What is Click-to-Call? How it Works and Benefits

In today’s fast-paced environment, time is money—especially when it comes to customer support. Responding to customer questions instantly significantly increases customer satisfaction. Customers don’t need to fill out forms, wait hours in a phone queue, or wait days for an email response. A key way to achieve this is by modernizing your phone strategy, including adding click-to-call buttons on your website.

What is click-to-call?

This form of communication lets your website visitors contact your business directly, with just one click of a button. As the name implies, consumers can simply click a hyperlink or HTML button, which acts as a dialer. Customers can use this in place of traditional phone calls, dialing your business using their mobile phone or desktop computer, as it works over website browsers.

Click-to-call works with your existing phone or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system, connecting customers with live agents or representatives in real-time. Since the click-to-call button consists of a simple link, your company can embed it on any webpage, your social media profile, and even in marketing emails or text messages.

3 Benefits of Click-to-Call Buttons

Adding click-to-call technology to your website or anywhere else your business lives online offers numerous benefits. This technology:

1. Saves time for both customers and businesses

Sometimes, customers just want a quick answer. They don’t always have time in their busy schedules to search your website for information or want to wait for a response after filling out a generic customer service form. They may also need help from a real, live person to compare products or finalize their purchasing decisions.

The faster your business is at resolving issues, answering questions, or providing assistance, the better the experience is for your customers. Ultimately, a click to call dialer benefits your bottom line. Plus, providing support to people when it’s needed keeps your business on track instead of always playing catch-up. Your company will become aware of any issues faster, so you can quickly solve problems.

2. Reduces security concerns since users don’t need to download software

Click-to-call buttons rely on existing technology and appear right in their browser, so consumers won’t have to download any specific software to make phone calls. Not only is this more convenient for your customers, but it also eases concerns related to internet security issues. They won’t have to worry about accidentally downloading software containing spyware or other forms of malware, and their information will stay private and safe.

3. Leads to more sales and inquiries by making it easier for potential customers to contact you

Each consumer has their own preferred way of communicating with your business, and click-to-call gives them one more option. This method is especially helpful for leads and returning customers who have a higher level of interest in your products or services but need more information to move them through your sales funnel.

Click-to-call encourages your more sales-ready visitors to get in touch with your sales team when it’s convenient for them. Instead of relying solely on outbound calls and other outreach methods, this inbound strategy ensures that your sales reps spend their time communicating with the people most likely to convert, leading to more sales and revenue.

How does click-to-call work?

Click-to-call streamlines the calling process. Instead of customers dialing a number themselves, they simply click on the button or link. Depending on the specific click-to-call service, customers may have to enter their phone number to connect with your company, while others may seamlessly connect them using their smartphone.

Your business can add click-to-call links to many applications, making it easier to support your customers. Here are a few examples.

CRM Integration

Some click-to-call platforms integrate with your customer relationship management (CRM) systems, letting sales and customer service reps contact customers directly from their CRM with one click. It’s faster than manually dialing the number and eliminates errors in the process, so your team avoids wasting time on misdialed calls.

Plus, since CRMs can keep logs of previous customer interactions, your representatives can quickly view each customer’s history and take notes. This feature gives your team greater insight into what your customer needs and helps you offer relevant, useful information.

Chatbot Integration

If your business is already using or thinking about adding an AI-powered chatbot to your website, you’ll be pleased to know that most offer click-to-call features or integrations. Chatbots with click-to-call are a great one-two punch for your company’s customer service capabilities, as customers can be proactive about finding answers and resolving problems in multiple ways.

First, chatbots can handle much larger support volumes than live agents, ensuring your customers can get immediate assistance—even during peak hours or promotions. Second, if a customer needs more support than your chatbot can provide, the click-to-call feature can route them directly to a representative to resolve the issue.

Website and App Integration

Thanks to VoIP technology, click-to-call can be added to any website or app. Take the Google Maps app, for instance, which lets users instantly call your company via the click-to-call number integrated into your business listing.

You can also use click-to-call strategically on your website, routing to specific departments based on the webpage. You may want to include a click-to-call button on your FAQs or checkout page that connects customers to support agents in case of questions or purchasing issues, or you could decide on a click-to-call button on a product page that directly connects leads with sales reps.

How to Add a Click-to-Call Link in 3 Steps

Adding a click-to-call button or link onto a webpage isn’t difficult, even if you don’t have a lot of tech experience. Simply follow these steps to start experiencing the benefits of click-to-call links today.

1. Find your website’s editing mode. This varies depending on your CRM platform.

You’ll first need to learn how to access the editing mode of your website. If your business uses the Shopify platform, this is found in your admin section. You’ll need to select ‘Online Store,’ then click on ‘Actions’ and select ‘Edit Code.’

For business websites on the WordPress platform, simply go into your Gutenberg Block editor, find the three dots on the far left of your toolbar, and choose the ‘Edit as HTML’ option. And for companies using Squarespace, you’ll need to add a “Code Block” when editing a page to open your code editor.

Once you’re in editing mode on your platform, you can add your click-to-call link code and save it before exiting the page.

2. Insert the basic link code <a href=””></a> wherever you want the click-to-call button to appear on your website.

The standard click-to-call link code looks like this: <a href=””></a>. You’ll want to place this code on the page where you want visitors to click on the link. For instance, you may want to place a click-to-call link in the header or footer of your website and on your FAQs, customer service, or contact page.

3. Replace the empty quotation marks in the link code with your business phone number. Remember to remove any dashes or spaces from the number.

After you decide where to place your click-to-call link code, you’ll then need to enter your business information. Add the phone number you want to use in between the quotation marks of the code, along with the text “tel:” in front of it to indicate that it’s a phone number. For example, if your sales number is 800-555-1234, the final code would look like: <a href=”tel:8005551234″></a>.

You can also include a call-to-action (CTA) text within the link. To include a CTA for your click-to-call link, add your text, such as “Call Sales at 800-555-1234,” immediately following the phone number. It would look like this: <a href=”tel:8005551234″>Contact Sales at 800-555-1234</a>. While you don’t want to include any spaces or dashes in the phone number of your link, the opposite is true for your CTA text.

Streamline Your VoIP Strategy with Podium

Click-to-call links and buttons are a simple and effective way for your business to make the most of your VoIP strategy. They allow your company to connect with leads and customers faster, improving customer satisfaction and increasing sales. Podium’s VoIP system partners with an AI Employee to make customer communication even more effective through website chat, click-to-call, and more. It routes all calls and messages into one inbox, so your team can better manage customer communications and drive more revenue. Watch a demo today to learn more.