But Do I Really Need A Business Phone?
Recently, I’ve been asked whether I think an Internet business owner should have a business phone. Depending on the nature of your business, you may or may not need one. A lot of Internet business owners don’t have a business telephone and get along just fine.
If you’re a solo service provider, I don’t really think it’s necessary to have a publicly available business line. Now, some may disagree with me and say that you can lose clients by not being available by phone.
Sure, you can lose clients. You can also lose your time by answering questions from people who will never hire you. I know it sounds harsh, but open yourself up like that and you'll have people calling you expecting free advice and all kinds of help and you have no time do your own stuff. That’s not what you started your online business for was it? You can have more clients than you can handle by keeping your business just online.
Of course, if you have established clients who want to discuss details on the phone, that’s a completely different ballgame. In the case of an ALREADY paying client, I’d make exceptions.
In a consumer product business, it is more reasonable to have a phone number for customers. Because they are more than likely interested in things such as placing an order, clarifying features and those types of things those calling are less likely to drain your time.
If you do own a consumer product business, I would definitely outsource the customer service part of the calls. You are busy and have better things to concentrate your energy on. There is no need to handle calls that can easily be handed over to someone else.
Now, you might notice that I have a phone number on my websites, but it is voice mail only. Does this put some people off? Sure it does, but people who respect my need for privacy are the type of customers and clients I would rather do business with.
Will I ever go away from strictly voice mail for my business? I might but only if it were phone support that was handled by customer service staff and not me, so I can continue to concentrate on what I do best. What about you?
If you’re a solo service provider, I don’t really think it’s necessary to have a publicly available business line. Now, some may disagree with me and say that you can lose clients by not being available by phone.
Sure, you can lose clients. You can also lose your time by answering questions from people who will never hire you. I know it sounds harsh, but open yourself up like that and you'll have people calling you expecting free advice and all kinds of help and you have no time do your own stuff. That’s not what you started your online business for was it? You can have more clients than you can handle by keeping your business just online.
Of course, if you have established clients who want to discuss details on the phone, that’s a completely different ballgame. In the case of an ALREADY paying client, I’d make exceptions.
In a consumer product business, it is more reasonable to have a phone number for customers. Because they are more than likely interested in things such as placing an order, clarifying features and those types of things those calling are less likely to drain your time.
If you do own a consumer product business, I would definitely outsource the customer service part of the calls. You are busy and have better things to concentrate your energy on. There is no need to handle calls that can easily be handed over to someone else.
Now, you might notice that I have a phone number on my websites, but it is voice mail only. Does this put some people off? Sure it does, but people who respect my need for privacy are the type of customers and clients I would rather do business with.
Will I ever go away from strictly voice mail for my business? I might but only if it were phone support that was handled by customer service staff and not me, so I can continue to concentrate on what I do best. What about you?
9 Comments:
I avoid phones at all costs :-) I really really try to keep my clients restricted to IM. Phones ARE time consuming - and in a home office with little ones phone calls can be stressful!
One client I have worked for years recently remarked that he feels only about 2-3% of his customers are taking up most of our support time -- via phone! It's true, the rest of them seem to find what they need in the faq no problem. Is it worth his time and money to keep phone support available for such a small percentage of his customers?
Good thoughts Alice!
Netzerovoice.com offers free voice mail accounts. I have one for each of my two main businesses and it works great. I can check my voice mail online or by phone from anywhere and I get an email when I a new message has been left for me. It even puts the phone number of who called in the subject line of the email so I can see if it's a junk call or not.
I agree about voice mail...it might seem impersonal, but it's what works for me. If I had to deal with a ringing phone all day I'd go crazy!
I agree that the need to have a dedicated business line completely depends on the business you're in. I would have to think seriously about the benefits of going that route again.
One thing that people may not realize is that some phone providers will allow you a "virtual" business line - a distinct ring - that rings in on your regular line. You receive a new number, but don't have the expense of a second phone bill.
I just added a business line when I moved this spring. If I'm busy or it's after a certain time of day, I don't answer it unless I am expecting a call. I let the calls go to voice mail.
I am loving that when my 'home phone' I am not afraid to answer it!
I also use simple recording lines on my Audio Acrobat account for voice mail on some of my websites. I get an email when a recording is made and I can listen online when I'm ready.
Thanks for your comment everyone. Jen, I use a similar service with eFax. All the calls come in through email.
Kelly, is your business line publicly available or is it something you give to clients?
An easy way to set up a business voicemail without having to get another line is to get a SkypeIn #. It's very reasonable and can go to voicemail that you can listen to on your computer. You can even have it forward if you really needed it to.
I'm like you. I hate the phone. Thank goodness for caller ID. I'm very picky about who I'll pick up for even on my personal phone.
Great Post Alice
Its good to have practical points like this discussed. As an affiliate I see no need for a phone number on my web sites. If you are selling products then I guess you need to use a number but outsource it or use voice mail. The point is to be in charge of your time.
Neither the phone, instant messaging or the email should take you away from content creation or marketing
I won't buy from someone with no phone number on the website. Email is very unreliable and talking is faster than typing. I've built a successful business using the internet and phone. The phone saves me a lot of time and lets people know there's a real person behind the screen. I have a very high closing rate because of this. The top salesperson in my organization does free consulting and she blows the others away!
Sharon, you make very good points...and definitely, speaking one-on-one is a powerful thing. Congrats on your successful business too.
I think the question is do you have to have a phone to be successful? Many of us have online businesses because we PREFER not to speak on the phone for a variety of reasons:
-> We have noisy kids underfoot and it makes it tough
-> We are not great telephone sales people and don't ever want to be
-> We just plain old don't want a business that has a telephone attached to our ears
-> We don't really keep regular business hours
Definitely, if the phone if your thing and you can manage it with your lifestyle - of course! But as to whether you need one, my vote is nah...not necessary. :-)
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