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The first month of the year can be a slow month for the UK business community and the present economic downturn is likely to amplify this further.

Many organisations are now looking at various cost effective means that they can optimise the number of enquiries they receive and which then, produce greater sales.

A very well-liked way of companies achieving this objective is to provide their customers a completely free telephone experience.

0800 numbers are free to contact from a landline and lots of organisations that use them get a dramatic increase in the amount of enquiries they get. In fact, research by the Institute of Direct Marketing has concluded that a business that provides an 0800 number can boost their number of calls by in the area of 185%.

Just one advantage that many UK organisations are gaining by using 0800 numbers.

Below are Seven more:

1. 0800 numbers are non-geographic – meaning they are not location anchored like regular landline numbers. Ensuring, businesses can attract more business outside of their physical area as they won’t be restricted by their location.

2. Provided with the option, 63% of people say that they would always ring a freephone number first (Teleculture 2000).

3. The Henley Research Centre surmised that 68% of the public get the impression that businesses which offer 0800 numbers care more about their potential customers.

4. 0800 numbers, similar to all non-geographic telephone numbers, enable organisations to immediately smarten up their phone systems with online call management features – for example welcome messages and call divert.

 5. Online call statistics systems allow company owners/managers/marketers to evaluate the region of enquirers to their 0800 number, number of unanswered calls and hectic times in order to help with marketing/customer services and planning staffing more efficiently.

 6. Companies can control where they need to receive their calls (e.g. not in normal working hours and in the case of a disaster). Their 0800 number can be redirected to any UK landline or mobile with Call divert features

7. All calls to 0800 numbers can be put in a queue when used with internet call queuing systems. This enables businesses to answer more enquiries and not miss out on prospective business.

It seems evident that basically by providing a freephone telephone number, companies can maximise the number of enquiries they get, deal with their enquirers more effectively, organise staff effectively and stand out from those in the same field of enterprise – all factors that are essential in business and vital for organisations to grow in these times of economic uncertainty.

The most important resolution a business owner could make in this new year is to simply change there telephone number.