Free Online Calling Services: Streamline Business and Increase Conversions
In today's global marketplace, companies with international reach often struggle to accommodate the increasingly segmented customer base. Several of these companies are already trading in phone-based communication for email and online platforms. Pragmatic as this shift may seem, it runs the major risk of driving the personal connection out of business discourse.
The foremost leaders of the up-and-coming media industry recognize the invaluable role that this personal connection retains in a highly competitive marketplace. Often times, it will be the deciding factor in ensuring sales to long distance customers.
Modern business faces a new obstacle, a geographical divide between customer and business. Savvy professionals have moved past blaming technology for this change to embrace it as the solution. They have utilized tactics such as personalized retargeting and online toll-free numbers to reintroduce personal experience back into sales and customer service.
“In the 21st century, business is more about connections than ever,” says Terry Jones, founder and former CEO of Travelocity.com and Chairman of Kayak.com. “Today a combination of the online world and new technologies are making knowing the individual a reality and a necessity again.”
To illustrate his point, Jones recalled a recent interaction with Zappos, the influential ecommerce shoe store. Zappos went out of their way to inform Jones that one of his favorite shoes would no longer be available, and even referred him to a few alternatives that could potentially suit his needs. Zappos has long made customer accessibility a business, evidenced by a 1-800 number listing on every page of their website. Zappos views this interaction as critical to their operations. Jones and the Zappos team have come to recognize that lack of personal contact yields ambivalence in customer-to-business relations and therefore limits direct sales opportunities.
Businesses everywhere are also discovering the value of cloud computing (storing and accessing data over the internet). “The benefits of cloud computing go far beyond the obvious cost savings on software and reducing the burden of maintenance,” said Thomas Davies, Head of Google Enterpreise for the UK and Ireland. Cloud computing involves little to no investment of capital, since it only requires a consumer-level computer and an Internet connection.
Now, even toll free numbers are available through a cloud-based PBX service, offering all the benefits of a sophisticated telephone system without the expensive equipment. Your company can provide high-level customer service around the globe without the substantial operating costs of physical call centers in each area. Instead, a locally recognized toll free numbers will link customers around the world right to your location. The only cost to you is website hosting, telephone service, and related marketing materials.
To remain competitive, embracing technology is a necessity. Companies that leverage technological progress to enhance their customer relation will thrive in the global market. Toll free numbers from a PBX service allow you to engage customers on their own terms, opening the door to cultivate a personalized relationship with a low initial investment. As new technology facilitates business across cultural and geographical barriers, the iconic Disney tune has never rung more true, that “it’s a small world after all.”