Phone numbers 'could boost customer service'

Date: 28/11/2011

There are many things companies need in order to be a success. As well as a good marketing strategy, strong business plan and dedicated staff members, they may also require financial support from banks, excellent industry knowledge and a bit of luck.

However, none of these things will lead to the growth of a profitable firm if the enterprise does not have customers to support it. Unless consumers are buying products and services, there is no reason for a business to exist and it will not make money if it receives no orders.

With this in mind, entrepreneurs who are just starting out and have recently purchased 0800 numbers may already have realised the importance of customer service.

If this is absent, they will not retain clients and are unlikely to receive the response they wanted from their marketing campaigns because individuals will be discouraged from using the company if they have been dealt with poorly in the past.

Furthermore, it is likely they could tell their friends and family about their experience, which will in turn reduce an organisation's potential customer base and lower its chances of success as word spreads it does not treat its clients well.

Research recently conducted by Informa Telecoms and Media for customer experience systems provider Amdocs found 66 per cent of respondents think consumers are less loyal to firms than they were two years ago.

In addition, 70 per cent believe customer retention is a "critical" factor in ensuring the success of a company and driving growth, which could mean it is more important than ever for businesses to focus on their client base and check they are providing the best possible experience.

"The only way to earn loyalty is through deeper customer engagement. Customers demand a high quality experience across all touch points, starting with their first service experience and continuing over the course of the customer's lifetime," said vice-president of product and solutions marketing for Amdocs Rebecca Prudhomme.

Call centres could be the starting point for this, as the sites are likely to be where customer enquiries and complaints will be received. The response given by the personnel and they way they handle the call is bound to be a significant factor when the consumer decides whether or not they have been treated well.

However, good customer service can begin before this - with the phone number people call. If individuals have to pay a premium rate to contact an organisation, they are bound to be reluctant to get in touch, particularly at a time when money is tight for many.

One way to encourage consumer contact is to choose phone numbers that will be cheap for them to call. These could include 0800 numbers, as they are free to contact from a landline. Similarly, 0808 numbers serve the same purpose and were introduced by Ofcom when the availability of 0800 prefixes started to dwindle.

Organisations operating in public or charity sectors may want to opt for 0300 numbers, as these are cheap to contact from both landline and mobile phones and also allow them to differentiate themselves from other companies - something consumers could appreciate if they want to find a particular service quickly.

Alternatively, 0303 numbers are also cheap from both landlines and mobiles, as are local phone numbers, although these may only be suitable for smaller enterprises that wish to target a very specific audience within a certain radius.

Something as simple as selecting the right telephone number may not seem important to businesses in the grand scheme of things, but they could find making the right choice puts them on the right path to providing excellent customer service.