Why should you have a business phone number? Why can’t one just use their personal phone number? We look into 10 key reasons every business, especially a new business should get a dedicated business phone number.
Reason 1
Business Phone Number Priorities
Prioritize your work and personal calls. Has this ever happened to you? You are at a family event or BBQ with friends and you get a call. You hope it is a business call. But it’s a friend asking for directions to the event. No harm, no foul. Yet, by being on the line for the personal call so you missed a new business call that went straight to voice mail.
By the time you called back. The business went to your biggest competitor. If you had a dedicated business phone number you would still pick up the personal call to give directions. But this time you would take your work call since you know it is an important new customer call.
Reason 2
Work/life Balance
Sometimes a proper work life balance is required. One survey reported 66% of workers say, they often skip at least one meal per day because of work. If that is on a typical Monday, how is the work/life balance on a typical Saturday?
Some people can work from 6 am till 11 pm. If you are not one of those people your mind and body will require a hearty 8 hours of sleep for “recharging of the batteries” if you will. That is unlikely to happen if you binge-watch TV till late hours. But maybe it is because are you taking work calls at extreme hours? Are you sacrificing critical rest hours for a price quote call? A call where you quickly realize the caller does not have your minimum budget in for service? In that example, you would be better off getting rest.
Maybe it’s not always about sleep. Maybe you just need to shut down the mind from the stress of work. Setting up a business phone number with dedicated on and off hours will keep your mind and body rested, your spouse happy and instead of taking work calls, you may see your children score their game-winning plays on the field.
Reason 3
Make Sure Customers Feel Important and Respected!
When the customer could go either way, you or a competitor. Simply use a timeless business charm move.Mix three parts: charm, your business phone number, and a personal number to land the big deal.
There is nothing like giving out your business phone number to a potential client. Or to someone who has already signed on the dotted line. The feeling is optimistic, full with potential.
But an even better feeling is encouraging a potential customer to call your personal phone number. You sweeten the experience by telling them, “This is my business number. But if you have any issues call me on my direct personal line. I always pick up my personal line.”
Odds are they probably won’t all you at midnight. But if there is not much seperation between your competitors, this small touch of “I will go the extra mile” will put you closer to getting the client.
Reason 4
Nosey people!
You know how people are. Sometimes they want to know who really is your dad? Who is your mom? No really, who is she? Or how much did you pay for your car? What do you do for a living? Oh yeah, how much does that pay? How much did you pay for your jacket?
Sometimes you will have to give your phone number for a PTA meeting, volunteer group, or an HOA / Neighborhood phone number list.
Instead of nosey people googling your work phone number. Give them your personal phone number instead. Who needs to know what you do for a living? Unless you want them to know. It’s just a small part of keeping work life and personal life separate.
Reason 5
Appear Larger than Life
Whether you are a one-person business. Or a two-person operation, making your operation appear big will have big rewards. After all, customers are more likely:
1- Buy from a company that has been around for a long time. If you buy from the new company founded last week, if anything goes wrong, will they be in business next month to give you your money back or make sure to fix any errors?
2 – Buy when it’s not just one person doing all the work. Even if it may not be fair, when a job is worth a lot of money customers prefer companies with extra support, coverage, and accountability.
3- Trust a business that can send various employees to a job. If the customer doesn’t like a cleaner, a dog walker, or a painter, they will be happy to request someone else. They still want to give your company money, just as long as you send a different employee.
A company can appear larger by setting up a welcome greeting menu (a.k.a. Auto Attendant). Setting up an Auto-Attendant system will allow you to compete with more established competitors and ask for a higher price tag per job. While you “could” set up an auto-attendant system on your personal phone line, it doesn’t mean you should.
Reason 6
Business Phone Number as a Valuable Business Asset
If you plan to one day sell your business, your business phone number can be a valuable asset in the sale. For example, here are a few companies known for their vanity numbers:
1-800-FLOWERS
1-800-MATTRES
1-800-DOCTORS
1-800-CONTACTS
1-888-SANDALS
The best thing of buying a memorable vanity number is that the process is not hard at all.
Reason 7
Make your Business Phone Number Known Far and Wide
Focus on putting your business phone number in every business directory out there. No matter the industry, audience, competition, or region listing your business on major business directories is a key early step. Here is a list of important online directories.
GENERAL
Google Business – https://www.google.com/business/
Yelp – https://business.yelp.com/
Facebook Business – https://www.facebook.com/business
Instagram Business – https://business.instagram.com/
Foursquare Business – http://business.foursquare.com/
Trustpilot – https://www.trustpilot.com/
REAL ESTATE
Zillow – https://www.zillow.com/premier-agent/agent-account/
Realtor – https://www.realtor.com/agentprofile/
RESTAURANT RESERVATIONS
Grubhub – https://get.grubhub.com/
Opentable – https://restaurant.opentable.com/get-started/
Tripadvisor – https://www.tripadvisor.com/
CONTRACTORS
Thumbtack – https://www.thumbtack.com/
Angi – https://www.angi.com/create-account
Yelp – https://business.yelp.com/
If you post your personal phone number you may get calls at 10 PM or 2 AM to see if you are open. Sure, you could turn the phone off, but what if you are also waiting for a late-night phone call from a friend? The best of all worlds is to have a dedicated business phone number and list that phone number in today’s hottest business directories with out worrying about calls at all random hours.
Reason 8
Earn the Trust of Customers by Using Trusted Local Area Codes
The best part of buying your dedicated business phone number is that you can cherry-pick the area codes you know will bring in major cash flow. Some customers will not mind calling a national call center to get roofing work, a real estate agent, or legal representation. That said, most people prefer a company with a local area code. By having your dedicated business phone number(s) you can grow in multiple local area codes that redirect to your direct business or even personal phone number.
Reason 9
Business Phone Numbers are Tax Deductible
Yes, you can deduct your business phone number if you keep an impeccable track of your business versus personal call ratio. But even tax experts speak of the ease of just having a dedicated business phone number.
Reason 10
Business Phone Numbers Offer Flexibility
For now, your business may require only one person to run it’s daily operations (billing, payroll, scheduling, marketing, etc). But as the business grows having a business phone system firmly in place ahead of time will allow you to easily scale and transition when you hire managers, employees, schedulers, and other office staff members.
Summary
Tresta’s virtual phone system provides unlimited calling and texting from anywhere on any device with an easy-to-use app. Instantly add local and toll-free numbers and take advantage of phone call recording, call routing, and other call management features that empower your business to communicate smarter and more efficiently.
For more info visit our website at tresta.com.