- Your customer service is infinitely better and, let's face it, customer service is practically non-existent these days.
- Toll free vanity numbers help you brand your business and make it more memorable for your customers.
- A phone number engenders trust and that's especially important online where people are wary of giving their credit card numbers.
- You can use existing phone lines, which means no extra hardware that you have to buy and deal with.
Choosing Toll Free Vanity Numbers
If you have a dog care site, it's not very likely you're going to score the number 1-800 DOG CARE. It's a safe bet that somebody's already grabbed that one up. But there are still tons of great toll free vanity numbers out there that are available.Brainstorm a huge list of words associated with your business. These should be at most 7 letters long, but shorter is alright. You can add other words and numbers to it to fill it out. Action words like GET and NOW really help.
When you've got some that you like, you can use an online lookup tool to see if they're available. These tools not only tell you if they're available but also offer suggestions on similar ones you can try. Keep in mind also that you'll increase your chances of finding good toll free vanity numbers if you go beyond the regular 800 prefix and consider others like 888, 877, 866, and 855.
How to Use Your Vanity Number
The service provider that hooks you up with your toll free vanity numbers will give you lots of options on routing calls. You can send the number to whatever line you want and this can include landlines or cellular phones.Put your toll free number prominently on all pages of your site where they won't miss it. Make sure that you write somewhere 'it's free' just to remind them. This helps to increase your response rate.
Here's an obvious tip but one that can't be overstated - answer when they call. Do everything you can to make sure you're available. Take advantage of features like call forwarding and simultaneous ring so that they can always get through.
Getting Signed up
Start by estimating call volume and setting a budget. Base your decision on these factors. Then take the time to consider a number of different providers before choosing one and take advantage of free trial offers. Lastly, make sure that they let you change or cancel your service at any time without charging you any fees.Most people who run online businesses are amazed at how toll free vanity numbers increase their customer response rate, even when customers hardly use it. There's just something about that number on your website that assures them you're a real, legitimate business.
