Why phone leads are so important

Both in the online and the offline world, businesses are always on the hunt for new customers. But before someone can become a paying customer, you’ll have to turn them into a lead. One way of doing that is to earn their trust until they are willing to share their contact details with you.

Some contact details, however, are more valuable than others.

Many companies nowadays try to get email addresses of potential leads, believing that those are the most valuable for contacting a lead. But there are other communication channels that convert leads much better.

In this blog post, we explore why a telephone number is often the preferred bit of information that you’d want to have about your leads.
Chat, social media, post, email or phone?

In the past two decades the Internet has dramatically changed the way people communicate. Businesses do well to adapt to these changes and incorporate Internet-based channels such as social media and chat support to their communication mix. One thing has not changed in the past decades, though: of all means of communication, telephone contact is still the most effective when it comes to converting leads to paying customers.

A potential client who needs a quick answer to a question is more likely to grab the phone and call you, than to fill out an online support form, for example. Apart from saving time, a phone call lets clients talk directly to one of your employees. This gives your employee ample opportunity to take away any reasons a lead might still have not to agree to a sale.

A telephone call is the most personal type of contact a client can get, short of visiting your office, and for the purchase of many products and services, customers often prefer this type of personal contact.

The advantages of phone contact

Compared to other channels of communication, phone contact offers a lot of advantages. Below are some of the pros of calls as opposed to chats, tweets, and emails.

- More direct
By phone a client is in direct contact with one of your employees. The interactive nature of the conversation allows for questions to be immediately answered.

- More personal
A direct conversation is the most natural and pleasant way of communication. For you as a business, a phone conversation makes it easier build trust with customers, allowing you to talk shop faster.

- More effective
Written forms of communication give prospects ample opportunity to be distracted, to check out your competitors or to step out of the conversation and forget all about it. This does not happen during a phone call.

As you can see, all these are good reasons why research consistently shows that phone calls have a higher conversion rate than for any other channel of communication.
What makes servicenumbers trump other numbers

All the above reasons are valid for any telephone conversation with a prospect. But there is one reason why professional Freephone and Premium rate numbers perform even better than a regular local phone number.

Using a Freephone or National number tells your customers that you are a professional organisation, who takes its business seriously.
And who wants to buy anything from someone who doesn’t?
Start today with your own business phone number

A National or Freephone number makes it easier and more appealing for potential clients to call you. With the advantages that phone communication offers, more inbound calls result in a higher turnover.

Get started today with your own Freephone or National number. Ordering your number online through our shop only takes a few minutes.

If you have any questions, or would like to talk to one of our customer service experts, then don’t hesitate to contact us.