others and translate that to the world of directories and online media. We sort of understand how to respond, so for instance, Amazon who has been a partner of ours for some time now."
"When fighting to get noticed is challenging enough, optimizing technology is usually furthest from the mind of a small hotel operator. However, what if that technology optimization can help you cut costs and provide you with a unique competitive advantage? It may just be motivation enough to give new technology a shot."
"Amazon.com Inc. recently launched a customer-service feature that enables shoppers to pose questions to a customer-service representative without dialing a number. The service works by asking shoppers to enter their phone number in a field off the site's help section and to indicate whether they would like to be contacted "right now" or in five, 10 or 15 minutes. The customers' data go to a third-party service, eStara Inc. of Reston, Va., which connects customers' phones to the Amazon phone system. After testing the service for a year, Amazon launched the feature on all U.S. help pages in January, as well as on all German help pages and for some customers in France and the United Kingdom."
"The term "click-to-call" is sometimes confused with "pay-per-call." "Pay-per-call" is a business model for ad listings in search engines and directories that allows publishers to charge local advertisers on a per-call basis for each lead (call) they generate. "Click-to-call," along with call tracking, is a technology that enables the "pay-per-call" business model. But click-to-call can also be offered as a value-added lead generation and customer service solution."
“Looking at that tool, we thought, ‘Why couldn’t we work
with eStara to tweak it so it could recognize phone numbers in our classified ads and display ads and direct
connect people not just to customer service, but to the sellers?’”
"Recently e-commerce media buzz has focused around click-to-call technology, with Internet search giants Google and Yahoo! testing ways to enable immediate Web-to-phone connections between buyers and sellers through their local search ads. But what exactly is click-to-call, and what does it mean to you?"
eStara's Marketing Communications Manager, Dan Obregon, stresses the power of voice and the need for businesses to offer the right form of communication at the right time.
"For more complex or high value transactions, voice is often the most comfortable form of communication for a client."
"Verizon's Superpages.com, a Yellow Pages site, also features a pay-per-call system that it built in conjunction with eStara. Robyn Rose, vice president of Internet marketing for Superpages, would not say how many advertisers had signed up for the service. "But we're one of the largest, if not the largest," she said."
"Lots of agencies are being challenged to constantly move the bar for ROI. By incorporating a 'click-to-call' button into creative, we're able to create a quantifiable ROI that can increase conversions by as much as 25 to 50 times," John Federman, CEO of eStara, told ClickZ News.
"Pay-per-call vendors are also trying to convince agencies that pay-per-call will help expand relationships with clients and bring in clients new to online advertising."
"SuperPages.com also offers its own click-to-call feature. Through a partnership with eStara, advertisers who’d rather get IP voice calls than clicks from their online listing can pay extra to display a link that lets users connect to them directly over their computers."
“The rapid acceptance of pay per call in the local search market has resulted in mass acceptance of eStara’s click to call technology across the globe. By providing these services, both TPI and QDQ are showing thought leadership and paving the way for offering added value to their advertisers.”
"Ebookers also makes it easy for prospective bookers to initiate contact with a customer service representative should a problem occur while booking online. As one survey result showed that 37 percent of respondents simply needed more information while 22 percent initiated contact because they couldn’t find what they were looking for online."
"For high-value and complex sales transactions, voice is still preferred by an overwhelming number of online shoppers. However, there's also tremendous value in providing customers with options like text chat, in order to handle lower-value sales or service-oriented inquires. Combined, these solutions empower customer service representatives to engage customers at key points during the online transaction to assure sales conversion and improve the customer experience."
"This is an agressive approach to the market place which anyone which has found Yellow Pages style advertising in France to be successful - would be wise to take up!"
"To ensure that those visitors could build and price their desired vehicles, Chrysler implemented Push to Talk, a click-to-call technology from eStara, Reston, VA, that connects these potential customers with a live Chrysler contact center representative by telephone without leaving the Web site. The click-to-call technology also has been implemented on the "Get a Quote" feature."
"Click-to-call, recently tested on Google, is also offered by eStara through SuperPages.com and Amazon's A9. This service allows users to enter their phone numbers so businesses can call them back."
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