Many callers don’t even notice, but there are often extra digits in vanity toll free numbers. Almost all phone systems are trained to ignore the extra digits, so the call will go through even if eight or nine, rather than seven, digits follow the toll-free prefix.

Vanity toll-free numbers drive sales by making it easy for consumers to remember your number. While the ideal is to find a seven-letter message that translates to an available seven-letter number, what’s most important is that the message be easy to remember.

If using eight or nine letters creates a truly memorable message, you can go for it. 1-888-INSULATE, 1-866-LAWNCARE are examples of eight-letter messages where having the extra letter makes all the difference. You’ll also see an extra digit or two added at the front to differentiate your custom toll-free number, such as 1-877-99-LAWNCARE .

Custom Toll Free provides some great tools, including our Available Toll Free Number Search, to help you create memorable vanity numbers. Use words you have in mind, and take a look at some of the alternatives words our tool will suggest for you. You can even adjust your search to generate results that fit the monthly price range you want to pay.

One of the best ways to strengthen the power of your vanity toll free number is to use it in all your marketing materials. That includes putting it in your telephone greetings. Think about it: Clients dial “1-888-PET-CARE” and the greeting they get is “Hi, this is Johnson’s Pet Supplies.” But they could be hearing “Hi, you’ve reached 1-888-PET-CARE, Johnson’s Pet Supplies.”

This is a no-cost way of helping customers recognize and remember your custom toll free number, increasing the likelihood that they’ll call your business again in the future. Here are five ways to use phone greetings to turn those vanity number calls into sales — and increase customer satisfaction.

1. As often as possible, have a live person answer the phone and present your message during business hours. Studies show that customers expect and prefer it, and it’s the ideal during a sales campaign when you want a sales person to have immediate access to a prospect. After all, studies show that customers who make purchases over the phone order more merchandise, and 95 percent of the time they order more expensive merchandise than customers who are ordering from print or online catalogs. If you are using your toll-free number for non-sales purposes, it’s not as critical that the live person greeting the customer be on your team. A good answering service can handle the caller and then send you a convenient email message.
2. If you need to use recorded messages, be sure to record separate ones for business hours and for after-hours. Why? See tips 3 and 4.
3. When your callers do get a recorded message during business hours, it should mention your 1-800 number and your company identity. Then tell the caller, quickly, how to get to the department they’re calling or the information they want. Example: “Thank you for calling 1-888-PET-CARE, Johnson’s Pet Supplies. A representative will be with you in one minute. If you need to reschedule a delivery for tomorrow, please press 3 for the shipment desk. For all other business, please stay on the line.”
4. The message callers get after hours should (again) reinforce your business identity by mentioning your toll-free number and business name. Then let people know when you’ll be back in the office and what they can do to get a message to you in the meantime. “You’ve reached the after-hours line for 1-888-PET-CARE, Johnson’s Pet Supplies. We’ll be back in the office at 8 a.m. Please call back then, or press 2 to leave a message with our answering service.”
5. If you have a website that allows people to view products or schedules, place orders, or send email, be sure to mention that website in your phone greeting. For some callers, this is a plus. But keep in mind that many callers to your toll-free number prefer to talk directly to a live person.

With all the many companies out there, consumers are wise to evaluate what will help them get fast, seamless and reasonable phone packages. Here are some reasons to access Custom Toll Free:

Real-time, real cool
Companies or individuals have access to real-time call reports. You are never in the dark when you have an 800 number through us. We will let you see just how many minutes you’ve used to the minute.

Harness bulk-rate plans
Every company has different needs when it comes to phone services. Some clients need to get bulk-rate plans. This can be done easily with help from one of our agents who can offer pricing for special services.

Branded advertising
Sometimes it’s all about name recognition. By using a toll free vanity number you can set your company apart from the rest. Being consistent means tying in all your creative elements from your logo and business cards to your vanity number and signage.

Simplicity: looking for a number is 1-2-3
First, all you have to do to get a toll free number is do a simple search. At Custom Toll Free, this is a very easy process. Simply use the search bar at our “Available Toll Free Number Search” page and find the ideal toll free number for your business.

select the “industry” to view what numbers are accessible; for instance Computers/Internet, Sports or Travel.

Finally, you can filter the choices by prefix such as 800 or 866 only. You can also use the slider to indicate your projected price scale.

Contact Custom Toll Free today for more advice about getting your personalized phone number.

Setting up a business can be an overwhelming experience. And the thought of handling all your calls can be somewhat nagging, too. But what many do not realize is that obtaining a toll-free number is a relatively simple and seamless process.

All you have to do is request one from a company who can access them. When it comes to pricing, this can vary. The factors that affect costs include the geographic region you are located in and of course how many calls you get a month.

Why a toll-free number is an asset
Simply put: easy access. Having a toll-free number increases your communication with everyone. So whether you want to have more customer calls or better access to staff and business associates, it’s within your grasp.

Image counts. In business and marketing, image is everything. Having a toll free number speaks volumes. It says your company is professional and established. It can even imply that a company places a high priority on customer service and client satisfaction.

Not to mention a toll-free number can save on operating costs and helps you to monitor your incoming calls, too.

There is more good reason to harness the power of a toll free number: you save customers money. Let’s face it, the economy is first on the minds of consumers. If they have the option of two phone numbers in front of them, they are going to be more apt to call the toll-free one and save money.

There’s even toll free directory assistance. It is accessed by dialing 1-800-555-1212, of course this is a completely free call to make. But not all phone numbers are subscribed to the service. So if you have a toll free number, make it available for customers to look it up through the toll-free assistance service.

To reinforce my point, not all toll-free numbers are listed in the directory, only the ones that subscribe are listed. However, the FCC has a plan in the works to review the promotional aspect and competition among multiple providers, such as directory assistance options for toll-free numbers.

Custom Toll Free can help you learn more about what’s on the toll-free horizon.

Supposedly the government has been reserving some 855 numbers to be able to deal with the toll-free number shortage. This is meant to help resolve the dwindling supply of 800 numbers. Only the 855 numbers have not been made available yet. When they do, you know Custom Toll Free will do what we can to help clients access these new numbers.

Consumers should harness an 800 without haste. Here are some good reasons to secure an 800 toll-free number:

•    Increased sales and fewer missed calls
•    A great marketing tool
•    Added word-of-mouth referrals
•    A decrease in item returns
•    Ensure vanity number availability

Learn how Custom Toll Free can help secure effective numbers.

800 numbers and notification e-mails
Today, “toll-free” has become a comprehensive service. When a business goes with a service provider or a toll-free company, they can monitor things like usage with call notification emails.

Monitor your toll free number via automatic e-mail notification systems. Many of our clients here at Custom Toll Free decide to go this route. Especially if they want to monitor things such as caller ID and the time of day the call comes through.

Going the toll-free route takes more forethought than simply getting a good vanity number. Let us help you.

Sales, customer service, and survey research — all these departments in your company can boost their effectiveness using toll free numbers. And a vanity toll-free number that helps prospective callers remember your company’s name, services, or products, will have an even greater effect.

Quite simply, vanity numbers are easy to remember. A distinctive toll free number, or even a funny toll free number, sticks in people’s minds. Whenever your product or service in mentioned, your custom toll free number is right there with it.

The prescription for success is not difficult to follow: While many 10-digit 1-800 numbers are already taken, there are a wealth of great toll free numbers available that begin with the newer prefixes 1-888, 1-877, and 1-866. Check out our Available Tollfree Number Search, and contact us at our own vanity toll free number, 1-800-CUSTOMIZE. We can help you find a memorable, effective number that will maximize your return on investment.

Every week a new group of highly desirable vanity toll-free numbers is released into the marketplace. They’re freed up by companies that may have changed business or gone out of business, as well as by companies that may have been using a number in limited service areas.

With widely applicable word combinations like “man-power” “my-loans” “pizza-joint” and “out-of-debt,” these custom toll-free numbers get snapped up rapidly.

Here’s are just a few of the hot new numbers with toll-free 1-800, 1-888, 1-877, and 1-866 prefixes available at the time this blog post was published.

1-800-HOME-OWNER

1-877 -MAN-POWER

1-888-OUT-OF-DEBT

Please contact  us here at Custom Toll Free to find out more about fresh vanity numbers now available or coming available soon. Or use our toll-free number search tool (also known as reverse number lookup)  to find out the availability of the number you’d like.  Custom Toll Free can notify you if and when that number becomes available, or even help get this number assigned to your company.

At Custom Toll Free, we’re well aware of how much time and effort our clients put in to finding a good vanity toll-free number. We help our customers choose the best toll-free numbers and, often, we help clients acquire a great toll-free number that’s not readily available.

People go to all this work because strong toll-free numbers are a proven way to enhance your market presence and attract business. Toll-free numbers are associated with major companies. And a good vanity toll-free number is easy to remember, maximizing the chances that people will call.

After all the work that goes into securing your vanity toll-free number to bring prospects to your business, you want to invest plenty of time and effort into making sure that when prospects call you, they have the kind of phone experience that turns callers into buyers.

Here are a few “must haves” to maximize your investment in a custom toll-free number:

• An efficient phone system. Don’t let eager prospects languish on “hold.” Invest in a call system that can handle your call load. 
• Trained sales staff answering your phone. If someone is answering calls to your toll-free number, that person is part of your sales team. Your call center staff should be trained to do what it takes to convert callers into buyers. 
• A professionally written sales or customer service script, tailored to your business. This is essential if your company is new to telephone sales. And, if you’ve been doing phone sales for a while, it never hurts to have a professional re-evaluate your script to see if it is still aligned with your products/services and your customer base.

Businesses find refuge in 1-877 toll free numbers from short supply of 800 numbers. (1-888, 1-877, 1-866) have really opened up the options for great custom toll free numbers. That’s because the traditional 1-800 prefix doesn’t allow any alphabetical characters to replace the “zeros.” With 1-800 toll-free number, you are pretty much limited to shorter vanity message: 1-800-GET-CARD.

But with the newer toll-free prefixes allow alphabetical characters to stand in for the 8s, 7s, and 6s, you can vastly increasing your options. 1-87-PRICECUT or 1-US-RENOVATORS are examples that take advantage of these possibilities.

It’s fun to play around with the many permutations using Custom Toll Free’s NumSpell tool. And we may be able to suggest quite a few you haven’t thought of, plus help you secure them even if they are currently assigned to another company. Contact us to find out more.