Choosing a phone number for your business
It’s hard. Hey, it would still be hard if the choice were between just two options. But when you have several different solutions that don’t seem all that different from each other, at some point you just zone out and start jabbing a finger at whatever pops up first. In this article, we’re going to talk about how to pick the right number for your business without going crazy.
There are two main criteria to keep in mind: functionality and aesthetics.
Let’s start with functionality. Here there are two options yet again: a landline or
a toll-free number. We can rule out “I just bought a cell number, so that’s fine” right at the beginning — your business is worth more than that.
Landlines
These are the numbers we’re all used to. Picking one in Krakow would give you something like this: +48 12 ХХХ ХХ XX. Though bear in mind that you don’t actually have to be located in Krakow. You can have an office in Warsaw, with landlines coded for cities all around Poland. If you offer services across Europe, you can even have local landlines all around the continent. Dzinga HPBX lets you hook up as many numbers as you want in twelve European countries. Whether you need to buy several numbers or just one is a different question.
Your customers prefer to call local numbers. And even if they don’t mind calling another city, nobody in their right mind wants to pay for an international call. With that in mind, you should buy a number for every country in which you have a presence. If you’re in just one country, you can get by with just one number — for example, a number coded for the capital, which makes you look better.
Toll-free numbers
Customers don’t pay for calls made to toll-free numbers, and that’s exactly what companies advertise when they post 800-numbers on their sites. They’re the ones who pay for calls made to them. And customers love it, since they don’t have to worry about staying on the line too long — it’s free for them, after all. Plus, that builds trust.
While toll-free numbers cost no more than a few euros now, they used to be prohibitively expensive for all but the largest companies. Consumers still associate those numbers with big, serious business.
Dzinga offers toll-free numbers in several countries. Having just one in each is perfect: they’re multichannel, the line is never busy, and the IVR helps distribute calls.
Now that you’ve figured out the functionality side of things, it’s time to think about aesthetics. An eye-catching phone number can be yet another feather in your company’s cap. It should be easy to remember, easy to dial, and easy to pass on to a neighbor. If you have numbers in the name of your company, you can look for something similar. Companies often try to rhyme their slogan and their phone number.
If you decide you need multiple numbers in a single city, pick two in a row: 438 02 80 and 438 02 81, for example. If you’re buying numbers in several cities, try to make sure they’re similar there as well. The more repeated digits there are, the easier the number is to remember.
Some people recommend using fengshui to pick a number for your business, assuming that option is the best choice when it comes to bringing your company money and good fortune. We tend more toward the side of thinking that the best way to bring your company money is to have all your different departments working together and interacting skillfully with your customers. The most important thing is to make sure you’re always there for them, no matter what city they’re from. Our user-friendly purchase page makes buying a phone number for your business easy. If you don’t have HPBX yet, you can automatically add it to your order. And if you do, all that’s left is to pick a number, pay for it, and…well, that’s pretty much it. You’re good to go.