Category: Business Insights

Of all the tasks that a professional finance company faces, marketing consistently proves to be the most challenging. Separating your company from the pack while ensuring that your company runs efficiently is the goal. This is where virtual phone numbers from Global Call Forwarding can offer numerous strategies to capture the best customers. In this article, we’ll cover some of these marketing strategies for professional finance companies, including:

• Enhancing your professional image with toll free numbers
• Achieving localization with outbound calling
• Gaining international appeal

Raising Your Professional Image with Toll Free Numbers

Your finance company thrives on how well it can project a professional image to new customers and long-term clients. In fact, this is non-negotiable. After all, when money is at stake, an unprofessional image can make your customers unsure whether they should trust their financial future with your company.

Luckily, Global Call Forwarding offers the answer to this common problem facing your professional finance company: toll free numbers.

How Toll Free Numbers Can Enhance Your Company’s Appeal

Toll free numbers immediately impart a professional aesthetic easily. Because your company is footing the bill for calls as the subscriber, customers inherently trust your company’s integrity. Especially when it comes to solving their problems. Additionally, many professional organizations that deal with high-volume and high-priority clients use toll free numbers to appear more professional. Therefore, using toll free numbers imparts the same professionalism that those organizations benefit from. Third, toll free numbers give your company a type of “geographical agnosticism.” This means that your company has made a conscious effort to appeal to a national (and international) audience. Simultaneously, geographical agnosticism can help avoid negative stigmas associated with certain areas of the country where you may be headquartered.

Achieving Localization with Outbound Calling

Have you ever received an unsolicited phone call, with digits on your caller ID reading something to the effect of “V482072508XXXXXX….?” If so, you’ve obviously not recognized the phone number as being familiar and probably didn’t answer the call. Those unintelligible digits preceded by a “V” means that a company somewhere placed a call without a crucial element for using virtual phone numbers: outbound calling.

What is Outbound Calling?

In short, outbound calling enables you to reach customers with the digits of the virtual phone number that you subscribe with. Simply, this means when you use your virtual number to make calls, the actual digits will appear on caller ID’s. For your professional finance company, this is extremely important, as you want a direct way to reach leads and clients.

Outbound calling enables you to reach customers even across international locations. For instance, if you wanted to reach customers in Dubai, having outbound calling enabled for your virtual phone number will ensure that a +971 number will appear on their caller ID. Therefore, if you’re looking to market your finance company by cold calling new prospects, outbound calling is mandatory.

Gaining International Appeal

If you’re looking to market your finance company, you’re probably no stranger to capturing new markets abroad. Even if your company is headquartered in one of the financial hubs around the world (ex. Hong Kong, New York City, London), customers typically want to invest their money with domestic businesses.

Marketing with Virtual Phone Numbers

Luckily, Global Call Forwarding offers virtual phone numbers in over 140+ countries around the world. By offering domestic and international callers lines of contact that resemble those used in their country, you demonstrate that your company is ready to do business in their country/region.

This also helps alleviate anxieties about possible language barriers. After all, if your company has a non-domestic line, chances are your company has also taken the initiative to hire staff that can speak their language. Because virtual phone numbers instantly route calls, it is easy to market these phone numbers and then reroute calls to a call processing center. Once redirected, employees located in the same time zone and with the same language can transact and assist callers with their inquiries.

Conclusion: Get Marketing Solutions from Global Call Forwarding

So, if you’re ready for marketing strategies for your professional finance company, consider subscribing with Global Call Forwarding. As a telecom provider for more than two decades, Global Call Forwarding has helped SMBs and large enterprises to achieve their marketing goals. Visit www.globalcallfowarding.com today to begin marketing your company more effectively with virtual phone numbers and related tech solutions!

Metro PCS, now known as Metro by TMobile, is a nationwide prepaid wireless phone carrier. Although this company offers great pricing and service, MetroPCS phones may not be right for business needs. However, there is an easy and affordable way to utilize your Metro by TMobile phone as your business phone system. In this article, we tell you how you can transform your Metro phone. This way, you can optimize the way your company does business over the phone. And, along those lines, take advantage of a number of options you can gain.

Some Information About MetroPCS

No one likes signing their life away to huge nationwide cellular providers. Big companies like AT&T, Verizon, and even TMobile require annual service contracts. And, of course, with these contracts often come unsuspecting fees. Not to mention the situation you’d be in if you lose or break your phone. Without insurance, you could be left to pay your dues even if you don’t have a phone. Fortunately, companies like MetroPCS offer a way around these annual (or longer) phone contracts with prepaid wireless options. Instead of committing to a contract, MetroPCS customers can purchase prepaid services for their wireless devices. This way, they can avoid the contracts that other large cellular providers require. And, fortunately, they still use the same, great nationwide coverage that other providers offer.

Some History About MetroPCS

MetroPCS has been around since 1994 (back then, it was General Wireless). By 2005, it grew to service over 1.5 million people. This big growth and expansion caught the eye of another major cellular service provider, TMobile. In 2012, MetroPCS and TMobile merged. By 2013, MetroPCS existed no longer due to this merger. And, a new company, Metro by TMobile, was born. Currently, the company is one of the largest that offers prepaid phone plans. Plus, it was one of the first to offer unlimited phone services (phone, talk, and text).

The Need for Virtual Phone Numbers

If you’ve had MetroPCS phones, you know they offer one phone number for each phone. And, you know that they don’t offer business Metro PCS phone plans with the standard business phone features. However, the need to be able to do business on cellphones is increasing. Likewise, you may want to be able to use your phone for business reasons. Fortunately, virtual phone numbers offer this solution. And, this ensures you won’t have to consider being a Metro PCS customer.

Pairing Your MetroPCS Phone With Virtual Phone Numbers

Pairing MetroPCS phones with virtual phone numbers provide many benefits. First and foremost, you can choose any business phone number with any area code. And, you can add and subtract phone numbers whenever you need. Secondly, you can create a business phone system right on your mobile device. This also means you can use any of the business phone service features you need. These can include call forwarding, time of day routing, simultaneous ringing, extensions, and more. Third, you can keep your MetroPCS phone plans for personal lines. And, add virtual numbers for business on the same MetroPCS phones. This means you don’t have to sacrifice the great price of your personal phone plan for a business phone solution.

Finally, with virtual phone numbers, you can choose phone numbers with any area code you need. This way, you can establish business relationships from a remote location with specific consumer audiences. Furthermore, you can offer local phone numbers to customers without having to move to business locations.

Choosing Global Call Forwarding for Virtual Phone Numbers

Above all, if you’re a MetroPCS customer and want to use your MetroPCS phones for business, virtual phone numbers are the best solution. They provide all the customizable capabilities you need to handle your phone needs for your business. And, this saves you from having to pay high monthly business servicing fees. Additionally, it prevents you from even having to purchase costly business phone systems at all. To conclude, to start using your MetroPCS cellphone for business with virtual phone numbers, contact us now.

If your business makes phone calls, as all businesses do, you want to protect yourself in every way possible. For this reason, you may be wondering, “is it illegal to record phone calls?” Certainly, before investing in call recording services that could put your business at risk, it’s best to understand your rights. This way, you can be sure that you’re making the best decision for both your business and your consumers.

Understanding Consent for Recording Phone Calls

There is no one answer to the question, “is it illegal to record phone calls?” This is due to the fact that it could be illegal if you go about recording calls in the wrong way. To get around this, all you have to do is understand consent. But, there are both federal and state regulations that involve consent to recording calls. In simple terms, consent is having permission to record calls before doing so. Consent can come either by you, the person on the other end of the phone, or both.

Federal Consent Laws

According to federal regulations, it is legal to record phone calls if one of the two parties consents. This means that you can make a phone call and give consent to the call recording, as an employee or otherwise. Then, the other person (who answers the phone) doesn’t have to give their consent to record. This is the “one-party consent” law. But, this means that if you are not one of the two parties that were on the phone, you’ll need the consent of the person that’s called to record the phone call legally. However, only if you’re the one recording the calls (rather than the employee him/herself).

State Content Laws

It’s important to note that while there is one overall federal law that permits a “one-party consent” law, not all states adopt this concept. And, with different state laws, this could affect businesses recording calls in these states. For example, there are 38 states (plus Washington DC) that have a state “one-party-consent” law. So, if you’re not in one of these 38 states, you could need the consent of the calling party before recording any phone calls.

Getting Around any Legality with Recording Phone Calls

So, what if you find that you’re not in one of the 38 states that allow for “one-party-consent”? Or you just want to play it safe? You can always protect yourself legally in one way. Simply have a call recording play out a sequence. Use this to describe how the call is recording before a person connects to a person on the other end. This provides the consumer with the choice of whether or not to provide consent before the phone call even takes place. And, it protects businesses from any legal issues concerning call recording. States that require this consent before phone calls are “two-party-consent” law states. These US states include:

• California
• Florida
• Connecticut
• Montana
• Illinois
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Pennsylvania
• New Hampshire
• Washington
• And Hawaii in private call settings

Closing: Recording Your Business Calls

Be confident in your ability to record phone calls to protect your business from any potential threats. It is surely legal to record phone calls, it’s just about knowing your rights as a business owner or employee. Now that you know how to protect your business by learning about consent laws, you may be wondering, “How can I record my phone calls?” Well, with virtual phone numbers available from companies like Global Call Forwarding, it’s simple to set up and record any call you make through your business phone numbers. This is because virtual phone numbers use the internet to work on virtually any business phone system. Above all, they can utilize any business phone feature imaginable, including call recording.

If there’s one thing about being a successful business owner, it’s the need to consider who is keeping your business afloat – namely, your customers. While you may be involved in the day-to-day operations that help your organization function, considering how the customer factors into your long-term strategy often go overlooked. This is especially important for businesses that may have a popular product/service but may not have considered how to remain competitive after the initial buzz and hype has worn off. The secret? Building relationships with customers and winning their trust.

In this article, we’ll explore a number of ways that you can provide customer success and build better relationships with your customer base, ultimately gaining their trust, loyalty, and business for years to come.

Communication is Key

Perhaps the single most important factor in building relationships with customers is the ability to establish a relationship with your customers through direct communication. Easier said than done, of course.

First, you’ll want to offer as many ways as possible for customers to get in contact with your business and be accessible to them. This means that you should accommodate emails, live chat, in-person office hours, virtual phone numbers (domestic and international), the company’s social media presence, conference calls, discussion forums, and so forth. If a customer can’t get in contact with your business easily, expect to lose important connections.

Second, you’ll want to adjust how you communicate. Instead of just telling the customer about your business, you want to have conversations with them to create engagement. Ask probing questions, such as what they want, what doesn’t work, and then offer solutions to their problems that address these needs. Chances are if you’re hearing the same thing from several customers, there’s probably a silent majority that feels the same.

Additionally, make sure that your employees follow this same protocol of deeply listening to what customers are talking about. Customer service is often the front-line of what makes and breaks a successful company, so make sure that new employees are trained in deep listening. For extended conversation, make sure your staff returns voicemail messages, follows up on inquiries, and respond to emails promptly. All of these methods of communication will create trust with your brand.

Be Transparent

Because our world is so fast-paced, it’s not uncommon to hear how another business swindled its customer base or misrepresented its intentions from the get-go.

To be transparent, you need to keep your customers informed of any changes and be as forthright as possible. Customers are more understanding about the setbacks that a company may face, particularly if your brand has been transparent from the beginning. For instance, the founder of a company that continually addresses the customers that make the business possible can directly address possible controversies and conflicts (i.e. a price increase on products) before they escalate. And if your company is experiencing unprecedented growth, you can also make that clear to customers to show that your company is thriving thanks to their participation.

Always Exceed Expectations

Just as consumers get jaded by a company’s lack of ethics, potential customers are looking to bring companies into their lives that go above and beyond expectations. After all, your customers expect great products or services from you; otherwise, they will choose your competitors and seek solutions elsewhere.

In order to remain competitive, it is important to continually raise the bar on what your company offers to keep the spark alive and reestablish trust, again and again. One simple way to do so is to under-promise and over-deliver. It is the mistake of a new company, especially startups, to promise the world but have objectives continually delayed. By making too many promises and underperforming, you kill the trust and predictability that your business should be delivering. On the other hand, when you impress customers by keeping your word, they keep coming back.

Therefore, you need to continually exceed customer expectations faster than anticipated and ahead of schedule (if possible). As a side effect, if your company does experience unforeseen delays and setbacks, you are able to still have a timeframe in which to still deliver on your promises. Similarly, you may want to add additional items at no charge, samples for new products/services your company offers, and coupons that come from a spirit of gratitude and generosity.  

Show Genuine Appreciation

It is important to show appreciation for your customers, particularly the ones who have extended their own loyalty in your brand for a long time and/or have been with your company since the beginning. There are a number of ways that you can accomplish this, such as offering long-time customers a loyalty discount program, exclusive deals, and freebies. For smaller companies with VIPs, you can write handwritten letters with specific details to show that you spent the time and effort to convey your deep gratitude for their business.