There are many obvious ways to improve your business. If you run a small business, you probably have already thought of upselling additional goods and services. You might have also considered making more of business coaching, online sales tools, and social media marketing. These are all common examples of the ways entrepreneurs think about business growth. However, have you considered what your telephony services can do to help improve your business outreach? If not, read on to find out why so many SME owners focus on this key area of business communication.
Table of Contents
1. Answer Business Calls On Your Mobile
To begin with, as a small business owner, you may need to be out and about delivering orders and offering your services. Even if you have an office, the likelihood is that you won’t be there all the time, certainly if you’re out networking at trade shows and the like. However, publishing a mobile phone as your main point of contact hardly looks as professional as using a proper landline number. With virtual landlines, you can enjoy the benefits of a fixed line that customers will know and respect while still being able to operate flexibly, answering calls wherever you are on your mobile.
2. Offer a Freephone Number
An 0800 number used to be for fixed lines only not that long ago. However, you can order them now and have them work with any phone line you choose. What’s even more attractive from a business growth perspective is that putting a freephone number on your business cards or sales literature boosts call rates. Simply by buying an 0800 business number to divert to your mobile, you can generate up to a third more sales enquiries because people are more willing to call them.
3. Make Better Use of Call Routing
If you want to improve your business service when people call you, then why not allow them to direct their own enquiry? It is no good having all your calls answered by a customer service employee when the enquiry could be from a supplier or another member of your team, for example. Instead, use a system that answers your business calls automatically and allows callers to direct which department or person they’d like to speak to for themselves. It saves time and effort, offering your clients a better customer experience in the bargain.
4. Consider the Benefits of a Central London Number
Another type of business telephone number that looks good wherever it is used is an 0207 number. To be clear, 0207 business numbers convey the idea that the caller is phoning Central London, where rents are highest and big companies are based. However, these days, you can obtain an 0207 business number no matter where in the UK you are located. According to Cleartone Communications, a business telephone service provider, even SMEs based in other parts of the capital and just outside it have 0207 numbers these days because they offer a more professional first impression on potential new clients. You can create the same impression with one wherever you are based.
5. Benefit from WhatsApp Integration
Lots of businesses, large and small, use WhatsApp these days. If you want to integrate your main published business telephone with your current WhatsApp service, though, it can often be tricky. Seek out a telephony service provider that offers this feature and make the most of this communication system with your main telephone number.
