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The Advantages Of Having A Business Number in 2024

Handling a business isn’t as easy as it may seem to be. Doing so actually means having to live two separate lives. You have to live a professional life and, at the same time, live a private one. One way to keep your professional life different from the private one is to have a business number.

These days, most people, including you, already got a mobile phone, so why the need to still have a separate phone number that’s tied to your business?  It’s simply because a toll-free number can be one of your indispensable business assets. It brings endless benefits. It doesn’t only give your business that much-needed recognition and credibility, but also hugely contributes to increasing sales and ROI.

Also, most customers still prefer contacting a business via phone. Most of them also believe that calling is still the most effective way of getting a quick response for their queries and concerns.

Hence, if your company doesn’t have a dedicated business phone number yet, you’re missing out on something when it comes to customer satisfaction, which actually affects your sales.

Business Toll-Free Number: What Is It?

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The best phone number you can have for your business is a toll-free one. What are toll-free numbers?  These are the phone numbers that are pre-assigned with codes, usually in 3 digits, in place of the area codes. The codes can be 855, 877, 800, etc. These numbers are typically utilized by businesses to receive customer service calls. You can check out websites like Kall8.com to learn more about integrating a toll-free number to your business.

Please keep in mind that if you opt for a business toll-free phone number, you’ll be the one to pay for all of the calls you’re going to receive. That means the calls are free of cost for your customers.

Below are some of the advantages of having a toll-free number for your business.

1. Look Professional

Startup entrepreneurs or freelancers sometimes work from home. Some prefer working at a nearby cafe. In this case, they rely on their mobile phones for all incoming customer or client calls. The downside of this kind of setup is that it shows that you’re a one-person shop, and if impressions count for your potential customers, it’s going to be difficult to close a deal with them.

Having a dedicated business number, on the other hand, means you won’t have to share your personal mobile phone number with your business contacts. What you can provide instead is a toll-free number that allows you to easily forward calls to your cellphone. It’s the same principle involved in forwarding an email from one email account to another.

Employing a toll-free business number makes your business look professional because consumers are used to associating reputable businesses to 1-800- numbers. They usually see these numbers on television ads, hear them on radios, billboards, and in many online platforms. The general public also knows that these business numbers are more credible and trustworthy than ordinary phone numbers.

2. Credibility

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A dedicated business phone number isn’t only for big companies, but for businesses of all sizes. A business phone number is especially beneficial if you’re a startup. As you probably already know, small businesses require all the help you can get. Having a business toll-free number is one great authentic hack to look credible. Remember that little things matter for consumers nowadays.

Your credibility will help maintain a good business reputation. So, if you want your business to look credible in the eyes of your prospects, customers, and other stakeholders, then it’s time to use a toll-free number. In this way, you can reap the benefits of having a credible and reputable business which gains the company more leads, prospects, and higher sales.

3. Don’t Miss Important Calls

As already mentioned above, a business toll-free number allows you to forward calls. That takes away the need to expose your private mobile phone number to your business contacts, while still giving you the chance to maintain the convenience of actually using a cellphone number. More importantly, it means that you won’t be missing important calls from your existing and potential customers.

Using toll-free services, you can also set up different phone numbers for various functions or departments in your business. Staff in charge of customer support, for instance, can have incoming calls to different workplace numbers forwarded to their cellphones even on-the-go.

4. Customer Satisfaction

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You probably have experienced it yourself–trying to search for the contact information of a company but end up not finding one at all. It could, no doubt, be very frustrating as a customer and leaves a wrong impression on your mind about the business.

A toll-free number allows your business to be available at all times. It makes your customer service better and improves overall customer satisfaction. Customers are more prone to stick with your business if they find out that all the questions they have in mind can be answered by simply just calling a number.

According to Dial800, using a reliable tracking and analytics system can help track and report calls in numerous data points, artificial intelligence or AI-driven analytics, and custom algorithms. You can use this system to make smart business decisions in terms of customer service, sales, and marketing strategies.

Call centers measure customer satisfaction by surveying those who called the hotline number of reputable businesses. Having a toll-free number adds generally improves customer experience and ultimately boosts your customer satisfaction rating.

5. Provide A Professional Experience To Customers

Another powerful advantage of using a business number is the ability to decide and set up when to forward calls. For instance, business owners can set a hotline up for customer inquiries about an upcoming event. The business owner can forward the calls to the organizer of the event during office hours and direct the calls to a voice mail over the weekend or at night.

Such a feature gives you control while presenting the exact experience that a customer expects from a professionally organized event.

6. Sound More Legit

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When talking to a customer over the phone, do you want to sound like you’re a guy in his pajamas sitting in front of the television or you want, instead, to come off as someone who’s one of the Fortune 500 companies?

Many business owners often don’t realize it, but sounding legit is crucial. In fact, it’s as relevant as appearing or looking legit. You’d want to sound the same way established companies do. Luckily for you, a business number can help you achieve that. It gives your business the power of truly sounding professional, even without spending too much on costs or equipment.

7. Show Your Customers That Your Business Cares

Some circumstances will prevent you from picking up a call. But, will you only let the call, which could be a new customer, slip away or do something to save it even if you can’t answer it in the meantime?  Of course, it would be best to send at least a text message, voice message, or any notification back to the caller. A business number makes it possible to do that. This lets your customers know that you care about them and will call back as soon as possible. Do this instead of just leaving a dull message for them through an answering machine.

Final Thoughts

Arguably the most significant advantage of having a business number is scalability. Yes, establishing a business number is a genius move simply because it ensures that you can scale. You may expand your operations, move to a new location, or maybe switch phone service providers as your business starts to grow. If you’re using a toll-free number service, you can just easily route or port it to still meet your needs.

About Adam Miller