Not long ago, we have discussed whether or not it is worth to have a toll free number on your website in the age of cheap telecommunication. The answer was a definite “yes” with the addition that the benefits of such a feature may depend on the kind of business you are in. Now, we’d like to discuss the kinds of activities that may be in great need for free-of-charge accessibility by telephone in detail.
Naturally, a toll free number is most required if your business relies heavily on live voice communication to make a sale. But there are other things to keep in mind, as well. Before deciding on launching such a service for your customers, you should ponder over whether you’d like to encourage them to place orders over the phone or on your website? Both methods are okay, but ordering on the phone may be more comfortable for the customer, but it needs more manpower and instant access on your side.
But even with these issues, a toll free number may be the hit for you!
Many people believe that instead of focusing on sales via phone, they should invest time and money into making their website or webshop more automated. Then, these people try to anticipate and answer customer questions online with F.A.Q.s, so they won’t call the webshop on the phone. Many also fear that having a toll free number might encourage a customer just to call and ask rather than place an order online.
We can only disagree with these fears and presumptions. For one thing, it is impossible to answer all the question through the website that might come into a visitor or customer’s mind. In today’s accelerated world, you have only 4 seconds to grab attention, and customers tend to browse on immediately and look up a competitor’s website within seconds if they cannot find the specific info they were looking for. For the other thing, it is clear the personal contact and better understanding of customers’ need not only increases the order sizes, but also results in more satisfied customers. So,if you are a debt advisor or insurance consultant, or you run a flower delivery service, you can be sure that there are several questions to answer immediately.
Some industries of even the developed countries experience that nearly 30 per cent of customers wish to confirm their orders on telephone or before that get in live voice contact with the seller to check whether the company really exists. Building technology and car accessories are typically question-intensive sectors.
To convince you I suggest to use a little bit of calculations. First see how much money you spend on attracting visitors to your website. Do you spend less than 5% on converting them from visitors to customers? Does a customer worth you 2 dollars? Can you convince a potential customer to get your product? Do you use more than 10 frequently asked question on your site? If the answer is yes to any of these questions then the answer is yes to toll free numbers on you site.
Taking these considerations into account, we believe the tiny investment needed to install a toll free number can be nothing else than a good decision.