When opening a small business, most entrepreneurs opt for the local phone number provided to them by their city’s phone service.
This phone number serves its purpose for a short period of time, but it slowly begins to become more of a nuisance than a benefit. This leaves entrepreneurs wondering, “When should I make the switch to a vanity number?”
Today, you’ll discover the five signs that will tell you when it’s time to adopt a vanity number.
1. You’re Still Asking People How They Found Your Business
When a business first opens up, it’s important to always ask how new customers discovered your business. Doing so not only opens up a conversation with the customer but also helps you understand which elements of your marketing and business development strategy are working to bring in new customers.
But after several months, employees forget to ask and new customers don’t want to fill out surveys. Before you know it, you have no idea how people discovered your business.
Wouldn’t it be great if you just knew how they found your company?
When you opt for a vanity phone number, it comes equipped with call tracking capabilities. Call tracking allows you to access a wealth of data related to the call including:
- Demographic information
- Geographic location
- Which marketing effort generated the call
- Call recordings & notes
And so much more!
With call tracking tools, you’ll never need to ask customers how they found you — you’ll already know.
2. Customers Can’t Remember Your Phone Number
When your car breaks down on the side of the highway, which number is going to be easiest to remember?
A random sequence of numbers or a vanity number like 1-800-TOWING?
Hint: it’s the latter.
Numerous studies have proven the effectiveness of vanity numbers on customer’s ability to recall information. When they’re in a bind and need your products or services fast, they’ll be able to quickly remember your brand’s vanity number without second-guessing.
If you’re still operating with a local number, chances are customers will opt for the competition with a vanity number when they have a need.
3. Customers Don’t Know the Best Way to Contact You
There are so many ways to contact a business. Email, phone calls, direct messages on social media, chatbots, the options are endless.
With so many contact options to choose from, how will a customer know which one is best when they have an urgent question or concern?
Leveraging a vanity phone number makes customer contact incredibly simple. They don’t need to scour the internet looking for your email address or fill out a lengthy contact form. They dial your vanity number and are instantly connected to your support staff.
4. You Have No Idea Which Marketing Strategies are Working
Take a moment to think about your marketing strategies. From search engine optimization (SEO) to social media advertising, do you know which tactics and campaigns are driving the best results?
If you’re not leveraging a vanity number with call tracking features, the answer is no you don’t!
All too often, business owners rely only on online marketing data to make decisions. Without factoring in offline leads such as phone calls, you’re not analyzing the full picture.
On the surface, a social media ad campaign may appear to be failing because it’s only generated one lead and a few “likes.” But, if you also review the phone leads derived from that single campaign, it may paint another picture (and hopefully one of success).
Vanity numbers help entrepreneurs and small business owners discover which marketing tactics are truly working to their advantage. As a result, this data also assists in helping you know where your marketing budget is best spent.
With a vanity number, you’ll know:
- Exactly how customers found your business
- Which marketing strategy generated the lead
- Where to allocate your marketing budget for future success
5. Your Customer Service Needs Improvement
While your customer service processes are likely working fine, they can always use a little bit of improvement, right?
One way to take your customer service to the next level is with a vanity number. On top of providing your customers with a convenient contact point for your business, you’re also equipping your customer service employees with all the information they need about the caller.
This access to data provides your employees with the information they need to best handle and direct the call. Without it, your customer service team is simply guessing the right way to tackle the caller’s concerns.
Equip Your Business With a Vanity Number
If you’ve experienced any of these five signs, it’s time to get a vanity number. Check out these vanity number success stories to see how a branded phone number can work for you, too.
