One of the largest obstacles that home based businesses face is the lack of a physical storefront. A visual storefront provides validity to a business’s reputation, and consumers like dealing with businesses that can ‘be seen and touched’. Having a toll free phone number helps create a virtual storefront for home based businesses.
Another benefit of having a toll free number is that you can keep the same number whenever you move house. If you have just a standard landline number, it will be tied to the house / area that you live in. If you wanted to move to a different area, then you would have to get a new number, and any customers who you can’t pass your new number onto will be lost. There are no such problems with toll free phone numbers, which you can keep even if you move to the opposite end of the country.
From a marketing point of view, stating a toll free phone number on promotional material is advantageous. Using a toll free phone number on company literature highlights the business’s credibility. The public see businesses that have a toll free phone number as a legitimate establishment. According to research, businesses that have toll free numbers are 30% more likely to receive calls than those businesses that advertise without such a number. That percentage is even higher if the business owner chooses a vanity number, which is a toll free phone number whose last seven digits spell out the name of the business or the name of a product that the business sells.
The general public also appreciate toll free numbers because they know that calling will cost them nothing. You may think that the cost of a phone call would not be enough to stop a customer who wants to contact you making the call, but it is a physiological barrier and it does make a difference. Providing a toll free phone number suggests to potential consumers that you really do want them to call you. This earns their trust, and means that you have a head-start on the competition.
Don’t think that toll free numbers are just for big businesses. Pretty much all service providers in this industry offer monthly packages that are specifically aimed at small / home based businesses – just like yours. You’ll more than likely have to pay a bit more than you’re paying for your number now, but the benefits you’ll reap will certainly more than cover the small investment that you make.
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