These benefits and others have led to the world we see today, where 75% of workers use their personal cell phones for work. Bring your own device (BYOD) policies are now a hallmark of modern businesses, with a whopping 83% of companies having some form of BYOD policy. And these policies create a real, measurable impact – generating around $350 in revenue per employee annually^[1].

However, while mobile devices undoubtedly improve operations, many organizations still underutilize their potential. How? By failing to record sales calls. When it comes to contact centers, most companies are aware of the critical importance of sales call recording, typically utilizing call recording platforms to drive better decision-making and ensure regulatory compliance. But far fewer organizations are using sales call recording software for mobile devices.

Make no mistake, whether it’s a BYOD or a corporate-issued cell phone, recording sales calls is paramount. With this in mind, let’s discuss the top reasons you should record mobile sales calls in your organization.

Improving Sales Performance

One of the most compelling reasons to record sales calls is that it can boost sales performance, ultimately leading to more conversions and higher revenue.

Sales call recording software allows sales reps to revisit their customer interactions and gain valuable insights. Sales reps have new conversations with prospects all day, every day. As a result, they fall into set patterns and routines, often discussing the same topics repeatedly. While sales reps will undoubtedly develop positive habits as they become more experienced and figure out what works and what doesn’t, they could also unknowingly develop negative habits. Sometimes our behavior becomes so ingrained that we don’t even realize we’re doing it. That’s where replaying sales calls come in. Reps are more likely to spot features of their interactions that can be improved by listening to sales recordings.

During the call, sales reps are so focused on the prospect on the other end of the line that they might miss key details. Sales calls can also vary dramatically in length, with some lasting mere minutes while others, like a sales demo, lasting upwards of an hour. Calls on either end of this scale present distinct challenges for sales reps when it comes to analyzing critical details of the call. It’s easy to lose focus in a lengthy call, and short calls often go so fast that they’re over before you have time to truly process the interaction.

Reps – and their managers –  can hone in on the specific moments of success and failure by replaying sales calls. For example, did they say something that changed the prospect’s mood? Was there a point where everything started to come together (a breakthrough)? Or fall apart?

Recording sales calls also empowers reps to pick up on customer details they may have missed the first time around. Armed with this information, they can go into the next call with a clear idea of the prospect and their needs and offer a personalized experience. Nothing turns away a prospective customer faster than being treated like a faceless number.

Training and Quality Assurance

Leading on from the last point, recording sales calls allows companies to take a more scientific approach to crafting the perfect sales technique. Organizations can compare the sales calls of their highest performing reps to those of struggling agents and determine what types of interactions are the most effective. They can then use this information when training both new and seasoned sales reps.

Monitoring sales calls is also essential for quality assurance, allowing businesses to determine customer satisfaction levels at any point in history, including the present. Of course, customer satisfaction is complex and can look different across industries. However, some key elements of high-quality calls are skilled listening, appropriate language and tone of voice, good rapport, effective questioning, and a good closeout. Companies can determine whether their rep-prospect interactions have these features with sales call analysis.

Lastly, if you notice customer sentiment changing, you become better prepared to take preventative measures and get everything back on track. If there’s an issue with the product, you can alert the product engineers, and if there’s an issue with marketing, the marketers.

Improve Your Product or Service

Cell phone sales calls are potentially packed with valuable information about what your customers want and expect from your product. By listening to these calls, product development and marketing teams gain greater insight into customers’ problems, how they use the product, and what they think needs to be improved. They can then use this information to create better products and experiences that resonate with the customer base.

Often, products created for one purpose become co-opted for another. For example, Kleenex started as a disposable towel to remove makeup. However, when customer feedback began to roll in, they realized most people were using Kleenex tissue to blow their noses^[2]. As a result, Kleenex shifted their advertising, and their sales doubled.

Sales calls are uniquely effective in gaining customer feedback because they allow customers to speak freely. For example, other customer feedback methods, like a survey, might unconsciously drive customers down one path because the survey creator designed the questions with biases already present (assumptions of how the product is used).

Resolve and Reduce Disputes

Call recording can be an organization’s most robust line of defense when disputes arise. Disputes can vary in severity from essentially minor impacts (potentially losing a customer) to costly litigation. Recording your calls ensures that you’re not relying on “he said/she said” and can instead rely on hard evidence. Managers and other high-ranking decision-makers can listen to the call and decide on the best course of action to resolve the issue.

Legal Compliance

Ensuring regulatory compliance is one of the most critical reasons to record sales calls. Organizations risk facing hefty fines and potentially catastrophic harm to their reputation if they fall on the wrong side of the law. Luckily, by recording sales calls, legal compliance becomes much more straightforward.

Of course, regulatory compliance varies considerably between countries and industries. For example, US federal law permits call recording with only the consent of one party, and some states also use the one-party consent policy. However, other states, like California, Florida, and Nevada (among others), require two-party consent.

Internationally, the compliance landscape varies wildly, with some countries having no specific call recording laws and others having plenty. For example, Canada uses an “all-party” consent model where calls can only be recorded with everyone’s permission, and the purpose of the recording has to be stated. And businesses operating in Europe have to be compliant with GDPR, which also requires consent from all parties.

Then there’s industry-specific compliance. For example, the UK’s financial regulatory body, the FCA, requires that all conversations related to financial transactions be recorded. This means that all financial institutions, including commercial and retail banks, hedge fund managers,  and investment houses, must record and archive their sales calls as proof of compliance. The same is also true for UK-based insurance and claim management companies, travel agencies, and retailers that offer credit financing to customers. Other countries have different laws.

Companies can ensure compliance with regulatory mandates in different ways. For example, in two-party consent states, companies might use an automated message at the beginning of the call notifying the listener that the call is being recorded (and sometimes why). Alternatively, they could make this part of the sales rep’s script, asking them to gain explicit consent from the customer. A simple notice in the pre-call email might be the preferred option in other situations.

But of course, regulatory compliance isn’t just about doing what’s required but also proving that you’re doing it. That’s where sales call recording comes in. By recording your sales calls, even those on cell phones, you can prove that you got consent from the other party. Encrypted call recordings are also legally admissible in court should you ever need to use them in a legal dispute.

Additionally, sales agents are more likely to comply with company and legal standards when they know calls are being recorded.

Separate Business from Private Calls

Companies with a BYOD policy need to foster a culture of appropriate conduct around using personal devices for business calls. Reps will be keenly aware of how they should behave and avoid slipping into leisure-time habits by recording sales calls made on personal cell phones. In other words, recording sales calls keeps everyone accountable.

Next Steps

If your organization isn’t already recording your mobile sales calls, then there’s no better day to turn that around than today. So get in touch to find out how we can help you achieve the benefits discussed in this article.

^[1] https://www.zippia.com/advice/byod-statistics/

^[2] https://www.printwand.com/blog/9-stellar-examples-of-the-unintended-use-of-products