What’s
Toll Free Numbers Got To Do With Ecommerce?
by: Jacob Richards
Sometimes skimping on things can save you good money.
But skimping is not always the wisest business strategy.
For example, I could’ve written this article in the
windows program notepad as opposed to Microsoft Word,
and saved a good $500 and never had to buy the latest
version of Microsoft Office… However, wouldn’t it be
worth the $500 if the improved impression of
professionalism put forth in all of my writings some how
garnered ten times that in profit? Would you have read
this far if I had unknowingly published this article
with a horribly obvious typo in the title? That’s right
– an insignificant error caused by “saving money” can
actually COST you money in the long run.
## Impression Is
Everything! ##
If you have spent months
developing a beautiful ecommerce website to give people
the impression that you are the safest choice for
whatever product or service you’re trying to sell them,
then it’d be pretty stupid to have all of that
professionalism dismissed by a simple mistake: assuming
you’re going to SAVE money by not getting a toll free
number!
The fact is, the sight
of a toll free number is something that subconsciously
stirs an idea of professionalism – something we’re
accustomed to from corporate America. Area codes are for
calling your relatives and friends, after all. The phone
prefix “800” or “877” or “888” for some reason, as if by
magic, stirs in us the image of a phone operator in a
tall skyscraper that deals with hundreds of clients a
day – someone that doesn’t make their living off of
ripping people off. The appearance of professionalism is
the embodiment of confidence within the business world.
## Okay, so you’re
convinced… now what? ##
Not having a toll free
number for your ecommerce business (no matter how small)
will cost you more in the long run than the short term
savings will save you. The best part is though that toll
free numbers are not NEARLY as expensive as one might be
inclined to think! In fact, at the moment the prices for
toll free numbers are as low as 2.7c/min from places
like
www.patricklongdistance.com.
## What other services
can I benefit from? ##
It just so happens that
toll free numbers are not the only affordable
telecommunications service that might be useful to the
owner of an ecommerce web site. Conference calling (for
those teleseminars), low long distance rates, broadband
or t1 internet access, and more are all examples of
things that can be gotten more cost effectively off the
internet via web pages such as the one I provided in the
last paragraph.
