7 reasons why you need a business phone number

What if we told you that your business telephone number could be the difference between a customer calling a competitor and calling you instead?

A business telephone number can provide your company with an enhanced corporate image, increased customer retention, and improved capturing of sales leads.

Below, we explain 7 reasons why a business phone number is essential for your business. And if you don’t yet have one yet, we’ll let you know how Bizik can help.

Customers want human interaction

Many companies nowadays don’t have phone numbers at all. Their modern customer service methods include live chat, texting, emails, and social media. Take ASOS, for example. Want to get in touch with them? Your only options are to chat with an agent or read the FAQs.

But it’s incredibly frustrating when you have an urgent query, or you don’t have time to sit in a virtual live chat queue or wait 48 hours for an email response.

• See more: 7 business sectors that could benefit from a Telephone Answering Service

As OnePoll’s survey shows, nearly 80% of customers say they want to speak to a real person when contacting a company.

While support solutions like live chat and FAQs are often more efficient and cheaper to implement, they usually don’t resolve issues quickly enough, leading to unhappy customers. Therefore, many people prefer to pick up the phone and speak to a human, and that’s why you still need a business phone number.

Increase customer retention

Considering that your customers want to reach you by phone, giving people what they want can boost retention. As a small business owner, you’ll know that capturing new customers when your brand is still unknown is difficult. So, when they do choose to shop with you, it’s vital to look after them and encourage them to return.

Having a business phone number means that you’re easily reachable. Your customers are instantly reassured that they can contact you instantly if anything goes wrong. They’ll not only trust you more, but they’ll also be more likely to shop with you again.

Business phone number solutions are advanced

Phone-based customer service isn’t what it used to be. Yes, you can still have an in-house team that sits in the office and physically answers incoming calls through a direct phone line.

However, modern solutions, such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), mean that you can receive calls from anywhere as long as there’s an internet connection.

With VoIP, the customer still calls your business phone number normally, but the connection is established via the Internet. This means there’s no need to install a phone line, which will save you money on line rental, and you can provide more dynamic support from anywhere in the world.

On top of that, the power of VoIP means that you can outsource your customer service function. For a small business in particular, this is often more cost-effective than hiring permanent staff, and the flexibility that comes with it makes your business agile, so no matter what happens, your customer service isn’t affected.

Create a professional image

If you own a micro company, you might still use your mobile number as your business phone number. However, this can appear unprofessional, as it suggests you are a one person company and calling the number will get you straight through to the business owner. Customers, business partners and suppliers are all less likely to trust a company which looks very small, as the company may be there one moment and gone the next, with no established complaints process should things go wrong.

Having a business phone number makes you seem more credible and creates an impression of being an established and experienced business.

Benefits for businesses of all sizes

There are different types of business phone numbers, each with important benefits. Regional business phone numbers (e.g. 01244, 01268, 0207, etc.) are great for small businesses like plumbers and hairdressers, as they reassure customers that the companies are based locally.

Meanwhile, national numbers (e.g. 0333) are suitable for growing businesses ready to enter a broader market and expand their authority across and beyond the UK. National business phone numbers can impress an international audience and make your organisation appear large and more established.

• See more: How we answer your calls explained
• See more: Telephone Answering Service – what you need to know

There are also freephone business phone numbers (e.g. 0800). These are ideal for more prominent companies with an international presence, who want to improve their customer experience by allowing people to reach them for free.

No matter your company’s size, there’s a business phone number for you that can transform your business and expand possibilities.

Protect your employees

If you have employees who regularly use their phones for work, a business phone number means they don’t have to share their personal contact information with anyone. Whether it’s a customer, client, contractor, or partner, they can keep their personal numbers private and avoid being contacted out of hours.

Capture every opportunity

Despite the world being increasingly digital, don’t expect everyone to be tech-savvy. If you don’t have a business phone number prominently displayed where your potential customers are, you risk losing them when they require clarification about your service offerings or availability.

Or, if you run an offline marketing campaign, someone interested could look for your contact number. Once they realise there isn’t one, they give up and forget about you.

Don’t let any leads slip through the net – capture every opportunity with a business phone number.

Get your business phone number with Bizik

Need a business phone number? We’re here to help. When you sign up for our Telephone Answering Service, you can purchase a business phone number for just £9.99 plus VAT.

Alternatively, if you already have a business phone number you’d like to keep, we can simply set up a diversion so that when someone calls you, they’ll automatically be re-routed to our agents.

Either way, you can rest assured that you’re benefitting from all the advantages outlined in this article. You’ll also have a dedicated and experienced team of representatives to handle your incoming calls professionally and in your brand’s tone of voice – no one will notice they’re not talking to you.

Ready to try Bizik? Call 020 3917 7444 today for a quote and to take advantage of your 7–day free trial.