A strong online presence is crucial for any business. You have a good website, social media buzzing, and email marketing on point. But have you considered the importance of a dedicated company phone number? Many small businesses and startups in Africa continue to operate without this crucial communication tool, exposing themselves to a range of challenges that can undermine their growth and reputation.
Before we show you how to get a company phone number, it is important we help you identify the problem and how to solve it.
The Problem:
- Appearing Unprofessional: Without a company phone number, you risk appearing unprofessional and unreliable to customers and clients. Personal mobile numbers used for business purposes can easily become overwhelmed, leading to missed calls, delayed responses, and an overall impression of disorder. This inconsistent branding and disorder can reduce customer trust and confidence which limits your ability to provide the level of service your clients expect
- Burnout: Relying on personal phones for business communication blurs the line between work and personal life, leading to burnout, reduced productivity, and a reduced work-life balance for employees. The lack of a dedicated company phone number also makes it challenging to track and analyze important calls. This will prevent you from giving the best customer service and find ways to improve your service.
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How to solve it:
While having a dedicated company phone number is important, the quality and features of that number are equally important. Traditionally, African businesses have relied on physical SIM cards and landline solutions for their phone needs. However, these traditional methods often come with limitations and drawbacks. Landlines require expensive infrastructure and they are not flexible to use for remote teams.
Similarly, mobile SIM cards blur the line between personal and professional communication, leading to a lack of control over business-related calls. This means that you may not be in the loop of what is happening in your business, especially how your employees converse with the customers. Meanwhile, a virtual phone number provides significant advantages over a traditional landline or SIM-based solution.
What is a Virtual Phone Number?
A virtual phone number is a number which you can use to make and receive calls over the internet, using any device. Unlike a regular phone number used on a specific phone, you can use this number at any time and anywhere you are in the world. You can easily transfer calls to other members of your teams. This means that multiple team members can use a single number and take multiple calls at the same time regardless of their location. You could also greet your customers with personalized messages
In addition, you will constantly be in the loop of what is happening in your business because calls are automatically recorded and you get live reports in real-time. You get to be updated of all team call activities and conversations with customers. All these shows that it provides a flexible and professional communication solution for your business.
Get A Demo & See How It Works!
Fill out the form below to get a demo and see how it works. You also get to talk to sales in case you need more clarifications.
Benefits Of A Company Phone Number
A company phone number with business features will go a long way in improving your brand image and making you sell easily to customers. Here are the benefits of a company phone number:
1. Look Professional, Sound Trustworthy
Let’s use an example for this. Mrs. Ogechi has serviced apartments in different parts of Lagos. She has a staff that answers the phone but unfortunately, the staff is having a bad day and she is also not in the office, she’s outside in a busy and noisy place.
When a potential customer calls, seeking to make an enquiry, they are greeted with a busy “Yes? Good morning”, supported by noises from the background
Instantly, the potential customer gets the sense that this is not a big or professional business. If Mrs. Ogechi’s serviced apartments go for #200,000 a night, obviously, are clients are top earners and they need to be sure that they are getting the best service possible. The potential customer feels uncomfortable and they begin to think of taking their business elsewhere
Bottom line, without a company phone number with a caller greeting feature that sends an automatic welcome message to customers when they call, your business looks small and unprofessional to customers, and they may never pay you what you’re worth.
Assuming the potential customer was greeted with an automated professional message, it sends a signal that Mrs. Ogechi’s business is indeed a big and highly professional one.
As a business owner, never underestimate the power of a good first impression, and the essence of a good company phone number with business features.
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2. Never Put Customers On Hold
Let’s revert to our example from (1) above. In that scenario, where Mrs. Ogechi’s staff was in a busy place and had to pick up the phone, the call would have easily been transferred to another staff if they had a company phone number with an IVR feature.
An IVR (Interactive voice response) also known as “Call menu” feature allows customers to select what products/services they want to purchase so their call can be transferred to the right staff/department
With this feature, when a customer calls your business, after the caller greeting message, they are immediately asked what products/services they want, they are then transferred to the right department/staff. If such staff is unavailable. It transfers immediately to another staff. With this feature, your customers with never be put on hold and this gives them a sense that your business looks organized.
It doesn’t look good if customers call and your staff are unavailable or their calls cannot be automatically transferred to the right staff that can attend to them. A PressOne company phone number does this easily
3. Know What Is Going On In Your Company
Let’s say you run a Spa business in Nigeria. You have a lot of staff and customers but you’re not around all the time because you have some other admin duties to attend to, but you wnat to know what is going on in your business and you don’t want to rely on the manual update your staff give you.
What do you do? With a company phone number, you can get rid of your guesses and know for sure what is going on in your business.
First, you can monitor what your staff are saying to your customers on the phone. A call recording feature comes with a PressOne company phone number. You can listen to conversations between your staff and customers to ensure that your staff are providing excellent customer service and representing the brand well.
Also, based on what you’ve heard, you can analyze the recorded calls to improve how you are selling to customers. You can identify areas where your staff can improve their sales pitch, so they can sell easily to customers.
Infact, you can also use recorded calls to coach your staff on better communication and customer service, helping them to improve their performance. If a customer complains about a staff member, you can listen to the recorded call to understand the issue and resolve it promptly.
Also, you can playback conversations in case you miss an important thing during a call,
4. Know How Much You’re Selling & How To Improve
Do you know how many business calls you receive per day? Or are you still guessing? How many of those calls brought in sales? How many were customer complaints? How many were enquiries. Without a good company phone number, you can never know the exact volume of your calls.
A PressOne company phone number helps you understand how many calls brought in sales for you, the number of customer complaints you received in a day and the number of enquiries you had. This is called call analytics.
This feature helps you to know which customers to reach out to and resolve their complaints, which to follow up on and which to thank for their purchase.
5. Get In Your Customers’ Head (Not Literally…)
Ever wondered how to know what your customers want before they even ask?
It’s not magic, it’s called customer relationship management (CRM), A customer relationship management feature can be added to your PressOne company phone number.
This feature allows you to understand the purchase behavior of your customers. What are the things they are buying more? What are they always asking about? Are they always interested in new models? Do they like discount offers?
With a CRM, you can get in your customer’s head and sell more to them because you know what they want before they ask for it.
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How To Get A Company Phone Number
Here is a step by step guide on how to get a company phone number
- Choose a Phone Number Type
- Select Your Desired Phone Number
- Select a Phone Number Provider
- Choose a plan that suits your budget
- Examine the security and features of the service provider.
- Choose a brand that meets international security standards for data privacy and protection.
- Examine whether the features of the phone match your business needs
PressOne Africa’s company phone number has earned the trust of over 2,200 businesses and has features like call recording, analytics, tracking, IVR and customer relationship management. With PressOne Africa, you get quality service that ensures peace of mind when using your company phone number.
Now, here’s how to get a PressOne company phone number.
Step 1
Visit PressOne Pricing Page and select the best plan that suits your business.
Step 2
Click the “buy now” button under your preferred plan. This will take you to a sign-up page where you will fill in your details as required.
Step 3
A suitable plan will be recommended to you after you fill in your details. Click on “Subscribe” to plan to make payment.
Step 4
After making payment, you will be redirected to sign in to authenticate your account. An OTP will be sent to your registered number.
Step 5
Once you sign in, you will be given a list of numbers to select from.
Complete Setup
Complete your setup and you are good to go.
Interested? Get A Free Demo and see how it works
A dedicated company phone number is no longer a luxury, but a necessity. Regardless of your business size; a startup or an established company, a virtual phone number shows professionalism and enhances customer experience. It empowers your team with valuable features.
Don’t miss out on the chance to take your business calls to the next levels. Get a virtual company phone number today, and watch your business growth and reputation soar.
