0870 old hat or what?
July 21st, 2008 by UK Administrator
Does your company still advertise using 0870 numbers? Are you a customer with a strong viewpoint for or against?
Well, I remember when grabbing an 0845 or 0870 number meant your business looked professional, big, or indeed gave it a corporate image that belied it’s true status.
Now that many telephone service providers, including mobile services, include free calls to any network or a fixed landline, could this be the end for non-geographical telephone numbers (such as 0116 etc.)
I have spoken with quite a few of my clients over the last few months and the camp is till divided.
Many of them like the corporate image an 0870 number portrays but some have ditched this number completely.
Well, here are my two cents as both a customer and a consultant.
As a customer, if the product or service I am looking for can only be supplied by this company and they only use an 0870 number. I will first try and spot any online contact method (form, email etc.) If none are available, then I shall bite the bullet and call them…even if it does cost me Xp per minute!
But if there are other options, they will rapidly slide down my list. Why? Not because I am a tightwad..honest, but because I feel they have not looked at their customer demographic close enough!
As a consultant, I would advise against using this number alone. If you wish to keep the number then by all means do, after all you have paid for it. But in the interest of your customers, ADD A GEOGRAPHICAL (OR FREEPHONE) NUMBER TOO.
So, as you embark on buying that new company stationery (did I mention you can get free business cards from VistaPrint…), think hard.
What does your telephone number say to your customers.
This entry was posted on Monday, July 21st, 2008 at 2:24 pm and is filed under Business Q&A. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.