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Category: Learn

Understanding South Africa 087 Numbers

14th February 2023 blog
Understanding South Africa 087 numbers.

087 numbers are a great way to establish a national presence in South Africa. So, if you’re looking for a phone number for your South Africa-based business or if you’re …Read More »

The Ultimate Pre-Call Checklist [+Free Download]

13th February 2023 blog, Sales Management
pre call checklist

With sales driving business growth, there is a lot of pressure to perform well on B2B sales calls. And while selling comes naturally to some people, it is always a …Read More »

What is B2B Sales?

7th February 2023 blog, Sales Management
What is b2b sales?

Sales are what drive B2B companies to achieve target revenue and growth. But new technology, customer preferences, and competitive markets mean that selling is becoming more and more difficult. This …Read More »

What is Web Callback?

30th January 2023 blog
What is web callback?

There’s a good chance that your prospects and customers are sick of waiting on hold for an available live rep. So to prevent subpar caller experiences and potential customer loss, …Read More »

A Guide to Telecom Compliance in the US and Globally

27th January 2023 blog
A guide to global telecom compliance.

As a global business, maintaining regulatory compliance can be a major challenge; especially when it comes to telecommunications. Most businesses are unsure where to start and how to navigate the …Read More »

Global Call Forwarding Implements PSTN Replacement to Expand Local Presence Dialing

16th January 2023 Press
PSTN replacement

Global Call Forwarding implements PSTN replacement to extend its global and local coverage. DELRAY BEACH, FL, January 2023 Public Switched Telephone Network or PSTN is an aggregate of the world’s …Read More »

5 Tools For Creating a Professional Presence Online

28th August 2018 Learn, Technology

If you are the owner of a small business, then you have probably struggled with creating an online presence that gets noticed. In your continual attempts for growth, you may feel that you and your small team are stretched pretty thin, and you don’t have the time or the resources to spend on working on your online presence. However, having a professional appearance online in this digital age is a necessity for any growing business (especially when there are many recruitment tools like browser extensions that can show all your online presence in one file), and luckily there are many tools available to you that can help you build the online presence that will drive more customers to your site. No matter what your budget is, with these simple tools your small business will begin to look like a giant company powerhouse.

However, before we get started, first you have to create a plan for the growth of your brand. Set goals and intentions. Write down your aims and objectives. Strategize ways to achieve these goals. If your goals are broad, break them down into smaller goals that are easily achievable. For example, if you want to increase views on your blogs by 40% then break that goal down into intentional steps, such as:

  • I will write a blog post every day.
  • I will interact with other blogs under the same umbrella.
  • I will review products on my blog for free. Etc.

Each of these small steps will eventually lead back to your ultimate goal of getting more page views. This is also a great way to track small progress, so you don’t lose sight of the big picture.
Now, onto the available tools that will assist in fortifying your online presence with greater professionalism.

Time Management Tools

There are several affordable tools available that can help you manage your time and projects.
Calendly is an excellent scheduling app that you can send to your clients when trying to schedule a phone call. It will send your client time frames that work for your business, and they choose the block of time that coincides with their schedule.

Toggl tracks your work time logged on a project. Toggl can help with scheduling and precise invoicing. You can even check your work report to see when you or your employees were most productive.

Slack is the tool you should be using if you have a team of remote workers. You can keep all of your projects and pitches in one place and create a message board between workers so that you can stay on top of projects together.

CRM Software

CRM stands for customer relationship management. You can find CRM software by several software companies, including SalesForce, Microsoft Dynamics, InfusionSoft, and Insightly. This software is designed to help your small business by building trust and loyalty between the business and customers. This is done by managing your calendar and to-do lists, tracking leads, managing data, managing contacts, and assessing the value of your marketing techniques.

Intuit QuickBooks

QuickBooks is a great accounting software to track income and expenses. There are different packages that you can choose from at Intuit QuickBooks, including three different small business plans and a freelancer plan. The plans differ slightly in what they offer but even the most low-cost basic plan can help you manage tax deductions, organize your receipts, create invoices that you can track and cash from your software, and you will also be able to run necessary expense sheets.

Recruit The Right Talent

There is a way to recruit the best candidates for your small business, in the same manner, a large company recruits their talent. Plum is a tool to help enterprises to match the right employee to available positions. Plum has created application surveys to examine the workplace psychology of prospective employees and divides these people up into the areas that they would be best suited for which will help you trim down potential matches to the people best suited for the job. It will also let the prospective employees know where they stand in the hiring process so you won’t be bothered by several follow up emails.

Global Call Forwarding

Since you’re already here you may know a bit about the virtual phone company, but in case you weren’t sure how the company could help your business create a professional presence, here are a few things that Global Call Forwarding can do to make your business presence more attractive:

  • Provide virtual local or toll free numbers, including vanity numbers
  • The ability to use extension numbers so your customers will be directed to the office they need right away
  • Record calls for later analyzation
  • Call transfer services
  • An account management page where all of your phone records and data is stored in one convenient place

Any business no matter how small can have the ability to look like a substantial professional corporation. If you want your business to attract more customers and make more sales, then apply these tools to achieve a professional online presence so you can begin to see results.

Bring International Teams Closer with Virtual Phone Numbers

28th August 2018 Learn, Technology

As your company expands its reach to international countries and different time zones it may become harder to keep your company operating as one. Many companies expand to different countries around the globe, and even smaller companies will expand their reach to other countries because of the profitability and ease thanks to the developing technology. To keep your company growing, here are a few tools that can help companies in their international expansion efforts, or to maintain greater control with employees across the world.

Virtual Phone Systems

Virtual telephone systems are the best way to stay in contact with your sister businesses overseas, as well as your consumers overseas. The virtual phone system makes it possible for international employees to work together and more efficiently. It’s also a great tool to use for customer service. Virtual telephone providers often provide a variety of features that allow employees to manage their relationships with customers with greater ease.

These features can also help with better training. At Global Call Forwarding, one feature that can be very useful is Call Recording. This feature can be used to inspect each call and analyze whether each sales team is following the same protocol. It can also be used to evaluate the effectiveness of each call for future reference. After successful use of this tool, it will be easier for your international teams to remain consistent. Whether they are in America, England, or India. To follow up on other details, simply look to the Account Management feature that is also featured at Global Call Forwarding.

Virtual Phone Numbers for Your International Team

Using virtual phone numbers will reduce challenges and allow your international teams to create relationships with their local customers. This should be the #1 goal of each of your international teams. Finding new customers and keeping them is the reason you expanded your business in the first place. If your customer service call center operates in India, you can still use local area codes from places all over the world using a virtual phone system. For example, your Indian customer service reps can place a call using a local area code to San Francisco in America. And that’s yet another important tip: you should always be using local area codes for your customer service calls. A customer in San Francisco is unlikely to answer a call from India, but much more likely to answer one with an area code from the San Francisco area. Not only because an India number might be foreign to them, they will probably also associate the number with extra fees.

bring international teams closer with virtual phone numbers
Source: Stockphoto.com O#23559 – ID#100011310032

Advanced IVR and PBX

When you have remote workers all over the world, an advanced IVR / PBX allows each worker to work from different parts of the world without being left out of important updates or team calls.

The IVR can be programmed to connect your teams by creating a welcome message followed by important announcements. This can all be done with your company phone system and does not require any extra hardware. Each phone system carries necessary information, such as accounts and contacts, that each international team needs to know. They can access this important information at any time, which is essential since they will all be working in different time zones.

The IVR system can be used to create a private telephone network that only you and your employees can use. They will each have their own extension that can be accessed by other employees. Using your own private system within the virtual phone system you already have will lower your operating costs, as well.

If you allow your employees to work remotely in different countries, it is likely they will be more productive than if they were to have to report to an office. Keeping your team together through a virtual phone system will create a great working experience throughout the globe. It might seem like the teams would feel disconnected, but having the ability to contact your international team’s number through an easy-to-use virtual phone system will actually help each team work together more effectively.

For your company, expanding should be a goal. However, expansion can become quite tricky if it is not handled well. Communication becomes key to the expansion of international territories.

Using a virtual call system to keep your various teams connected will allow each team to work more efficiently separately and remotely while maintaining an overall synergy for your overarching business.

If You Work From Home You Might Need a Virtual Phone System

28th August 2018 Learn, Technology

Telecommuting jobs have become a quickly growing trend amongst businesses. Remote workers are being hired in droves and even people you see around the office are choosing to work from home multiple days a week. The change seems to have staying power, too. Allowing workers to stay at home has increased employee productivity. This may have something to do with cutting out time otherwise spent commuting, and distractions like coworkers and the water cooler. Because of this flexibility and ease of working at home or around the corner at a favorite coffee spot, workers have escaped the mundane feeling of having to come into an office each day. Perhaps it is the freedom that is boosting creativity.

Working from home has become possible because of the introduction of cloud technology. Cloud technology can take many forms, one of which is telephony. If you work from home you might already use a softphone; if you do not you might want to consider getting one. There are several benefits to using a virtual phone and not just because it helps to keep your professional life separate from your personal life.

It’s Inexpensive

If you’re not already using a virtual phone system because you think it might be too expensive, it should be reassuring to know that there are virtually no up-front costs and because everything works through cloud servers, they cut out the cost of hardware and IT services. They also won’t take up any space in your house because it’s virtual.

You’ll Be More Productive

Using a virtual phone system means you can use your own device to access phone calls and messages from anywhere. Your cellular phone, your tablet, your home computer, or a traveling laptop are all possibilities. Anywhere you go, you’re connected to your business if you want to be. You can even convert audio files to fax documents or email messages if you need to. You can also make use of other tools that enable remote working such as online content and project management systems, chats, etc.

It’s More Professional

Your home phone will not be displayed on a caller’s ID so they will never know that you are working from your home and not an office. Also, you can create a professional voicemail message for when you are away from your connected devices. There are also many professional options that are available when you opt for a virtual phone system. These options include being able to transfer calls, put people on hold to music, and automatically forwarding calls over to other people within your field to take calls when you are away.

Your Virtual Phone System Is Prepared To Grow With Your Business

Extensions can be added all the time. It doesn’t matter how fast your business grows, a virtual phone system is ready to take on your needs, as needed.

There’s No Cost To Call Internationally

Virtual phone numbers get to bypass the heavy costs associated with long-distance calling. Simply purchase an area code in any country that you need and you can make as many calls as you need without incurring the charges. Plus, your customers will never have to pay outrageous international fees which will, in turn, build a customer’s trust in your company.

No Spam Callers

Your virtual phone system is equipped with PBX which can help you keep track of your phone calls. It also sorts out blacklisted callers so you won’t have to worry about spam making its way into your business.

You Can Switch Over To The Right Department

If you get a phone call that you are not prepared to deal with, you can easily transfer the call to the person who is equipped to deal with certain phone calls. For example, if you work in sales and the person who has reached you is trying to reach someone in customer service, it is very easy to transfer them to the correct place. At the same time, if you are dealing with an unruly customer, you can quickly transfer them to a member of your management team.

If you don’t already have a virtual phone system for your company, it may be time to try one out. It is an affordable and professional way to grow and manage your business from home.

Advertising Toll Free Numbers on Billboards

10th August 2018 Learn, Technology

Obtaining a vanity toll free number is a smart move for your business and paves the way for many more opportunities. The ease of remembering a vanity number offers a business the chance to expand its branding and advertising efforts using only a highly versatile phone number. It’s like adding just one extra level of cushioning to a facet you already need and use. A vanity number can be extremely beneficial in advertising campaigns that utilize visual media such as commercials, flyers, and billboards.

toll-free numbers on billboards
Source: Stockphoto.com O#22773 – ID#100039582267

Toll Free Numbers: Ideal for Billboard Advertisements

When companies use their vanity numbers in advertising and marketing campaigns, they have the ability to increase response rates and lead generation is known to increase substantially. If you decide that you are going to market your company using visual advertising on billboards and magazines, this study found that there was an 84% improvement in consumer recall rates when a vanity number was featured at the forefront. Displaying a toll free number on a billboard is a smart move for businesses because there is an immediate spike in calls because of how simple they are to remember for customers. Unforgettable vanity 800 numbers and easy to remember toll free numbers are also perfect for boosting your company’s bottom line because your customers know exactly why they’re calling 1-800-PLUMBER. Also, at that desperate moment, they need a plumber, 1-800-PLUMBER is impossible to forget. A vanity number asserts your company as the industry leader, offering customers the invaluable benefit of instant recall.

Not only are vanity 800 numbers unforgettable to your customers, they provide results. If you have a vanity 800 number, it is important that you showcase it widely. In addition, 800 numbers are toll free and the customer knows that when they call a toll free number it will be completely free for them, which encourages them to place more calls.

Billboards Get Noticed

Many attorneys use 1-800 numbers in their billboards to attract clients to their practice. Advertising with a toll free number on a billboard can be beneficial for many companies, not just attorneys.

Displaying your toll free number prominently on a billboard in front of the right location and the right audience can bring in many new clients. Billboards on popular local highways that thousands of people commute through each day is the ideal location for your billboard campaign. Contacting an advertising agency to create the best message for your brand is the next step after you have found your perfect billboard location. Make sure that your slogan is catchy, easy to read, and includes your company’s toll free number prominently. Once you have your perfect billboard displayed prominently in front of your target audience you can sit back and wait for the calls to start rolling in, as your marketing team tracks the new generation of income.

Invest in Advertising and Watch Your Numbers Grow

The price of a billboard varies from city to city. In rural areas, it can be as low as $250 compared to as much as $14,000 in New York City. A sizable amount of your business’ budget should be allocated for advertising needs, and a billboard is an affordable way to reach a broader audience. The use of a prominent 800 number will increase the response rate. Of course, it is quite hard to monitor billboard conversions. It is possible that a million people will see your billboard, but if you are an attorney and someone remembers your number from the ad and they do not have a legal situation that needs to be handled at the present time, they may call you months later.

To make certain that you can accurately calculate your ROI from billboard conversions there are certain steps that you can take. For instance, if the toll free number displayed on your billboard is only being advertised from the billboard, then you can peruse your phone records to monitor the increase in call rates since the time the billboard went up.

The next step is to ask every single caller how they heard about your firm. All businesses should ask this question at some point in a conversation with a customer as it is an easy way to track your current marketing strategies. If all of your calls are coming from your billboard advertisements and you receive zero phone calls from the people you targeted with door hangers, you can easily cut that marketing effort from your budget.

Advertising with toll free numbers on billboards is a powerful marketing tool that will yield amazing, and often proven results. Multiple studies have confirmed that companies who utilize their toll free number in media displays for advertising see high increases in response rate. If you already have a toll free number, a billboard campaign is a great next step towards growing your business.

Challenges of Doing International Business

20th July 2018 Learn, Tips

If you’re ready to take your business to the international level, there a few challenges that you might happen upon during your journey. The reasons behind these challenges are numerous. The recent Brexit from the European Union, political differences, and economic differences between international governments are just the beginning. To become a successful business leader in this global industry, there are practices in business that you should not observe carelessly. It will be an uphill battle but expanding and reaching new clients means a big boost to your profits. Despite these challenges, there are a few general rules that you can take into consideration before jumping into the international business world.

Businessmen standing in front of an earth map
Source: Stockphoto.com O#22773 – ID#100007500644

Do Your Research

Learning all you can about a foreign market is the first step to heading towards international business. You want to understand the market trends, how the economy flows, and the behaviors of consumers. If you find several issues that won’t allow you to enter the market or realize that your product or service is not necessarily beneficial to that foreign market, you will be happy that you did your research beforehand. It is better to find out it won’t work early on and work on choosing a different foreign market in the early stages. A normal American logo can look like an inappropriate symbol in a foreign market and vice versa. You do not want to offend your customers with your product. Try to speak to local distributors for some insights. Local distributors know how their customers behave and can point out issues with your product that may work in America, but not overseas.

Learn the Etiquette

Respect the culture, language, and simple etiquette of your new consumers and clients to get ahead. Human behavior varies greatly between countries. For example, blowing your nose in a meeting with Japanese businessmen will get you turned away. It is considered very crude, even if you can’t help that you have a cold. It is best to walk out of the room before taking care of a runny nose. Fortunately, you can learn about these many different cultural differences by doing a quick web search.

Decide Where You Will Run Your Business

Will you run your business from one place or have several shops around the world? If you choose to run your business from one place, consider getting an international virtual phone number so that you can keep in touch with clients and consumers. They will be more trusting of a local number than a foreign number and it will make them believe that you have a shop in their city. If you do expand your business with different stores or teams, you will need to coordinate between different time zones how you will all work together.

International Taxes and Accounting

After you have researched the area and decided on where you will run your business, you will need to look into that country’s tax information. You want to stay on the side of legality, therefore, understanding trading laws is key to gaining success and keeping it. Employment and labor requirements are different in other countries, too. For example, in Europe, employees receive 25-33 days of vacation time and you must also provide a minimum 14-weeks of maternity leave for expectant mothers.

Pricing Correctly To Break Into New Markets

Many businesses trying to break into the Chinese market realized right away that if their prices did not match the Chinese population’s expectations, they would not be able to compete in the market. The Chinese believe that the product should match the quality. That means that you might have to price down or price up your products depending on their view. For example, Apple products are priced higher in China than in America, because they are a symbol of status. If you can afford an expensive Apple product in China then you clearly have some degree of prestige.

Find Acceptable Payment Methods

There are a wide variety of payment methods that can be accepted internationally through e-commerce websites. It is important that you choose the right one for your business. PayPal, wire transfers, and Bitcoin are all possible payment methods. You can also go through well-respected global payment companies like Worldpay or through local payment methods in the country that you choose to do business in.

Despite these challenges, this is an exciting new chapter for your business! Since you are better prepared to face these challenges head-on, you and your business are sure to become stronger and more profitable because of it.

Tone Of Voice Matters on Phone Calls

10th July 2018 Learn, Tips

The tone of voice that you use over the phone may be making or breaking your business.

If you’re in a business that deals with customers over the phone, you are going to need to learn an entirely new set of etiquette rules that don’t apply when you’re face-to-face or communicating through email. From the moment that you answer the phone, personal interaction is changed. There are no body language cues, so the only thing you can lean on when speaking with customers on the phone is how to control your tone of voice and your choice of words.

You’ve had the same voice for your entire life and you’ll most likely keep it, but is it causing you to lose customers? If you have noticed that there are many angry customers contacting your business, it’s probably not you, it’s your tone. We can’t change our voices, however, luckily we can change the tone of our voices to represent exactly what we need to portray at that moment. Do you want to convey joy, friendliness, authority, or confidence? Learning to control your tone of voice is a highly useful verbal communication skill that can take you very far in business. Check out some of these voice changing tips to guide you further along in your business endeavors.

Improve Your Tone

Have you ever sat down and really thought about what your tone sounds like to other people? Do you sound confident to others? Do you sound timid? Perhaps you sound like you’re constantly bored or maybe your tone sounds a bit immature? Your homework is to ask a good friend or coworker what they honestly think of your tone of voice.

What does your tone portray to them? Your tone probably changes based on each person that you’re talking to and that’s normal. You wouldn’t use the same voice on your kids that you use on your boss. That is why it is important to choose someone who you are close to that has heard your different inflections. Ask them for their opinion and for some constructive criticism. It will be immensely helpful on your journey to improving your tone of voice.

Work On Your Energy

Energy can be hard to define because it’s something that you feel. Have you ever heard of someone talk about the “energy of the room?” Energy is the vibe you give off. Do you drain people when you speak to them or do you pump them up? When you practice working on your energy, it helps to think about something that makes you happy.

Having a positive mindset will automatically make your voice sound more enthusiastic and cheerful. Try not to speak too quickly though, remember to breathe and articulate exactly what you need to say.

Practice Inflection

Speaking of articulation, don’t forget about inflection. Make sure to emphasize the correct words in your speech. Incorrect inflection can completely change the meaning of a sentence. It can also make something seem more or less exciting. Be sure to enunciate and pronounce your words correctly, too.

Form Your Sound

Listen back to your outgoing voicemail, or record yourself on a voice recorder. What do you hear when you listen back to your voice? Is it someone who is confident or shy? Are you loud? Too loud? Do you sound overbearing or bored? Repeat and re-record as necessary.

Repeat The Delivery

Practicing what you are going to say before an important phone call, speech, or product demo is necessary for an amazing delivery. Convince people that you are smart and capable by convincing yourself with plenty of practice.

If you think that your voice might need some work, set aside some time to practice and really become aware of the way you speak on a daily basis. If you believe that your voice is a huge hindrance to your rate of success, there are ways to remedy that. Hiring a voice coach or trainer is not uncommon for people in business and may just be the thing you need to send you straight to the top. It’s not difficult to understand: a firm and friendly tone can be the key to happy customers and more sales.

Related: 23 Incredible Customer Service Tips for 2020

How To Get A Second Number for your Cell Phone

3rd July 2018 Learn, Tips

You’ve heard the saying before, “don’t mix business with pleasure.” So why do so many people run their businesses from their personal smartphones? Working from one solo line may work for a small business that is just beginning to take off, but as soon as you start to get calls at all hours of the day it might be time to add a second line.

Today, smartphones are equipped with the ability to add a second line that you can use for business, personal calls, or while traveling abroad to avoid international charges. Having a second phone line can even help in sales prospecting! If you are wary of giving out your information and you are meeting a lot of people, adding a second phone line is a safe and effective way of communicating with people you do not know. To get a second phone line is as simple as downloading an app, or you can sign up for a free trial at Global Call Forwarding.

Getting a Second Phone Line

Global Call Forwarding forwards phone calls and text messages to any device of your choosing. You can use a second phone line on your smartphone or on your computer and tablet, too. It’s easy to sign up, too: you can do so online or by calling their toll free number at 1 (888) 908 6171. If you are running a large business, you can choose to get a toll free number, but most likely you will want to choose from their many local phone numbers if your business is smaller, or if you just want to add a second line while traveling abroad.

Global Call Forwarding serves over 150 countries, so if you are traveling abroad extensively, Global Call Forwarding offers local phone numbers, which can help you avoid those sky-high international rates. And since they have over 20 years of experience, the service that you will be receiving is high-quality, with a very low chance of missing or dropping a call.

How to get a second line for your cell phone.
Source: Stockphoto.com O#22222 – ID#100107177312

Features for Your Second Number

Whether you choose a local number or toll-free number, you will still have access to many included features and some extras that are optional to add on. Many features offered with virtual numbers are designed to make a business run properly, no matter how small or large that business is. Even if you are just a busy nine-to-fiver with a lot of clients to juggle, their plethora of features can help keep you very well-organized. Here are some of the most beneficial features that can help you balance your workload:

  • Sequential Forwarding: allows you to forward phone calls to different offices within your business.
  • Voicemail to Email: forwards your voicemail to email that you can listen to at your leisure. You can keep business separate from your personal life easily with this feature.
  • Time-Based Routing: this feature allows you to route phone calls to voicemail or a call center while you are out of the office. This feature makes it a lot easier to enjoy your personal time, without having to worry about work.
  • SMS Forwarding: this feature creates a truly mobile experience.
  • Text Messaging: this is the preferred choice of communication for many people. If you speak to or work with a lot of millennials, then this feature will be imperative in your business dealings.

There are many apps available for Android and iPhone users. Zoiper is one app that can run a variety of different platforms, which means you can get in contact with the people you need to while using a tablet or computer, too. As long as your cell phone runs on any browser, macOS, Linux, or Windows, you’re covered.

Apps like Zoiper and the GCF Softphone come with a plethora of features to keep your calls safe and secure. One tool used by Zoiper is encryption. That means that no one can spy on your calls or texts messages, the only person that can communicate is you. Other features include audio, instant messaging, and number recognition.

5 Reliable Ways to Impress Your Customers

3rd July 2018 Learn, Tips

Not every business is a success overnight, although it may seem that way. Behind these “overnight sensations” is most likely a hard-working entrepreneur or team that has taken an idea and created something that they are passionate about and proud to sell. To find someone to sell a product or service to is not as easy as one may think. After all the work that goes into developing a product, even more work goes into finding a customer to buy that product. Once a customer is found to purchase that product, wouldn’t you want to extend that passion to the customer? Many businesses would agree.

That is why so many businesses push the envelope when it comes to pleasing their customers. They worked so hard to get them there, now they are working hard to get them to stay. Each and every one of us has a story or a memory of when a business did a little something extra to make us feel special. Whether that was offering us a special discount because they remembered it was our birthday or offered to issue a return on an item that was on clearance.

Check out this list for 5 little ways that you can impress your customers and keep them coming back for more!

5 reliable ways to impress your customers
Source: Stockphoto.com O#22222 – ID#100022922088

Always Go Out of Your Way for a Loyal Customer

It is much more expensive for a company to gain a new customer than to keep one. Regulars are the backbone of every bar and restaurant, and this is true of any other business, as well. If a loyal customer is not satisfied with what they have been given, make sure that you go out of your way to ensure that your customer is happy. If a customer orders almond milk at your restaurant and you don’t carry it, if you’re friendly with the bakery next door, walk over and ask them for a cup of almond milk. It will mean the world to your loyal customer that their needs meant that much to you.

Be Available

Communication is key in every relationship, and that goes for customer-business relations, too. Provide customer service and make sure that the service is easily reachable. It’s all too easy to head to social media and rant about a company’s issues these days. You do not want to be on the other end of a bad mouthing from a customer with a loyal following. Not all press is good press. And if the customer decides to head straight to their twitter account to attack your company instead of dealing with the problem directly with your available customer service line, be ready. Responding to irate customers on social media can bring down any issues very quickly if you respond fast enough.

Treat Your Customers to Something Special

This is another aspect of going out of your way for your customers. Treating them to special discounts or other exclusive promotions is a great way to let them know that you appreciate them. It also encourages them to shop more from your business. Some businesses mail handwritten letters to their loyal customers on their birthdays; some may even send along a canvas tote bag or a sweet treat as a kind gesture. Get creative with kindness and your customers will be impressed.

Be Kind & Polite

Always treat your customers with respect and kindness. Be patient with irate customers and never lose sight that these people that you are interacting with are, in reality, giving you your paycheck. If this is the person in charge of your bank account, treat them with respect. Being kind also builds trust, which in turn, builds loyalty. This also means that you should deliver on your promises. Always make sure that your business is fulfilling its duties to the best of its ability. One reminder: do not lie, ever, to make a sale. That is certainly not how you build a strong following.

Listen

Really listen to your customers when they give you feedback, whether with praise or with criticism. Then take action! If you notice a trend that your customers are looking for something slightly different, make it work for them. Customers know when they are being listened to and will often praise businesses publicly when they recognize that their voices are heard, and there is no better marketing tool than word of mouth.

Are 1800 Numbers Free?

21st June 2018 Learn, Tips

There is sometimes a fear surrounding 1800 numbers that you may be charged a fee for calling their number and using their services. If you purchase an item or use a certain service from a 1800 number you may have to pay for this item or service. However, simply dialing the phone number will not incur charges. Toll free numbers are telephone numbers that utilize original three-digit codes that can be dialed from any landline and most cell phone service providers, without a fee being charged to the person making the call. 1800 numbers are used by businesses as a means for their customers to get in touch with them all over the world and not incur a long-distance fee for the phone call.

Is a 1800 Number Free to Call?

Yes, 1800 numbers or 800 numbers are business toll free numbers and, therefore, are 100% free for callers in the country of origination. Customarily, a 1800 number is used as a customer service tool to let customers call a business for free. The toll free phone number usually provides returning customers and potential customers with a means to ask the business questions they might have about their product or services or get assistance.

Cell phone callers may find that their phone call was charged because they do not use an unlimited calling plan. However, most plans include unlimited calling and therefore 1800 numbers should be covered by their cell phone provider. Additionally, if a business has enabled SMS messaging for their services, then it would also be possible for the business to receive a text message from the customer.

Related: The Absolute Guide to 1800 Numbers for Businesses

A photo of a lady dialing a 1-800 number for free.
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Are There Different 800 Numbers?

While 1800 numbers using the prefix ‘800’ are the most common type of toll free number, there are type prefixes being used as well. Other toll free codes include 888, 877, 866, 855, and 844. These toll free codes were created due to a shortage in availability of traditional 800 numbers. Note that none of these different codes are interchangeable, and dialing a business that has advertised 1-888-DINE-NOW would not be the same as dialing 1-800-DINE-NOW. Each toll free number is routed to a different local telephone number.

How do 800 Numbers Work?

There are many people who are confused by how toll free numbers work. Although many businesses use these numbers, some customers believe that they will be charged a fee if they call the number. However, businesses often ensure that the customers located outside of their physical location (region, city, state, or country) are able to contact them for free. This is where toll free numbers come in.

These businesses are able to provide this service by using different country-specific virtual phone numbers. Each country will have its own number that has its own separate coverage and accessibility. If you live in Ireland, your toll free number will begin as 1800 followed by six numbers as local Ireland toll free numbers are formatted. Similarly, the U.K. has a different freephone number format of 0800 or 0808 followed by six digits and so on.

Then, locals in that country can call the 800 toll free number for free while calls that come in are forwarded to the business’ location in another country or region through international call forwarding. The majority of toll free numbers only work within their own country. This means that if your customer is physically out of the country, they will either be charged an international fee or be unable to reach the business. But if they call from within the country, their call is free.

Why Use Toll Free 1800 Numbers?

800 toll free numbers are integral in many business communication strategies. They allow the customer to call from anywhere in the world, and not charged a fee. This allows businesses to expand their markets beyond their physical location and still connect with their customers. Having the ability to make the connection with customers results in an overall more positive image of the company.

Get 1800 Numbers for Your Business Today

There is no such thing as a global toll free number, unfortunately. However, most businesses will accommodate their clients in other countries by using virtual phone numbers that have local area codes. If you are running a business and you would like to encourage contact with international companies, it is highly recommended that you check out Global Call Forwarding and have a look at their many offerings for virtual international numbers.