Tag Archive: 0800 Numbers
January 21, 2013 3:57 pm |
How the law is changing for solicitors and how free-phone numbers can help them stay ahead of the competition in an increasingly challenging industry.
As of April 2013 the law is changing. Much to the horror of law firms up and down the country, solicitors will be banned from paying referral fees. As a consequence, many practitioners are attempting to become self-sufficient and preparing new marketing campaigns in order to acquire their own cases directly. Solicitors will need to ensure they can compete with one another and match the services previously provided by claims management companies. The Alternative Business Structure, also known as Tesco Law, is seeing the introduction of legal services becoming more prevalent in the UK. For example, Co-Op Legal Services currently operate a well-established platform that high street law firms may struggle to compete with. It is therefore vital that all law practitioners take steps to ensure their services are easily accessible by potential clients.
According to research carried out by Teleculture, 60% of consumers would prefer to call a company that offers a freephone number rather than a firm that only offers a local landline number. If your competitors are offering a 0800 number, they may well be receiving enquiries that should rightfully have reached you first. If law firms could see how much business they are currently losing because prospects are refusing to call their business numbers, they would be in touch with a 0800 number provider in a heartbeat.
In addition, as more and more users go mobile, it may be that companies will need to provide ‘mobile friendly’ numbers, like 0333 or 0330.
By introducing N 0800 or 03 number, law firms will provide an easier (and often more affordable) way for clients to contact them. Studies also show that up to 75% of callers simply hang up when their call is forwarded to a voicemail; so how much is this scenario costing your business? It isn’t always possible to answer every single phone call, but you can take steps to ensure that you can speak to as many potential clients as possible. customers calling 03 or 08 numbers can be put into call queues, which will keep your callers on the line until an agent is able to answer. An IVR system can also route your calls more efficiently so callers go straight through to the correct department. This lessens the burden on secretaries and switchboard operators.
Here at Blackpool Solicitors we we got in touch with 08Direct because we wanted to offer an 03 number for our clients. After the first month of using the 03 number, we have noticed an increase in phone calls by nearly 23%. They have fully utilised our feature-packed service, including a professionally recorded welcome message, and are now also able to divert calls out of office hours to a mobile number, which has resulted in a further boost in enquiries and consequent conversion rates.
November 26, 2012 1:49 pm |
Businesses out there who already provide an 0800 number for their customers, could be paying too much for the service.
Whether you are paying for a monthly package, or pay a set amount per minute of incoming calls, 08Direct can beat any UK 0800 package. Many businesses already take advantage of the UK’s best rates every day through our website.
We hear from businesses who accept they are paying too much, but the hassle of changing over numbers would be a great deal more. We understand that business owners will have set aside budgets for marketing materials which feature your number, but can remove all concerns and have made the process as easy as possible.
At 08Direct we have recently confirmed brand new porting agreements with all the major suppliers, meaning that you can move over to us without having the change your number.
Our Simple Number Porting Process:
Contact Our Team
Firstly speak to one of our team about your current package, and the services we can offer.
Complete our Porting Form
You will be sent our simple porting form. All this asks for is your company details, your 0800 number and your current provider.
Let Us Do All The Work
Once we receive your completed form, we will contact your current supplier for you and handle the porting process through to completion
Porting your 0800 number to us could not be easier, and can be completed within 2-3 weeks from your initial inquiry.
Image courtesy of Gerard Fritz on Flickr
December 5, 2011 10:52 am |
On Friday, Google announced a new development which is of massive importance to anyone that uses Adwords to promote their business and includes a phone number in their advert. In the coming weeks, Google is introducing ‘click to call’ functionality, so that phone numbers displayed in AdWords ad text will be automatically converted into a Click-to-call number.
This means your 08 number becomes even more powerful because as well as being incredibly memorable, it will be easily accessible at the touch of a smartphone’s screen. Which means that potential customers can be talking to you within seconds of seeing your advert.
Currently when advertisers enter a phone number directly into their ad text instead of using Call Extensions, the phone number is not clickable and will not generate a call. This can be a frustrating experience for mobile users who attempt to initiate a call to this phone number.
The new Click-to-call enhancement ensures that all phone numbers shown in AdWords ads are clickable and allows users to easily place calls from their mobile device. If your ad text includes a phone number, you will begin to receive clicks and calls on this number once the enhancement is enabled in your account.
Don’t think that this is free though. Just as you pay for clicks from the advert through to your webpages, clicks on the phone number will be chargeable too.
Measuring results
Google is claiming the measurability as a major benefit for this service, but as an 08 number user, you’ll already be used to seeing your call stats whenever you want them, via 08Direct’s customer portal.
Nonetheless, Google is offering some useful information. You’ll be able to review how many calls you receive on the clickable phone number listed in your ad text for each campaign, ad group, keyword, which will help you to monitor the effectiveness of each advert and campaign.
We’ll be monitoring this development with interest. Let us know how you get on with it and if you need extra 08 or 03 numbers for your adverts, do remember to give us a call on 0844 504 4000.
December 2, 2011 5:21 pm |
Free entry to the Natural History Museum has boosted visitor numbers by 190%
Are you looking to attract more customers? Then you need to follow the example set by some of the UK’s museums and give your customers something for free.
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December 1, 2011 10:56 am |
We’ve finally reached December so we can safely use the C-word again…yes, ‘Christmas’ is nearly here.
Although the festive period is a time for celebration and family gatherings, for small to medium sized businesses Christmas presents lots of tricky challenges. From the office party, which throws up all sorts of alcohol-fuelled disputes, to making sure you have enough staff on duty to serve your customers over the festive period.
Customers expect businesses to have fewer staff working over the holiday period, but will still get frustrated if they call your business and all they hear is a ring tone of a phone that is never answered. Technology can help.
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November 30, 2011 1:37 pm |
So, we’re halfway through the day which has seen more than one million public sector workers in England go on strike over pension changes.
Whether the strikes are right or wrong is not our place to argue, but the impact on business is undeniable.
With the majority of schools closed due to the teachers’ strike, working parents have faced huge challenges to find childcare in order to be able to go to work. Those who can’t find cover have had to take the day off, leaving some businesses short staffed.
One positive impact of the disruption (for me, anyway!) was that the rush hour traffic was lighter than usual this morning. But anyone using public transport to get to work has faced a whole different set of problems, with the strikes meaning the some services are cancelled altogether. Others are running on limited service.
The strikes highlight the need for disaster planning to ensure continuous service for your customers, even if your staff can’t get into the office to answer the phones.
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November 7, 2011 5:25 pm |
Gary Barlow - now Scarborough pantomime's biggest promotor
When Gary Barlow said to one of the X-Factor contestants that his act was like ‘a bad pantomime in Scarborough’ the audience lapped it up in the usual way. Criticism like that is, after all, just part of the X-Factor experience.
But for some Scarborians, the comment meant far more than the throwaway line it was intended to be. According to the local paper the comment has sparked outrage and fury.
However, I was impressed when I heard an interview with the head of one of Scarborough’s pantomimes on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Breakfast show today. Because rather than complaining about Barlow’s comments, he was thanking him for bringing attention to the town and already had promotional posters being printed with the slogan ‘As criticised by Gary Barlow!’.
I loved that – not only was the getting national news coverage for his production but he was going to milk the opportunity even further by playing on Barlow’s comment with his posters around the town.
That is pure opportunism and should be applauded. If those kind of opportunities come your way in business, you have to take them.
The only thing he didn’t do was get in a plug for his website or give out an 0800 number to enable people to buy tickets. Maybe there will be a next time to rectify this, but I doubt that Gary Barlow will give them a second chance…
November 4, 2011 11:25 am |
With the BBC celebrating 75 years of broadcasting this week, it brought into focus the massive change in TV that we have seen in recent years. From a few programmes a day, we now have zillions of channels to choose from which are broadcasting 24×7 (but some would argue there’s still nothing to watch!).
And the same is true with communications technology. We all know about the proliferation of communications channels with social media and mobiles on top of face to face and traditional telephony.
But this abundance of choice can bring its own perils, because the old adage that ‘its not what you say but how you say it’ holds true but there is now a third dimension…the medium you use to say it.
Choosing to send a Tweet or a text rather than call someone suggests brevity – which some admire, but others will take to mean ‘you couldn’t be bothered’.
Emailing large documents when someone is out of the office might get the information to them but is it in a format whereby they can read it and get to the bits they need. In this case a text message might be better.
And then there is the case of mistaken medium whereby you mean to text someone from your phone but end up Tweeting them instead and what should have been private becomes all too public. In case you are wondering, this wasn’t me, or indeed the classic ‘friend’ but a BBC Radio 5 Live presenter. Thankfully the content of her message to her husband wasn’t anything too embarrassing but I’m sure it amused her 9000+ followers!
Sometimes you need technology to help you, so if you run more than one business, you don’t want to answer your phone with one company name if the caller was expecting to speak to another. Using call whispers is the answer as it announces the source of the call before you speak to the caller, which helps to avoid those embarrassing moments and makes you sound ultra professional.
October 31, 2011 5:24 pm |
So, N-Power has been fined £2million for not handling its complaints properly.
The energy regulator Ofgem said Npower had not recorded complaints properly or given dissatisfied complainers details of the Energy Ombudsman’s redress service.
But, with news of the company’s fine all over today’s news, the damage to N-Power’s reputation now goes way beyond the customers who were unhappy enough to complain. All other previously satisfied customers will be scrutinising their bills looking for errors and any energy customers considering switching will run a mile from N-Power even though Ofgem says it has now remedied all of the breaches of the regulations for which it was fined.
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October 28, 2011 1:30 pm |
You might not realise it but your phone number can help you make money in many different ways. Here are just 5 reasons why your finance director would thank you for using non geographic numbers:
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