Yelp announced today that it’s rolling out a new feature known as Request a Call. As its name suggests, this lets Yelp users request phone calls from businesses to ask questions, scope a job, or get a service quote. This makes the feature particularly fitting to service-based businesses, such as home services.
The new offering also builds on the momentum already established from Yelp’s “Request a Quote” feature. The option to request a call could increase the surface area through which customers can contact businesses… and for businesses to generate new leads and incoming interactions.
“Request a Call demonstrates the versatility of the Yelp platform in connecting consumers with great local businesses,” said Yelp VP Akhil Kuduvalli. “[It] builds on the success we’ve seen with Request a Quote to remove the initial friction found by many consumers when initially reaching out to businesses.”
Immediate Gratification
Going deeper on the UX, the way this works is that users can request a call on a Yelp business profile page. They can specify their preferred call-back time before the request is sent to the SMB’s Yelp for Business Inbox. The SMB can then “confirm call time” to schedule the call or suggest alternatives.
One benefit this offers is optionality. Talking to a human generally has more immediate gratification than requesting an online quote. There can be a sense that the latter goes into a black hole, including uncertainty about a reliable and timely response. Requesting a call may instill more confidence.
Of course, consumers can just call the business outright, but requesting a call gives them the option to get a call back when they know the business will be ready to talk shop. On the other end of the equation, it helps SMBs formalize and organize new business leads, rather than the crapshoot of a ringing phone.
In fact, Yelp reports that 40 percent of consumer calls to services businesses last less than 30 seconds. This suggests a few things, including time taken up by rote questions (hours of operations, etc.) that they could otherwise refer to website information or automated IVR systems.
Moreover, short calls suggest that the average is being dragged down by calls that weren’t answered. This is a longstanding challenge among SMBs who rely on spotty availability to pick up the phone throughout the day. Request a Call lets them optimize these leads by calling back when available.
The DVR of Inbound Leads
One way to think about this is like a DVR for inbound leads. It time-shifts calls to more opportune (read: slower) hours. That gives SMBs the bandwidth that some discussions deserve, including talking through the nuances of scoping a new job – everything from kitchen remodels to a big landscaping job.
“We see Request a Call being particularly helpful for consumers and businesses to discuss more complex projects,” said Ramesh. “For example, home improvement and landscaping, which have a variety of different factors from job to job, like the size of your yard, the kinds of improvements you want made, the materials you want used, and your timeline.”
And it’s already working… In a pilot program, Request a Call was shown to boost project starts by 10 percent. The feature will be available immediately on any Yelp business page that has already opted in to receiving leads via Request a Quote on Yelp.com. iOS and Android support will come later.
