Successful phone sales are all about opening a strong, honest dialogue with the prospect and addressing their concerns and needs in order to close the deal. But none of that can happen if prospects don’t pick up the phone in the first place! Unfortunately, that’ a common result when prospects see unfamiliar area codes on their call display. Unanswered calls not only have no sales value, but they also waste time and slow an agent’s workflow. As such, anything that can boost answer rates is certain to boost productivity and conversion rates as well. Local presence does exactly that, increasing pick-up rates by up to 400% and facilitating conversations with prospects that otherwise would’ve just ignored the call. 

 

What Is Local Presence?

Local presence is the ability to make outbound phone calls from any area code, regardless of the actual physical location of the caller. For example, a sales rep in Scranton, PA calling a client or prospect in San Francisco, CA would normally show up on caller ID under their Scranton number, complete with 570 area code. That same rep’s call, if using the local presence feature included with CRMDialer, would be displayed to the call recipient as a local San Fran number with a 415 area code.

For sales reps calling clients that they have long-standing relationships with, calling from a non-local or out-of-state area code isn’t a big deal, since the client is likely to recognize the number. But for agents calling fresh leads or following up with warm prospects, the ability to appear as a local number is often the difference between a successful call and ringing through to voicemail. 

 

How Does It Work?

Local Presence works by routing the outbound call through CRMDialer using a pre-selected, pre-existing phone number in the local area. CRMDialer lists all available numbers in a straightforward list within the platform’s communication settings, and any available number can be selected as the outgoing call ID with a simple click. Once a number has been selected, it will be the number displayed to recipients of any call an agent makes until they choose to select a different number. 

An agent making a call to a prospect in San Francisco would simply go to the list of available numbers, select a number with a San Francisco area code, and then launch a call to the prospect as they normally would, either manually or with a single click through the prospect’s account. If calling a list of prospects within a specific area code, an automatic call queue can be set up as well. The call window displayed in CRMDialer will show both the prospect’s number and the local presence number the agent is calling from, so agents can always be certain they’re making their calls from the right area code. 

 

Where Do the Numbers Come From?

Local phone numbers in area codes across the country can be obtained in multiple ways. CRMDialer users that have existing numbers purchased from outside sources can easily port all of them into CRMDialer completely free, without limit. That’s ideal for companies with existing mass-calling infrastructure who are transitioning to CRMDialer to take advantage of the huge list of features it offers beyond the power dialer. 

Clients without an existing list of local numbers, or who need to expand their current inventory, can obtain numbers in any area code across the United States directly through CRMDialer for as low $3 per month. That makes it easy for clients who’ve never used local presence before to get started right away, with as little fuss as possible. 

 

CRMDialer includes an easy to use local presence function that makes calling leads from familiar phone numbers as easy as a couple of clicks. If you’d like to find out more about how this highly valuable calling tool can help your agents boost their answer rates by up to 400%, schedule a demo, or contact us today to speak to one of our team members!