What's In A Number?
10 February 2012
As the UK’s premier telephone answering service we’re often asked what the ‘best’ kind of number is for businesses to use on their adverts, websites and business cards.
The answer is it all depends on your situation, your business type and your clients.
Who do you want to ring your number? If you are a cleaning firm and you cover a certain area we’d generally advise that you use a geographic number unique to that place, this means that your clients know you are local business and are confident they will fall into the area you cover.
If your business offers financial assistance it makes sense to advertise either a 0800 number which is free to call from landlines or an 03 number which is charged at a local rate even when called from mobiles to keep things as inexpensive as possible for your callers.
If you want to make some revenue from the number for example a completion line or a technical support line then a 09 number offers you that opportunity.
You might also want to consider where you’re advertising the number in your choice. For example if it’s for a radio advertisement ideally you want something catchy, ideally that fits in with a jingle. We’ve all had simple numbers stuck in our head after we’ve climbed out of the car, this is an effective way of encouraging people to call you before they source another company’s details.
If you’re opting for TV advertising your best option is to go for a call that looks attractive and ideally is easy enough for the viewer to remember until they can grab a pen and squiggle it down or tap it into a mobile.
If you’re still not sure then don’t be afraid to ask for advice from the company you choose to take your calls. Any company worth their salt will listen to your situation and what you are aiming to achieve before ensuring you are given the best range of options and ideally a choice of numbers to suit your business or campaign.
You also need to check that the company you are speaking to will allow you to keep using the telephone number, even if your circumstances change and you no longer need to use the answering service. The last thing you want, is to have spent a small fortune on advertising, business cards, websites and flyers, to find out the service is no longer the best course of action for your business and then find out if you cancel the service you lose the number. At Answer-4u we make provisions for you to keep your number through our sister company Numbers-4u whatever you choose to do with your calls.
For more information give our friendly and knowledgeable team a quick call on 08008 223344 and we’ll be delighted to chat through your options.
