10 Reasons Why You Need a 0800 Number

If you look at any ad or pull up any information on a business, there is a high likelihood that you will find a 0800 number listed. Why are 0800 numbers so common? 0800 numbers provide a lot of benefits to businesses. In this article, we will go over the top 10 reasons why your business needs a 0800 number.

Improve Your Customer Satisfaction

A 0800 number will give your customers a way to contact you. By providing a free phone number for them, you can prevent your customers from being left out in the dark when they have a question or issue that they need to contact you about.

The simple act of being available to receive a customer’s call will increase your overall customer satisfaction significantly. It allows your customers to reach you in a way that is convenient for them, and it is a good source to have as a contact in addition to other systems.

Being Available 24-7

A 0800 number will allow customers to reach you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Anytime they have a problem or a question, they can simply dial up your 0800 number and get those questions answered within a few steps.

Instant Communication with Your Customers

From the customer’s perspective, there is no way of knowing how long it will take for their ticket, email or website submission to be answered. In fact, it is very common for websites to neglect their online customer service system altogether. Sometimes customers may be waiting weeks before they even receive a reply. This has created a lack of enthusiasm towards these types of customer service outlets.

We find that many people will not even attempt to contact customer service if they do not have access to a phone number that they can call. The reason a 0800 number is so useful in these situations is that it gives the customer a way to receive immediate feedback for their question. Knowing this, they will be more likely to pick up the phone and resolve the issue as opposed to ignoring it and moving on.

Vanity Numbers

Many businesses choose to get vanity numbers. These are the types of numbers that are usually spelled out to make them easy to remember. For example, a flower store may have the number 0 800 FLOWERS.

That type of number is a lot easier to remember than a random string of 11 numbers. Using a vanity number will increase the amount of calls that go into your business. The easier it is for a customer to remember the number, the more likely they will be to call.

Be Anywhere and Everywhere

Unlike an area code, a 0800 number is not linked to any specific area. This means that there are no additional steps you will have to take if you have to relocate your business. When you do this, you will be able to keep the exact same 0800 number that you used before.

Split Testing

You can use your 0800 number to split test your marketing techniques. When a customer calls your number, you can prompt them to choose an extension which is related to the area they are in, the reason why they are calling, or anything else you may want to know about them.

This allows you to gain a better understanding about where your calls are coming from, and why people are calling. A smart marketer will be able to use this information to further improve the marketing campaigns for a business.

Save Your Business Money

A 0800 number will allow you to save a lot of money in customer service costs. Rather than employing a bunch of general customer service agents to field calls across the full spectrum of your business, you can use your agents that specialize in specific areas.

Using an automated system, you can have each call routed directly to the agent that is best suited to handle the call. Smaller companies may route those calls directly to employees that work in the related department.

Legitimize Your Business

A free phone number adds a lot of credibility to your business. These days, people expect any moderately sized business to have a free phone number. The lack of one may raise questions into the credibility of your company. If they are expecting to pull up a 0800 number only to find that there is none, it may turn them off from using your business entirely.

Improved Customer Retention

The presence of a 0800 number will help you retain your existing customers. Rather than leave out of frustration, customers will stay with you knowing that they will be able to reach you with a quick phone call whenever they need to.

The added benefit of a free phone number is that your customers will not feel any burden calling your business. Although this will result in a higher volume of phone calls, it increases the customer’s involvement, which makes it more likely that they will stay with you in the long term.

Using It for Commercial Use

If you advertise at all, whether it is on TV, in the newspaper, on radio, or on billboards, a 0800 number is critical in the effort to turn an onlooker into someone that takes action on your ad.

When you put together an ad, there are a few things that you are trying to accomplish. You are trying to get people’s attention, introduce something that they are interested in, and convince them to use your company.

The final step in an effective ad, is its ability to turn that interested observer into a paying customer. In order to do that, the observer will have to take the step of contacting your business.

This is where a 0800 number comes into play. A 0800 number is a lot more inviting than simply having a website or email as a form of contact.

How to Find the Best 0800 Number Providers

There are tons of 0800 number providers out there for you to choose from. If you are currently shopping for a provider or thinking about where to start, it may get overwhelming pretty quickly. There are so many options and choices to sort through, that it can become a challenging task to figure out what the best service is for you. In this article, we will talk about how you can sort through all the options and figure out what the best provider is for your business.

Monthly Fees

The most obvious factor is the price that it will cost you to rent the number. We’ve seen prices range from a few pounds on up to thousands. Although many companies that are new to this may assume the lower-priced options are not going to deliver as much value, it is typically not the case.

The truth is the higher priced providers only give a few unique advantages over the more affordable providers. For most small businesses, these advantages are not worth the additional fees. When you’re shopping for different providers, consider some of the other options that we will discuss below and always look for the best rates within that realm.

Most 0800 number providers will charge by the month. They will likely lock you into contracts of several months or several years. A lot of providers will give you discounts for committing to multiple years all at once.

We recommend sticking with the short-term plans in the beginning. Once you find a company that you like, you can expand to long-term plans and save money through their discounts.

You can expect to pay around £10- £20 per month for a quality provider that will give you all of the basics your small business needs. If you go beyond that price range, it should only be for specific options that some providers do not make available.

Setup Fees

Some providers will waive the setup fee while others will charge you. In the long run, a setup fee will not have a large impact on your total cost. Often times, it is cheaper to go with a provider that charges a higher setup fee but lower monthly fees over a provider that waives the setup and charges higher monthly fees.

The setup fee is only a minor factor when considering your provider; however, it is something that you should check before you commit to a plan.

Vanity Numbers

One of the best tools that a 0800 number provides, is the option to create a vanity number. A vanity number makes it extremely easy for customers to remember your phone number. There are a lot of variations on the options you have with a vanity number. Depending on the specifics, you should expect to pay more for these unique numbers as well.

Most of the common and in demand vanity numbers are taken already. For example, 0 800 FLOWERS is going to be impossible to get; however, there are local variations that you could use for your company. An example of a local variation is using a word as part of the full phone number. For example, you can use the number 0 800 54 LAW1.

In the example above, the numbers 5, 4 and 1 are all interchangeable. This allows 1,000 different combinations of this vanity number specifically. As you can see, there is virtually no limit to the amount of localized vanity numbers that you can use, as long as you are willing to get creative with them.

The reason we are explaining how vanity numbers work is to show you how important they are. Although most providers offer vanity numbers, some do not. The last thing you want to do is assume you will be able to get a vanity number through them, and realize you can’t when it is too late for a change. Make sure that you check the availability of the vanity number that you will want to use and the price of it before you commit to a provider.

Reviews of the Provider

It is easy to look up reviews and recommendations for a specific provider. A simple Google search will tell you all you need to know about them. Before you commit to a particular provider, make sure you do your research so that you will be able to find out any hidden information that you may want to know before you commit to them.

More often than not, if the provider does not treat their customers well, it will show up on the reviews. As any provider would tell you, the reputation of their brand is critical for the success of their business.

If they mislead or trick their customers in any way, it will almost certainly show up in a review somewhere. These types of negative reviews can bring down a provider overnight. Before you commit to a provider, do a quick Google search to make sure the customers who have used their services in the past have good things to say about their experience with them.

Advanced Tools

Providers will offer a variety of different advanced tools that may benefit your business. For example, most providers offer some form of voicemail management; however, some providers will offer the bare minimum, while others will go above and beyond.

Depending on the needs of your business, either option may be ideal for you. Look through all of the tools that each provider offers, and figure out what the most important tools are for your business. By doing this, you will be able to eliminate a lot of the clutter that is involved with sorting through all of these providers.

Which Is the Right Provider for Me?

The right provider for your business will depend solely on the business itself. You know what your business needs better than anyone. This makes you the best person to answer this question.

Consider all of the factors that we have discussed above as you sort through the different 0800 number providers. By doing this, you will be able to eliminate a lot of the bad options, and choose the best one for your business.

Why 0800 Will Increase Your Sales

There are many reasons why a 0800 number will increase your sales as a business. Customers expect any established business to have a 0800 number. Having a 0800 number will allow you to use a vanity number, which will help customers memorize your number without even knowing it, and it will provide a free and easy way for those interested to contact your business.

These three factors all contribute to an increase in sales for your business. Below, we will talk in more details about what these factors are, and how they will help your company grow.

It’s Expected

The simplest way to explain this, is that it is expected. When a potential customer looks up your business, they are going to expect to see a 0800 number that they can use to reach you. Whether it is on an advertisement, on your website, or in a business directory, a 0800 number is expected from every business.

Occasionally, the absence of a 0800 number can cause issues. It may give the impression that your company is not established or that it does not have a physical location. This can do a lot to dissuade your customers from using your business altogether.

Establishing Your Business

Warranted or not, people tend to trust a business that has a physical location more than one that operates remotely. This is an effect that was created due to all the online pyramid schemes that popped up in the beginning of the Internet.

Before people knew how to protect themselves online, scammers took advantage of the opportunities that the Internet presented to them. They made fake companies that only existed online with the sole purpose of ripping off unsuspecting customers.

Although this type of scam is no longer prevalent, it still lingers in the minds of many. This is why people will be much more likely to trust an online merchant or business if they see that they have a physical location, no matter where that may be.

How Can A 0800 Number Help

A 0800 number will help establish trust between your business and your customer. Even though you do not necessarily need to have a physical location to obtain a 0800 number, it still has been shown to create that impression to the visitor.

As a business, if you want to establish your company and distance it from the websites that are only out to scam customers, obtaining a 0800 number is one of the steps that will help you achieve this.

Introducing Vanity Numbers

Have you ever seen an infomercial selling a product that had a customized number at the end? For example: 0 0800 FLORIST. This type of number is a lot easier to remember than the numerical version of it: 0 0800 361 86 85.

This is why we see vanity numbers all over the place. If you simply give a customer an 11 digit number that they have to write down in order to contact your business, there is a high likelihood that they will not bother to do that, therefore, they will lose the ability to get a hold of the company.

Instead, you can provide a vanity number to work around this issue. A number like that is extremely easy for a listener to recall. It’s easy for them to recite it in their head, and recall it right away, or recall it from their memory hours or days later.
Vanity numbers are also relatively cheap to rent. You will typically have to pay for them monthly; however, the benefits that they provide significantly outweigh their cost. If you do advertise with a number already, replacing it with a vanity number should give you a significant spike in calls almost overnight.

If you are not currently advertising with your number displayed, you are missing out on a large quantity of people that would otherwise be able to contact you using their preferred method of communication: the phone. A 0800 number allows you to implement a phone number into your ads in a professional way.

There is an infinite amount of vanity numbers that you can choose from. You cannot take a number that is already being used, but you can make a variation of it. Without any limitations, there are countless vanity number variations that will work great for your business, no matter what industry you are in.

Once you implement an easy to remember vanity number, you can prepare yourself for a higher volume of incoming calls. The more calls you receive, the more chances you will have to convert those callers into new customers for your business. The more calls you have, the more sales you will be able to make.

Don’t Charge Your Customers for Contacting You

Without a free phone number, your customers will have to effectively pay just for the right to communicate with you. This is not what you want. Although it will cost your business money, it pales in comparison to the benefits that giving your customers an easy way to reach you will bring.
Giving your customers a free and easy way to communicate with you is important if you are using the number of sales, customer support or everything in general. You don’t want it to be a hassle for your customers to contact you, and providing a free phone number is the best way to do that.

In the end, providing your customers with a free phone number that they can use to reach you will increase the amount of calls that you receive, which will result in an increase in sales.

Why You Need a 0800 Number to Increase Your Sales

These are just a few of the many factors of how a 0800 number can drive up your sales. If you run any type of business, no matter how big or small it is, a 0800 number is a must-have. It will help you generate more leads, and drive up your total sales as a business. You may be surprised at how effective it is as a marketing tool.

Why 0800 Numbers Are the Future

With the rapid improvements in technology, everything is trending towards more automation. This includes our telephone services. Although automated phone services have been around for ages, new improvements are being developed which are paving the way for a bright future for all free phone 0800 numbers. Below, we will talk about why 0800 numbers are the future.

Understanding How Free Phone Numbers Work

To understand why the future is so bright for 0800 numbers, you must first understand how these numbers work. A 0800 number is a free phone number that can be accessed in the UK.

These types of numbers will not bill the caller for using them. Instead, the call is paid for by the owner of the number. In most cases, the owner of the number will be a business.

Callers will use listed 0800 numbers to reach businesses without having to worry about being charged. Businesses offer these free phone numbers as a courtesy service for their customers. When it comes to customer service or attracting new leads, providing a free way to call such as this, is a great way to accomplish both.

How 0800 Numbers Are Issued

These free phone numbers are issued on a first-come-first-served basis. This process has allowed some original companies to secure some of the most profitable and recognizable 0800 numbers there are.

Although there are thousands of 0800 numbers already being used, there are millions of more combinations that are ready for the taking. The amount of number combinations that is available for businesses gives them the opportunity to find the perfect number for their company.

Future Prognosis of These Numbers

This is why 0800 numbers show no signs of slowing down. As new industries and niches are being developed, the amount of 0800 numbers that are being requested is only increasing.
Thanks to the nearly unlimited amount of number combinations that can be provided, there is no reason to expect the demand to slow down anytime soon.

How Websites Are Driving Up the Demand

Web sites have increased the demand for 0800 numbers dramatically. In the past, before the Internet, 0800 numbers were typically only used by large brick-and-mortar stores. Now that the Internet has been around for several decades, websites have begun claiming a high volume of these numbers.
Because of how affordable and convenient these numbers are, it’s very easy for a website to purchase and implement one. With a monthly fee as low as £10 per month, it’s no wonder why websites are taking full advantage of this opportunity, and securing a 0800 number for themselves.

The Supply and Demand of These Numbers

Over the last decade, we have been integrating the Internet into our lives every way we can. This is created a higher demand for websites than there has ever been before. The sheer volume of the amount of websites that are being published year after year is creating record demand for 0800 numbers.

Since the demand is continuing to rise, and the supply is not dropping anytime soon, the future is looking bright for 0800 numbers.

A Concern for Many Businesses

One concern that businesses have, is if anything that they implement will fall out of favor in the near future. There is nothing to worry about with the 0800 numbers in this regard. If anything, they will continue to grow higher than ever before.

They show no signs of slowing down. This is due to the success that businesses and websites are having with these types of numbers, as well as the trust that customers place in these numbers.

What the Research Tells Us

If a caller sees a 0800 number, studies have shown that they will immediately place higher credibility onto that business. The public sees 0800 numbers as something that only established companies have. Therefore, possessing a 0800 number will provide further benefits for your company.

Advancements in Technology

Although the basic automated voice system has been around for decades, recent developments in voice recognition technologies are bringing new innovations to automated voice systems.

Instead of having to wait for each choice to be read before you make your selection like it used to be, you can now say what your query is in your own words. This will save the caller a lot of time.

It helps them reach the department that they are attempting to contact, and get their issue resolved as soon as possible. The days of waiting for the automated system to read through the entire script is over. Now, thanks to voice-recognition technology, these systems are able to identify what the caller is searching for right away.

This new type of system asks the caller to say what their query is in their own words. It uses the voice recognition technology to decipher what the caller is saying. By identifying a few keywords, they will be able to transfer them to the correct department that is best suited to handle customer’s needs.

Advancements in technology like this only further cement the 0800 number’s place in our future. The more innovations that can be implemented into these lines, the better the experience will be for the caller.

Why 0800 Numbers Are the Future

0800 numbers have a place in our future because of how convenient they are for the callers. They are necessary for businesses, and they help callers reach specific departments in no time at all.

The recent developments in voice recognition technology suggest that these free phone numbers are here to stay. Customers from across the country report good experiences with these numbers.

They have no competition going against them and the demand is only increasing thanks to the number of websites that are adopting their very own free phone or vanity phone number.

Our Take

We are excited about the direction that free phone numbers are heading. They have been providing an easy way for callers to contact businesses in the way that suits them the best. Going forward, it looks like nothing but good news for 0800 numbers.