Recording Sales Calls: A Practical Guide

• Why record sales calls?
• Is it legal to record sales calls?
• How to set up call recording in Zadarma
• From recordings to searchable text
• Use call recordings with your CRM
• Calls outside working hours
• Common mistakes
• Conclusion
• FAQs

Sales calls often contain some of the most important information. Businesses usually discuss prices, terms, deadlines, and customer requirements over the phone. Sales agents often don’t capture these details and may forget some of the information. Notes can be incomplete, people can remember conversations differently, and follow-ups can include the wrong details.

Call recording keeps an accurate record of each conversation. Your team can listen back to calls and check exactly what was discussed.

Additional features, such as AI transcription turns each call into text, which makes it easier to find specific details. Speech analytics can help managers see what works on calls and where the team may need more support. With CRM integration, businesses can save call recordings to the customer’s record. Whoever handles the follow-up can see the full conversation in a single place.

This guide covers the main benefits of recording business calls, as well as legal and privacy requirements. It also explains how to set up call recording in Zadarma and use AI and CRM tools to manage recordings.

Why record sales calls?

Call recording can benefit businesses of any size. Here are some of the main reasons to start recording your business calls:

• Resolve disagreements. If the agreed details with the customer are unclear, the team can review the conversation easily.
• Improve follow-ups. Managers can check important details instead of relying on notes or memory.
• Speed up onboarding. New employees can learn from real calls and hear how other colleagues handle different situations.
• Train your team. Use real calls to show how agents handle different situations.
• Identify customer needs. Repeated questions and complaints can show where your offer, pricing or website could be clearer.
• Make account handovers easier. A new account manager can review past conversations and understand the customer’s history.

Is it legal to record sales calls?

Privacy and telecommunications laws apply to call recording, but the requirements may vary depending on the location. Before you start recording calls, check the rules that apply to your business. Make sure you have a valid legal basis for processing the recordings.

You should also consider:

• What information you collect during calls
• Who can access the recordings
• How long you keep them
• How customers can exercise their privacy rights
• Whether you store recordings in another country

If the rules require it, play a short notice at the start of the call to tell customers the conversation may be recorded. You can also explain why you're recording it. Include information about call recording in your privacy policy as well.

If you're unsure about any of this, get legal advice.

This section provides general information and is not legal advice.

How to set up call recording in Zadarma

Call recording is included in Zadarma's cloud PBX, meaning that you don’t need any separate hardware or software. All Zadarma price plans include free call recording, starting with 5 extensions and 200 MB of storage, which is enough for around 10 hours of calls. You can add more extensions and storage as add-ons or get them as part of a larger plan.

To start using call recording, follow these steps:

• Get a virtual phone number in the “Services - Order a virtual number” section. Choose a landline, mobile, national or toll-free number.
• Set up the PBX. Create extensions for your team and configure incoming call flow by following the setup wizard.
• Enable call recording in the “My PBX - Extensions” section. Select the extensions you want to record.

• Add a recording notice in the “My PBX - Incoming calls and IVR” section, under the “Voice greetings”. If needed, tell callers in your voice greeting that the call may be recorded.

• Connect your CRM. Activate the free, built-in Teamsale CRM or connect the CRM you already use. Integration manuals are available in the “Help - Services setup instructions” section.
• Make a test call. Check that the call is recorded correctly and that your team can find the recording easily.

Authorised users can access recordings from any internet-connected computer, tablet or smartphone.

From recordings to searchable text

Listening to every sales call is not very practical, especially as your team grows. Call transcripts make it much easier for your team to work with a large number of recordings.

Zadarma’s AI Speech Recognition tool converts recordings into text. You can search for terms such as “price”, “contract” or a competitor’s name and go directly to that part of the conversation.

Another useful tool, AI Speech Analytics, provides more detail. It helps identify key topics, questions and objections. It can also show how the conversation developed and check calls for phrases, keywords, or sales criteria you set. This allows managers to review more calls in less time.

Use call recordings with your CRM

Call recordings are more useful when they are connected to the rest of the customer’s information. Zadarma’s free Teamsale CRM connects with the PBX, letting you:

• See the caller’s details and history when they call
• Add new callers to the CRM automatically
• Attach recordings to the relevant customer
• Create follow-up tasks and reminders for your team

Zadarma also integrates with major CRM systems such as HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Zoho CRM, Bitrix24 and more. If you use your own CRM, you can integrate it too. With the Zadarma API, you can connect telephony to your own applications and workflows.

Calls outside working hours

Potential and existing customers may call when no one is available to answer. The following tools can help you process calls outside business hours and follow up with callers:

• AI Voice Agent can answer calls, handle common questions and collect caller details 24/7. Depending on your PBX settings, you can also record and transcribe calls.
• Voicemail to email feature lets callers leave a message, which is then sent by email. You can also use voicemail to text.
• Missed call notifications alert staff when they miss a call, so they can return it promptly.
• Smart call routing routes calls to available employees or forwards them to external phone numbers when your team is offline.

Common mistakes

With so many features that business phone systems offer, it’s completely normal to make mistakes when setting up call recording. Here are the most common ones and how to avoid them:

• Ignoring privacy requirements. Make sure your process follows the rules that apply where you and your customers operate.
• Recording without a clear purpose. Decide why you are recording calls and how you will use the recordings.
• Keeping recordings indefinitely. Set an appropriate retention period and review it regularly.
• Giving too many people access. Only employees who need recordings for their work should have them.
• Keeping recordings separate from sales tools. Connect telephony to your CRM to find the necessary recordings easily.
• Only listening for mistakes. Use successful calls in training and to help develop the team.

Conclusion

Call recording works best when it fits into your sales workflow. Connect it to your cloud PBX, CRM and AI tools. This makes recordings easier to find and helps your team understand customer interactions.

FAQs