What’s the purpose of having a dedicated virtual phone number for your business? When it comes to business phone numbers, having a virtual phone number holds a significant amount of value for your company – more than you might ever even consider.

The concept of using a virtual phone number – a phone number which uses VOIP telephony and call forwarding to divert it to another number – might be new to many SMEs in Ireland. However, a virtual business number is a very cost-effective option that can deliver a host of different benefits.

These include;

Gaining customer trust

Before they even contact you or purchase from you, potential customers will have analysed various signals of trust to decide if you’re a good vendor to buy from/hire. They may have read online reviews, asked friends for recommendations, reviewed your company page on social media or checked out your website.

Above all of these, there is one sometimes overlooked factor by businesses which can be a key decision-maker for customers – a phone number.

If a phone number isn’t provided or a home/personal mobile number is added as your business contact detail, it can deter the trust of your potential customers, as they may not see you as entirely credible or established.

Establish a presence in different areas/countries

If you are seeking to establish a business presence in a different county, state or even a different country, providing a local contact phone number for potential customers in that area is key.

Customers prefer to buy from or use local businesses so if you are using a foreign or non-local area code, this can be enough to sway them towards a different vendor.

Using virtual phone numbers with the area or country codes of the business areas you are targeting can help you to increase the likelihood of engagement from customers in that area. Even if you just have remote employees on the ground there, you can empower them to build a business in the area by providing a local virtual phone number.

Keep personal numbers private

Using your own mobile phone or home phone to accept calls requires actively publicising your private phone number. By switching to a virtual phone number, you can protect your personal number, even using the virtual phone number to show on the receiver’s call ID.

This will also prove a much more attractive option to employees who will undoubtedly be hesitant to have to provide their personal numbers to customers. A virtual phone number can also be a more cost-effective option than purchasing separate business phones for yourself and your employees.

Saving on international call costs

Making and accepting calls using a virtual international phone number is more cost-effective for you and your customers. Customers only incur the costs of phoning a local number while you can avail of low-cost rates as part of your virtual business number service.

You especially don’t want to place added expense on your customers or prospects simply because they want to contact you. Incurring additional costs to call a business can prove off-putting to potential customers.

SMS and Whatsapp Marketing

SMS and Whatsapp marketing and customer service lines is an incredibly effective ways for small businesses to reach and engage with their customers and vice versa. SMEs can facilitate SMS/Whatsapp contact numbers through the use of a virtual business phone number, opening up the channels through which customers can communicate. The greater the number of channels you make available to customers, the higher the engagement rate from customers and prospects.

Could a virtual phone number help your business? It’s a simple service but one that could go a long way towards growing your business, whether that is on a local, national or international scale.

Recent research carried out by PwC highlights the need for more focus on customer service when it comes to doing business. The company surveyed 15,000 consumers from 12 different countries across the globe. This comes after a similar report was carried out by PwC Ireland which came to the same conclusions.

Two-thirds of surveyed consumers felt that companies have lost touch with the human element when it comes to customer experience, with three quarters stating that they want to see more human interaction in this department.

In an ever-growing digital world where chatbots, artificial intelligence (AI), Big Data, etc are taking over, companies need to put more effort into ensuring the right customer experience balance for customers; ensuring the presence of both human interactions and technology.

While price and quality remain the top choice for consumers to purchase from a brand, a staggering 73% of those surveyed stated that positive customer experience was also key in determining brand loyalty.

 

Increase of up to 16% in ROI

More importantly, the research highlighted that businesses can benefit from up to a 16% increase in return on investment if they incorporate quality customer experience into their business model. Gone are the days when the focus was solely on the sale of products and services, more and more consumers are seeking out in-store experiences. Across the globe, customers are also willing to pay more for the following elements when it comes to customer service:

• Speed & efficiency (52%)
• Convenience (43%)
• Knowledgeable & helpful employees (41%)

 

Cost of Bad Customer Experiences

It’s also important to incorporate positive experiences because bad customer experiences drive people away and will cost you money if consumers were to stop doing business due to unfriendly employees or lack of trust. In fact, 60% of those surveyed said that unfriendly service was a factor of bad customer experience, while 46% mentioned lack of knowledge among employees and half stated a company’s trustworthiness.

 

Use of Technology & Mobile Devices

When it comes to positive customer experience, traditional retailers could be at an advantage as consumers care less about the shopping part and more about the actual experience.  However, more in-store training is still needed, especially when it comes to the incorporation of mobile devices to make the shopping experience even more interconnected. Speaking of mobile devices, however, more than half of Irish consumers are still concerned about security when making a payment through their mobile phones. They are also very concerned about how their personal information is used and are afraid in case this information is misused.

 

Employees are Important to the Experience

In order for companies to benefit from increased ROI, a company’s employees must be the driving force behind a customer’s experience. Out of those surveyed, 71% feel that it’s the employees who have a significant impact on their experience but only 44% of employees actually understand consumer needs. Brands also can’t solve customer problems using technology alone. It’s all about using a mixture of consumer demand for technology and mobile devices with their desire for authentic, personal interaction with employees.

You can read the full report here.

When operating a virtual office system, efficiency is key. Using a variety of tools like those outlined below will ensure your virtual office runs smoothly and can even save you time and money.

Not only that, ensuring that a full range of capabilities is covered is essential in guaranteeing the smooth operation of virtual office spaces.

 

• Internal Chat Software

Collaboration is one of the biggest benefits of an office, and a virtual office brings its own benefits and obstacles in this regard. The online and distributed nature of a virtual office allows people from anywhere on the planet to join in and work together, often from their own homes.

While this can greatly boost flexibility and efficiency, care must be taken to ensure communication is smooth and versatile. Apps such as Azure, Slack and Flowdock aren’t just chatting programs but are also useful tools that can enable file sharing, establish work priorities and assignments, and track user contributions. They allow members of a virtual office to work together smoothly and freely.

 

1. 1. Cloud BackupWorking together online is just the first step. Any modern office saves and stores data locally, but with a virtual and paperless office; there are no backup hard copies and no easily accessible computers for everyone to access. This means that if a single user doesn’t save their work correctly, important information may become inaccessible to others.

      Cloud backups ensure that all members of a team can access the documents they need and that the files are protected in case of an accident. Many programs can do regular cloud backups of selected folders and also set user permissions so only those who are meant to access certain files can. Dropbox is a robust tool for this and is in common use.

 

• Registered Address

Online businesses and websites can often seem short-lived and even sometimes unfounded because of the nature of the business. Having a registered physical office address helps to put potential customers at ease. 

Trust is a complex and delicate thing to build. So having an address, particularly one in a major city, projects a sense of corporate and professional power that can be hard to acquire with a purely online presence.

 

1. 1. Call Answering and ForwardingWhether you’re a sole trader or the CEO of a large business, dealing with customer, client and supplier calls can be a very time-consuming process. In a virtual office, the software is needed to screen calls and forward callers to the correct number.

      ZenDesk, ContactSpace and TCN all provide well-integrated tools for handling incoming and outgoing calls. You can also hire a specialist third-party such as Kendlebell to take care of the issue for you, and gain a professional and human-based service.

 

• Conferencing

Secure conferences are a must, whether you are talking to people within your office or with customers and clients. Virtual offices can make use of conference calls, both audio and video, but you should take care and purchase a high-quality system. In today’s digital world, carelessness when setting up online calls can result in leaked information and eavesdropping.

Secure conferencing apps can set up safe and secure calls with encrypted security that are accessible only to those you want to conference with. Apps such as CVent, Medium and CryptTalk all offer secure and reliable ways to communicate with the people you need to get in touch with.

Running a virtual office can be made smoother with the use of the right tools, digital and otherwise. Our advice? Keep your technology up to date to help your business succeed.