If you’re a small business owner, you may be wondering whether it is worth your while to have a toll free number. You may think it is really only necessary for a large business but in fact, a toll free number can be an indispensable asset for a small business.
It can improve credibility, enhance customer satisfaction, help you to track your ad campaigns and promote brand recognition. Here are five good reasons why your small business could benefit from a toll-free number.
1. Improve customer service
A toll free number makes it easier for customers to reach you and get answers to their questions. They can call you conveniently at all times and anywhere without having to worry about the cost.
Time is often most important when solving problems. It is easy to get on the bad side of customers if you take too long to resolve issues. A toll free number enables a quick response and the human touch goes a long way to gaining a reputation for great customer service.
Some providers of toll free numbers, such as Kall8, include secure online management with their toll free service. Real-time call information is stored for three days so you have access to the names and phone numbers of all callers, even if a line was unanswered or busy. You can also export records of calls, making it easy to maintain a database of customers.
2. Easy to remember
A toll free number is easier to remember than other numbers, particularly if it is a vanity number that spells out a memorable word or phrase. A study found that vanity numbers have a 75% higher rate of recall than numerical numbers. For instance, it is much easier for people to remember 1-800-CAKES than a whole string of numbers.
3. Increase credibility
Not only do toll free numbers allow customers to make free calls to your company, but people still tend to implicitly trust the 800 prefixes. They have been around for a long time and are still instantly recognizable across several generations and nationwide.
Clients are unlikely to think of a small business that uses a toll free number as an insignificant operation and logic dictates that they want to go with more established players.
When a customer dials that toll free number, they get through to wherever you want the call to go, whether it is an office, cell phone or virtual call center. Calls can be routed anywhere via the internet and no-one will know if you’re a startup working out of your garage!
4. Portability
Once you purchase a toll free number, it belongs to you and you can take it with you even if you decide to change providers. Customers don’t even have to know if you’re relocating your business.
If you do happen to move out of state or even across the world, you can still keep your relationships you had with customers in your previous location because you still have the same toll free phone number.
5. Track your marketing efforts
Using a toll free number can help you to track the effects of your marketing campaigns. You can assign a different name and 800 prefix to each campaign. Once the campaign is over, you can find out how many people called from a particular extension.
You can see what influence your campaign had on increasing call-ins and whether these led to conversions and sales. It is easy to analyze the results of your campaign by referring to an account management page.
