Is your business phone number allowing you to be all you can be?
All eyes were on the President the other night as he delivered the State of the Union address a large part of which focused on job creation and business development. He reminded the nation of the greatest asset everyone in this country enjoys, the ability to reap great rewards in return for hard work and innovation.
Ever wondered whether your mobile marketing or phone staff was really producing enough results? Ever wonder if you were really positioned to serve your ideal customers well enough without a dozen brick and mortar storefronts? Well, the government finally helped you out and is ensuring that everyone has the means to reach you on your business phone number.
There are so many reasons why toll free numbers are in such high demand today that a lengthy book could be written on the subject. So let's take a look at a few of the most popular reasons…
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Business owners today are starting to recognize the relevance and true advantages in attaining a Toll Free Vanity Number. This allows your company to be distinct by owning this alphanumeric equivalent of a telephone number. Yes, now your company can be spelled out and for each letter, which can be easily be typed into a keypad on any telephone, and immediately connect to your company. Vanity numbers are so popular in today's marketplace that they are chosen for businesses and even families for easy usage.
What types of payment methods are accepted for toll free services today?
Caller ID has become many consumers' best friend. It allows them to screen their calls and avoid being hammered by telemarketers and others. However for every solution of course their is a way to get around it, and in this case it is call spoofing.
1. Credibility
If a word spell vanity number isn’t for you for some reason or you really can’t find one that you like, then a numeric vanity number is still a much better choice than trying to do business and be limited by a local business phone number. Vanity numbers, even numeric ones offer instant credibility and a professional image and make gaining new customers and retaining past ones much easier.
Transferable 800 services provide premium toll free numbers with the complete control to port or move your toll free services to any carrier of your choice at anytime.
Options and flexibility are always a good thing and are important to the continuity and profitability of your business. Don’t worry if you really haven’t thought about who you want to manage your toll free services yet, the best toll free providers that offer transferable 800 service normally provide activation and will host your number until you decide when and where you want to move your toll free numbers. In fact most often you don’t really need move your service, but it is nice to have the control.
Plus you will often get a grace period of around a month after you reserve a new toll free number with transferable 800 service that comes a range of features including free minutes, online voicemail, online faxing, access to online details and advanced routing capabilities.
When acquiring any business phone number, especially 800 vanity numbers you definitely want to check if it is a transferable 800 service. You do not want to be held captive. However, the one exception to this rule is for those who are taking advantage of toll free shared usage plans. Shared usage is a great option for those looking to get the most out of their budget or who want to harness the most powerful 800 numbers for specific areas even if they are owned by someone else.
However if you are making the investment in a high quality number and the sole use of it you you need full control of the the toll free management and which carrier is handling your business phone lines so that you can switch carriers if there are issues later or in order to take advantage of more powerful routing options and improved customer service.
As with anything done well, your business success will generate people who want to feed off or piggyback on your success. This situation is especially true for web domain names and business phone numbers.
On one hand, you certainly can’t blame competitors for maximizing their own marketing ROI with this smart strategy. But it can be extremely frustrating and may mean losing potential deals and clients despite all of your hard work and dedication to growing your organization. Fortunately, you have the ability to stop the situation before it even begins!
First, you must understand how competitors can feed off your business phone number. Just as with having similar Internet domain names, other businesses can feed off your advertising, reputation, and marketing budget by acquiring similar business phone numbers to yours. For numeric numbers, this situation could mean obtaining similar numbers that could be incorrectly dialed. In terms of vanity numbers, competitors may try getting their hands on the same vanity numbers with different prefixes since dialing the wrong prefix is a common mistake by customers trying to call you, especially if you do not have the 800 number version. Worse, if you have a well known company name, but you do not have the matching vanity number that spells out your name, competitors might acquire it and be able to take large amounts of prospects and even current customers who were actually attempting to call your business phone number.
To protect yourself, begin by making sure you have a unified brand, including an easily recognizable vanity number. Then just as with reserving a domain name for your website, try to reserve as many variations of your business phone number as you can. Start with the 800, 888, 877, 866 and 855 prefixes and then move on to any other obvious combinations.
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Toll free vanity numbers have long been sought out by companies wishing to distinguish themselves as big players in the market and the go-to source for their given product or service. However, the recent changes in the business world and advances in technology have made vanity numbers crucial for survival and success.
Savvy entrepreneurs and managers now know that launching a new venture, spinning off a new division, or even just starting a new marketing campaign without using toll free numbers for testing, tracking, and positioning is nothing more than gambling on the roulette table. In fact, not using vanity numbers is worse than gambling because you know you need them to succeed and are just ignoring the factors that will ensure your success. The statistics have shown large double digit improvements in response rates, closing ratios, and customer retention for those using free phone numbers for their marketing and branding. So not using them is just insanity. Even if your goal isn’t to become the next Bill Gates or Warren Buffett, you must turn a profit in order to continue to help others through your services or products. If you make too much money, you are sure to find plenty of worthwhile causes you can support and donate to.
In recent years, many businesses and entrepreneurs have discovered that vanity numbers alone can mean the difference in a venture being top or flop. Regardless of all the other planning, marketing strategies, and tools you can put into action, today your success clearly could come down to the power of your vanity number. Wouldn’t it be a shame to expend all of your time and resources on a new business idea only to be surpassed and locked out of the market by a smaller and less experienced competitor who simply had the right vanity number?
The obvious examples are industry-dominating players like 1-800-FLOWERS and 1-800-CONTACTS. Many newer and smaller ventures of all kinds are now using vanity numbers to rocket their products and services to rock star status including new books, marketing services, and business consultants. What is your business phone number going to do for you?
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