I want to tackle a very practical subject with today’s post: the toll-free phone number. Does your home-based business need one? Well, that depends on the nature of the business and your clientele. If customer-initiated phone contact is critical to your business success AND your customer base extends beyond your local calling area, then the answer may be “yes”.
I have been surprised, though, to learn that I needed a 1-800 number, as they’re called, much less than I expected in my work at home mom field. I think the primary reasons are twofold: (1) with the increasing role of the internet, I have found myself communicating with my customers (and them with me) by e-mail more and more; and (2) as cell phones have become more widely used, with “unlimited minutes” packages common, people seem to be using “land lines” more infrequently. There is no charge to them to call my regular phone number (or my cell number), so the need for a free way to call me disappears. Now, I don’t have any statistics to back that up; I’m just commenting on what I have observed.
Technological advances have made it easier and easier to be a work at home mom, methinks. Here’s another example – you may not have to concern yourself with getting a toll free number. But if you do, they’re easy to obtain (check with your long distance carrier) and relatively inexpensive.
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We do have an 800 number – and 866 number, actually – and it’s costing less than $5 a month. For that, I’m willing to have it, even though it gets used once a month, so far, at most. I don’t know if there’s any real business reason to have it, but my 80 year old Dad knows how to use it and he has a heck of a time hearing his cell phone, so…
There are big benefits when a toll free service is employed even on a home-based business.