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Why Your Business Needs An 0845 Number
In the current economic climate, people are more conscious of their spending than ever, and this even extends to their telephone bills. This means that customers are less likely to make non-essential national calls and if your business runs its customer services from a central location, you are less likely to receive enquiries. The expensive television advertising and billboard campaigns could all have been for nothing if customers are less inclined to call because of the more expensive national rate. The easiest solution to this is for your call centre to purchase an 0845 number.
This prefix, originally part of British Telecom's Lo-Call service, is a non-geographical location number. Where every regular telephone number has an area code identifying where they are in the country, an 0845 number exists independently. For your business, this means that wherever you are, and wherever your customers are, all calls to that number are charged at the same rate - in fact if the customer is on the right BT calling plan, their call to you will be free. This makes the follow up call from seeing your advertisement much more palatable, hopefully generating extra business.
Many television shows which allow viewer voting or dial-up internet service providers will use an 0845 number. This takes advantage of another feature available from some providers of non-geographical numbers, known as 'call financing'. This function means that the owner of the line receives income from the call or text message. In the television show example - particularly reality shows such as Big Brother and X Factor - this can provide the audience with an enjoyable sense of interaction with the programme. Allowing the viewer to feel that their opinion matters to how the show plays out will often keep them watching, and the income generated by the votes received will easily cover the cost of providing this option.
With dial-up internet service, call financing gives customers the option of 'pay as you go' without the need for signing up and setting up a payment method. Though this option isn't as popular as it used to be following the advent of widely available high-speed broadband, a surprising number of people still favour the simplicity and flexibility of this pay as you go style internet (40 per cent, in fact) and, if starting up an internet service company, adding an 0845 number or two for dial-up options could well be a worthwhile option.
Acquiring an 0845 number is easily achieved, and many companies which will provide you with a geographically independent telephone number for a reasonable cost, often even offering 'memorable' digits, which can be another important factor in ensuring your advertising pays dividends, especially from television and radio spots. If your contact details are both memorable and affordable, the consumer really has no excuse not to make that phone call enquiring about your business, providing you are offering them something that fits their needs.
Having a contact number for your business that is both easy to remember and cheap to call is one very simple and affordable way to help protect your business against the recession, especially with BT and some other providers offering free calls to 0845 prefixed numbers. Knowing that it is easy and affordable for both potential and returning customers to make the call is certainly one way to provide some peace of mind to business owners in these troubling times.
About the Author Thomas Pretty is a business consultant with many years of experience in the e-commerce industry. Find out more about 0845 numbers at http://www.blueboxtelecom.com/
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