[Adam Fearnley]

Just thinking how important it is to have a landline as well as mobile contact number.  i only have a mobile at the moment, what are your experiences??

[COLIN BRIGHT]

i would never phone someone with just a mobile no because there are too many "cowboys" with just a mobile no

why not use an 0800 no instead an divert to your mobile, then you dont need a landline and sets you apart from the rest
also the customer can phone you for FREE
you will have to pay the calls charges but its  a small price to pay.

[Joe H]

I have a office landline and a mobile.

Advertise both on my business cards, my van, my website, everywhere

[roger underhill]

A land line number is absolutley essential in my opinion

[clinton]

Same as joe and roger i would def have your home number as well and as colin posted it does not look that profesional with just a mobile and sets you above the cowboys.

 

[richy27]

landlines are essential. also target areas with local std codes for better responses from adverts. although i have a mobile on all my marketting very few ring it to start with most try the landline first. 

[peter maybury]

You definately need a landline but in the 20 years that I have been in business I have moved house 8 times and had three different business addresses, I have paid a fortune to keep numbers and at any one time have had to keep up to 4 landline numbers. 5 years ago we took a 0845 number and this has saved us a fortune as it is now the only landline number we keep. We can also advertise nationally and advertise local rate calls. This has done our business no end of good and  can also give the impression of being a large organisation. If we get calls from other areas we qualify the size of the job and if it is sizeable will go to quote if not we will just pass it on to somebody. Yes it is great to do business locally but 80 % of our turnover is  from different std codes. Having the 0845 number allows us to move if we want we have in the past moved only 3 miles but still been unable to take our old number with us.
When I had an 0800 number I did have a lot of time wasters, lesser quality work and even hoax calls. If you advertise local rate people if they genuinely want a service will call if you make your advertising attractive enough. If it costs noting then people will bother you anyway.

Peter

[Adam Fearnley]

Ok thanks, do you mean 0845 number s are free for you but costs the customer ringing?  Can you get it to divert to a mobile number?

[GWCS]

You definately need a landline but in the 20 years that I have been in business I have moved house 8 times and had three different business addresses, I have paid a fortune to keep numbers and at any one time have had to keep up to 4 landline numbers. 5 years ago we took a 0845 number and this has saved us a fortune as it is now the only landline number we keep. We can also advertise nationally and advertise local rate calls. This has done our business no end of good and  can also give the impression of being a large organisation. If we get calls from other areas we qualify the size of the job and if it is sizeable will go to quote if not we will just pass it on to somebody. Yes it is great to do business locally but 80 % of our turnover is  from different std codes. Having the 0845 number allows us to move if we want we have in the past moved only 3 miles but still been unable to take our old number with us.
When I had an 0800 number I did have a lot of time wasters, lesser quality work and even hoax calls. If you advertise local rate people if they genuinely want a service will call if you make your advertising attractive enough. If it costs noting then people will bother you anyway.

Peter

now thats a good argument for a 0845..

[peter maybury]

an 0845 number costs the customer the local call rate wherever they phone from. The cost of buying an 0845 is very low and it depends on how easy the number is to remember they have gold numbers that cost maybe £100 silver for £50 or bronze for £25. As far as I remember we bought a silver number which is 0845 2570013. It was a one off payment and if we move we just inform them of our new diversion number. There is no cost to us for the diversion and that number will remain ours. It was a very good investment as we can advertise the number without incurring any costs if we move. On any advertising we always advertise "local rate" next to the number so that people will not be confused into thinking that they are going to pay a higher rate charge. The other point is that the customer does not know they are dialing an exchange other than their own. So with the web advertising we set up a site for carpet cleaning in Bridgend and people will call us thinking that they are calling a local firm and we will get the work. We would not get a lot of the work or calls if we were advertising a Cardiff std.
This also works on std s as many of the locations are recognisable by the number even though it may have the same dialing code
If you want to know any more details give Jill a ring on that number and she will give you the details of who supplied it.
Peter
Ps  you can get it to divert to the mobile if you pay the cost of the call from the landline to your mobile.
I would tell you how we overcame that cost but will have to wait till I have more time.

Peter

[vacman]

Sorry, but you are overlooking the fact that 0845 is charged at the BT STANDARD LOCAL RATE and does NOT get discounted in the same way as ordinary land-line local calls, it is not usually included on 'free' local call packages, and in the case of my own landline which is supplied by Virgin, the standard local call rate is a lot cheaper than the standard BT rate....for this reason i pay more than the Virgin local rate for 0845's because they are set to the BT rate. The BT rate for all local calls is higher because most BT customers will be then on some sort of discount 'package' for ordinary landline numbers.

Hence the upspringing of the website "Say no to 0870".

[GWCS]

I thought BT didn;t charge for 0845 number now?

[derek west]

i would never ring 0845 or even 0800. cost to much, most people like me use there mobiles only, and get 01 numbers included in the deal. ive got unlimited 01 numbers. my landline is for incoming only.
just another angle to look at it.

so i suppose the best thing is local, mobile, 0800 and 0845  numbers in your advert. that way your covered.

derek

[peter maybury]

At the end of the day we put a lot of money and effort into marketing and use 20 years of experience,  we try to make our service as attractive for as many people as is possible, our local area probably goes across  8 std codes within a 18 mile radius. We market for the masses not for Mrs. Jones who is with walleyphone and can only get free calls on a sunday if her front door is blue.

The customer is not going to be put off calling you if you have local rate advertised next to your number.
I don't think that I have overlooked anything. 20 years ago when I lived 5 minutes from cardiff but had the std code of Newport. I could not break into the cardiff market but had no trouble in getting work that involved a 45 minute drive but had the same std. I realised then the importance of the code, at that time I started takong on the line and having them on diversion to whatever number at the time. It cost a fortune. What I am saying now is that you can overcome that by taking an 0845 number which also give you some credibilty. You May know better than me but I am quite happy to drive 200 miles to clean 1000 + sq mtrs of carpet for a customer who thinks that they are dealing with a national or local firm.

Peter

[vacman]

I thought BT didn;t charge for 0845 number now?

They dont IF you are on one of BT's many packages. The point is this: if you call from a non-BT line, you are charged the BT standard (non discounted rate) for an ordinary local call. So what ever the BT local call rate is, thats what your provider charges. The BT local rate is used as a benchmark.

So, lets just say that the BT standard local rate is £50 a minute (bit high i know....). The cost of an 0845 call with be nothing at all if you have a BT package of some sort, but would be £50 a minute from a none-BT landline (unless your provider has a lower rate for these numbers), even if your landline provider charges a lot less for an ordinary local call.

[Joe H]

just google  0845   you get loads offering their services.