It’s the joy of every business owner to see their enterprise kick off and expand from their humble beginnings.
But the challenge doesn’t stop there—momentum needs to be maintained, and one way to do so is by equipping the business with the right tools to bring the business closer to success.
There is an array of tools that businesses can consider for their business. While many of them are already integrated within the company’s operations, such as accounting software and office supplies, some tools are often overlooked or overshadowed by their counterparts.
One tool that fits this profile is a professional number. A lot of small business owners maintain a single personal phone number, and while that number can work for smaller-scale businesses, having just one number for customers to reach isn’t enough for a fast-growing business.
If you want to know why a professional number is so important for business owners experiencing unprecedented business growth, you’ve come to the right place. This article will dive into six reasons why having a professional number matters a lot for businesses on the rise.
Let’s jump right into things.
1. Manages Higher Call Volumes
A professional number, such as a 1300 number from Teleca, isn’t just a number with a different set of area code digits.
It’s an inbound number that has an entire suite of marketing, operational, and customer service-oriented functionalities that can create a better experience for you, your staff, and your customers.
One of the primary benefits of a professional number is the increased call volume. To illustrate, a normal generic phone number can only connect the customer to a single respondent. If another customer wants to call a personal number, they’d have to wait until the initial caller hangs up.
With a 1300 or business number, this won’t be a problem, as your business can create a system wherein multiple agents can respond to callers who call from your single business number.
This is because a professional number can be rerouted to connect to multiple endpoints, allowing customers to be automatically directed to any available line that can entertain their enquiry.
So, if you tend to have, say, three or four simultaneous callers at any given time, you can create a customer service system with four agents that can accommodate these callers. If you have more callers (or need to scale down), you can easily configure your settings to route to however many open lines your business is currently handling.
This flexibility allows your business to always have someone available to entertain your customers, which can help foster loyalty and build trust—all while keeping things cost-effective.
2. Hastens Manual Processes
Imagine calling a big multinational company only for the receptionist to tell you to wait a moment, only to hear them muffle out the name of the person you’re trying to reach in the back office.
Not the best look, right?
Conversely, if the receptionist can immediately redirect you to the intended recipient by clicking a button, this can make for a more pleasant and efficient experience for everyone involved.
A professional number can perform the latter thanks to its automated call-routing features, reducing the need for a manual exchange that can last for seconds, if not minutes.
Besides that, professional numbers can also have automated voicemail systems. These systems are built by the company to help the customers identify their needs and immediately get connected with someone who can best respond to that specific need.
This makes it easier for your callers to connect with the right team more efficiently and for your team to segment the customers appropriately.
For companies with a high call volume, this ability to categorise can speed up workflows by reducing the load for the operator. This can make calls happen at a smoother and more satisfactory rate for your customers.
3. Provides Work-Life Balance
Even if you’re handling a growing company and spending a fair number of hours on it, it’s important to have some downtime every once in a while.
A business phone number helps you create that distinction, separating work-related matters from personal-related business.
This separation can help you get into the right frame of mind for each activity. It also grants you a layer of privacy on each level, reducing overlapping interference from both ends.
That said, a business number isn’t only useful for you, but also for your customers.
Suppose you’re sleeping or watching a movie with your phone on silent mode. A customer attempting to reach you may be heavily dissatisfied when they’re unable to reach your business number, even if it has been ringing incessantly.
With a business phone number, they can be automatically directed to an open line—a person that’s not you. Alternatively, if no one is available, they can receive a voicemail that can direct them on what to do next.
In any case, having both a personal and professional number helps you maintain a good work-life balance. This, in turn, can make it easier for you to concentrate your efforts on each activity in their respective time, creating better and more fulfilling outcomes for each.
4. Extends Your Reach Nationwide
With a personal phone number, you’ll be designated an area code based on your geographical location. Callers calling you from outside that location will incur a higher call fee—which can dissuade them from reaching out to you in the first place.
With a business number, this won’t be a problem. This is because the number has a consistent toll rate based on its preceding numbers. For example, in Australia, 1300 numbers have a consistent rate that aligns with a customer’s local area code. 13 and 1800 numbers don’t charge the customer, which can encourage them even more to make the call.
Considering that, callers from all around the country will feel more at ease picking up their phone to dial your business number—whether it’s for purchasing, inquiring, or other forms of engagement. This can attract new customers and help you retain new ones.
Furthermore, if you decide to pack your bags and relocate your business elsewhere in the country, you can retain your business number with virtually zero limitations. This allows you to operate efficiently and maintain existing relations, no matter where you’re presently located in Australia.
5. Tracks and Records Key Analytics
No matter the size of your business, data is a crucial metric that can provide you with some crucial insights into your business’s performance.
In particular, it can provide insights into your customer’s profile, agent’s performance, and marketing analytics—all of which are incredibly useful in identifying trends and enhancing your business’s ongoing operations.
For instance, on the agent side of things, the analytics dashboard can look into the average handle time, average speed of answer, call abandonment rate, average call duration, and first call resolution to determine how well an agent is doing.
If they’re underperforming, this can be a sign to reevaluate training and look into alternative approaches to boost performance.
Furthermore, professional numbers also look into a caller’s history. This can help your company determine the best approach or the right agent to connect to to streamline the process.
The wealth of analytics you can gain from professional numbers is abundant. By taking advantage of this information, you can make more informed decisions about your business, enabling it to reach even more success in the future.
6. Cements Brand Identity
A professional number can also be a potent marketing booster for a variety of reasons.
For one, it can be made into a vanity number or a number that can be sequenced to spell out a word, like 1300 WINERY. This can make it easier for your customers to recall your brand.
Secondly, it can also make it easier to use the same number across all platforms, from the business website and social media pages to more traditional forms of marketing like business cards and billboards.
This consistency makes it easier to create posters and marketing material across all channels without having to change the number based on the location where it’s being advertised.
This number can make it easier for your customers—both existing and new—to reach out to you, regardless of when they’re calling or where they’re from.
Interesting Related Article: “The Role of Media in Corporate Branding“
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