"93% of the UK recognise this number as a free call."
(Source: Back to the Future -
Full Report; Back to basics to get to the future Key findings for the future of
UK Teleservice; The Henley Centre, January 2004)
"71% think companies who
have a Freefone 0800 number care about their customers."
(Source: Back to the
Future - Full Report; Back to basics to get to the future Key findings for the
future of UK Teleservice; The Henley Centre, January 2004) |
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No need to ever change your business phone number again. Your 0800
freephone number is yours for life. When BT run out of 01/02 numbers again
and introduce new dialing codes you won’t have the hassle of re-printing
stationary and marketing material. Simply re-route your 0800 number if you move
business premises.
Give yourself a national presence - don't give the impression you are only
interested in customers in your immediate area or generate the feeling that you
only operate on a small, local basis.
Keep track of your advertising response rates. By using separate 0800 numbers
on each of your advertisements, you can monitor the effectiveness simply by looking at your
real time call statistics provided by elite telecom. Thus, you can save money
by choosing the adverts that produce effective results based on your call
statistics.
Save money - in almost all cases it is cheaper to have a customer call you
on your 0800 number than it is for you to call them on their number (especially
if they give you a mobile phone contact number). It is also far more likely to
result in an incoming enquiry for your business.
Inspire Confidence - the most important thing you can do for a prospective
customer is inspire confidence in them enough to contact you - nothing does that
better than 0800 numbers.
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0800 Numbers
Many companies have a free phone number which means that customers do not have to pay anything at all when they call the free phone number. Any number that begins with '0800' is a free phone number, and it is universally recognised as such. It makes no difference where the customer calls the free phone number from, however some mobiles charge customers for calling a free phone number.
Offering a free phone number has a wide array of business benefits. For example, people are more likely to call if it's a free phone number, so the business will receive a better response with a free phone number than they would have had with a paid number. Having a free phone number also helps give a positive image of the company, and people will think because you have a free phone number, that you care about your customers. Offering a free phone number obviously means that the company has to absorb the cost of the free phone number, and customers have a warmer attitude to these more caring companies. Companies that offer a service, or most charities, have a free phone number. They appreciate that many people need a free phone number because they may otherwise not be able to afford to call. Offering a free phone number allows the company to give something back to the customer, and the free phone number means they can ring from a pay phone or a house phone, and it is still a free phone number.
If a company has a special promotion then a free phone number is a good way to encourage people to call. Some phone calls take a long time and with a free phone number then customers do not get as frustrated, because the free phone number means there is no financial cost. A free phone number can also have memorable numbers to further support a marketing campaign. |
