If you’ve decided to look for a new phone number for your business then you’ve come to the right place as here at 08UK ‘virtual business numbers’ is what we specialise in supplying to any UK or overseas organisation.
Did you know that as of 1st July 2015, 0800 numbers were made free to call from all UK mobile phones and UK payphones, making 080 the desired Freephone number range for all businesses of all shapes or sizes. Everybody loves to make a free call enquiry, the statistics show this.
0800 has always been referred to as the Freephone number range but actually wasn’t free to call from mobile phones prior to July 2015. The Ofcom changes have made the 0800 range attractive again and we’ve seen a huge upturn in 0800 enquiries since the changes were implemented.
It’s important to remember that you are paying for your customers to call you, this will need to be considered when managing your business costings, however a budget of a few pence per minute could reap rewards to your overall ROI.
So having read the above paragraphs your thinking “I can’t afford to pay for my customers to call me, my phone is constantly ringing all day, it will cost me a fortune, this simply isn’t a feasible solution for me or us”
Firstly you should consider the value of your customer service solution to your existing customer base and how making these calls totally free could help further to neutralise some complaints.
The negative perception that customers have for businesses who don’t supply a Freephone number for their customers to call doesn’t help you to win new clients nor does it assist with retention in the long run.
Here at 08UK we would recommend that you separate your callers with more than one number range so you can receive revenue from some callers and pay your 0800 costs from the revenue received.
Why not advertise a 0844 number to receive business enquiries from suppliers and a 0800 number as sales enquiry number for your new potential customers and or as a customer support number.
Many businesses have been adopting this approach since 0800 became completely free for customers to call, and it would seem that the public perception is leaning toward a 0800 number expectation now for these support teams.
Any potential ‘cold call enquiry’ made to your company reception would then be made to your 0844 number which in turn would then provide a revenue for these minutes spent taking these calls which can be used to pay for free-phone minutes.
Another benefit of 0800 and 0844 numbers is their virtual cloud numbers, this means many call handling features can be applied to suit your business requirements.
Call handling options on your phone system have limitations, and are dependent upon power and optimum conditions within your office. Where-as the options within the cloud are limitless and provide a more rigid overall solution.
If you would like to talk to one of our team to get any point clarifying please do not hesitate to contact us. Call us now for free on 0800 408 0807
