Why Is Your Phone Number Your Greatest Business Tool?

 (Photo credit: ronploof)

Starting a business comes from a dream of wanting to be successful in the field you have chosen. You pride yourself on doing professional work and having that work reward you. But as a small business you need to build a solid reputation. The customer needs to feel confident in your business or they won't call you for your services. One way to do that is to offer freephone numbers for them to contact you.

Even though many people use the Internet to look for goods and services your phone number is still of utmost importance. Surveys reveal that the use of the Internet is growing at a fantastic rate, but your phone number is the main way customers contact you.

A local phone number is adequate but a free phone number will help you expand your business from a small start up to a regional or national company.

Here are 5 Reasons you Need A Business Phone Number:

1. Providing good customer service is one of the most important ways a company is likely to get ahead and move from merely breaking even to becoming very successful.

2. Call centers need to increase their customer satisfaction and ensure they stay ahead of competitors in the current difficult economic market, in result making it important to employ freephone numbers for customers to contact them.

3. Marketing can play a big part in an enterprise's success and there are numerous methods of advertising and getting people's attention. However, for many smaller firms these may not be viable at present as they do not have the money or resources to spend on large campaigns spanning several different types of media. 

4. A 0800 number presents a national image, so no matter where an organisation is based it can attract clients from all over the country, thus encouraging even more business and driving up revenue.

5. Memorable phone numbers also promote brand recognition, as they help people to differentiate between different enterprises and build up relationships. In particular, 0800 numbers are well suited for this purpose, as they are free for consumers to contact from landlines.

6. If a company has a local number, it is most likely to be perceived as a smaller business offering more specialised, localised products and services to those living in certain parts of the area. While this is ideal for some firms that will no doubt be happy to create a friendly, personalised image to people who are likely to return with repeat custom and tell their friends and neighbours about their experience, this is not the case for organisations with aspirations of international trade and a nationwide reach.

7. If people see that the enterprise is willing to cover the cost of the call, they may consider it to be looking after its customers and therefore have no hesitations when it comes to returning with more business or recommending the service to a friend.

The way your customers contact you is of utmost importance to the success of your company. Your company is in competition with hundreds of other businesses. It's important to distinguish yourself from them, one way is at distinct and easy to remember phone number.