How Accessible Are You? Why a Toll-Free Number is a Good Idea
Mike Sachoff from WebProNews posted an interesting article last Thursday about people who shop for cruises online. The article states that despite the convenience of online ticket purchasing, total online sales for cruises totalled only 944 Million. This number represents a fractional 7 percent of the total cruise revenue from ticket sales as a result of buyers wanting to speak to a “Real Person” about the cruise they’re considering.
The CEO of Priceline says that questions like “What restaurants are available on the cruise ship?” and “Will I have to wear a tie to a dinner?” are common. Even with customer reviews and very detailed cruise descriptions available, in the end, people still want to be reassured that they’re going on a good cruise by a living, breathing, human being.
From the looks of it, the more moving parts to a product and the higher the selling price, the more likely a potential customer is to pick up the phone and call to gain reassurance. Would you agree?
This is one of the reasons why we stress having a 1-800 toll-free number to all of our clients.
Tracking
1-800 Numbers can be tracked. This makes them instrumental in tracking how many people call in as a result of your online efforts. Not everyone is as inclined to fill out a request for information or send an email to await a reply. In “online time”, waiting for a reply via email can feel like an eternity.
Reassurance
In researching larger purchases, I myself have removed candidates from a short-list because they didn’t have any easy way to contact them should the need arise. Having that 1-800 number available gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.
Support
Often, getting a client on the phone and talking with them requires less time that composing several emails that go back and forth between you and your client. What could have been dealt with in a single 5 minute phone call cost you over an hour composing and replying to emails.
1-800 Numbers have been around for a long time and for good reason: They Work. We use one for our website and one for our Yellow Pages ad so we know where our calls are originating from. For the most part, all of our clients with toll-free numbers have had positive experiences with them.
Do you use a toll-free number for your business? I’d be interested in sharing your experiences or tips here on my blog.
