So over the past week I had the need to go and phone a few people – so of course the first thing I did was go to their website to look up their phone number.
I am not sure what the odds of this are but not one of these 6 people had their phone number on their website. 6 for 6… I think in baseball terms that is called batting a thousand, but not for the good in this case.
I live on the internet – my entire business could not survive without the internet… it really is true. I preach having a web presence and the importance of a website to ALL of my clients and anyone else who will listen… BUT you have to be prepared for everything.
Some people may not want to fill out your online contact form and send an email – some will have an urgent need and want to reach out via telephone. If you are in business you need to have a way for potential clients to call you, because some may do that – pick up a phone. Especially a cell phone!
Now, I know money and costs can be an issue for startups, but there are other options out there as opposed to a phone number with the telephone company. Many work from home people use their home line and don’t publish because they don’t want family members picking up the phone… my advice – spend a little money… you never know what opportunity you are missing when you have no option for people to reach out immediately.
I have signed on over 5 new clients from one phone call in the last couple years – and they are all regular clients we still work with. I suspect if I had not had a phone number on my site they would not have called – and who knows if they would have taken one more step to email me. The lost business can overshadow any monthly phone costs tenfold or more.
There are other options that are not cost prohibitive too – Magic Jack, Google Voice, Skype – make certain to check them out if you are someone who has no phone number online. Figure out a way to get one there.
Lost opportunities can add up to lost sales and revenue!
I highly recommend taking 15 minutes each month and checking your website out – as a visitor would experience it, not you the owner. Kind of like a website audit or inspection. It is amazing what you can discover when you put yourself in someone else’s shoes.
