Considering buying a business phone number? This guide will show you the benefits of doing so and will help you navigate the ins and outs of choosing a number that’s just the right fit for your business.

When you buy a phone number for your business, you’re getting a dedicated number that makes your business seem more credible and allows your team members to effectively communicate with each other and your customers.

And as Chalkboard’s customers have found out, keeping your personal number private helps you separate your work and personal lives. In this guide to business phone numbers, we will explain why you need to buy a phone number and what to keep in mind when considering your options.

Why choosing the right phone number matters

A business phone number isn’t just another line of communication between you and your customers. It could be the primary channel of communication, especially if you run a small or independent business. Here’s why you should buy a phone number for business:

Credibility

Business owners who buy a phone number know that it significantly adds to their branding. Along with a website and social media channels, a phone number provides credibility. Customers will know that you care enough about them to have a direct number to reach you.

Recall

If you get a vanity number for your business, it becomes easier for your customers to remember you. With increasing competition, customers are most likely to approach businesses they can recall and without a phone number, you will be losing out to your competitors.

Lead generation

How can independent businesses get more prospective customers interested in their business? By stating their unique benefits and providing an easy and efficient way to contact them. When you buy a phone number for business and use it for marketing purposes, you’re making it easier for more people to enter your sales funnel.

Customer acquisition

Big businesses have omnichannel systems for customer acquisition. These could be through everything from SEO tactics to long-term bundled offers. For a small business, a business phone number is the most effective channel to acquire customers. It’s also the easiest medium to manage because it doesn’t require any IT expertise.

Customer service

What happens if a customer wants to know the status of their order? If email or website are the only options you offer, it might take some time for you to get back to them. And not everyone wants to visit your business in person. The solution? Buy a phone number for business and address customer queries through that channel.

Multi-device access

When you buy a phone number that’s powered by VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), you’re getting a number that you can use across devices. You could be working from home and you will still have access to your number. This makes it the ideal solution for businesses with remote or hybrid employees.

Business tools

Modern business phone numbers give value-added features for centralising, measuring and optimising communication. You get number sharing, business texting, auto-reply, call blocking and voicemail-to-text transcription among others. These will help improve your marketing and customer service.

Factors to consider when buying a business phone number

If you’ve decided to buy a phone number for business, these are the factors you should keep in mind.

Is it for personal or business use?

After you decide to buy a phone number, you will come across several free phone numbers such as Google Voice. Unfortunately, these are for personal use and not for businesses. They have neither the business tools nor reliable customer support. Some of them are ad-supported, which will make them difficult to use.

Is it designed for your industry?

The phone number you choose should be made for businesses like yours. What you want is a phone number that understands your budget constraints, usage requirements and technical expertise. What you don’t want is an advanced system for medium or large enterprises that requires IT teams for maintenance.

Is it easy to remember?

Vanity numbers are those that can be customised to resemble your category codes. Getting such a number will make it easy for customers to not just remember your number but also align it with the category. Similarly, easy-to-remember sequences and numeric patterns aid in recall.

Does it serve your marketing goals?

Those who buy a phone number for business should know whether their number will support their immediate objectives. For example, a toll-free number can help you with customer acquisition and service while a local number will make you more credible to your locality.

Does it have the tools you need?

Some VoIP numbers might offer you business tools but only as part of premium packages. This forces you to pay too much for even basic business functionalities. Your business phone number should offer you all the tools you need in one package and not charge you extra.

Is it easy to get started?

One of the biggest advantages of a virtual phone number is that since it’s an application that uses the internet to connect callers, there’s no need for additional devices or hardware. Unlike legacy systems, there’s little delay in the process. Download the app and you can get your new number in a matter of minutes.

Does it come with adequate support?

Free business phone numbers don’t have reliable customer support. The same goes for virtual numbers from tech giants. You may have to turn to online forums to solve your problems. A virtual number built for small businesses and independent professionals such as Chalkboard comes with a dedicated customer support team.

Do your research: Finding available phone numbers

Even after you’re convinced that you need to buy a phone number, the process of selecting one can be confusing. Here’s how you can research the available options and choose a phone number that meets your unique needs.

The first step is to define your user persona. Instead of searching online for business phones, it would be better to search, for example, ‘business phones for independent contractors’ or ‘VoIP phones for small businesses.’

Secondly, look for providers who have a credible presence in your market. You might find a cheap VoIP provider but if they don’t have a local office or don’t understand the requirements of the local industry, it may not be the right choice.

Next, understand your immediate and medium-term requirements. Do you have an on-site team or remote employees? Are you launching a product or service and looking to generate leads? Are you expanding to new markets?

These will tell you whether you need a local number (UK or US), a vanity number or a toll-free number. Keep in mind that some business phone providers such as Chalkboard allow you to search for your number and find one that suits your needs.

You should also know how many numbers and users you would need. You might have five users with just one number or you might need a number for each one of your users. These will determine how much you’re billed.

Finally, before you get a phone number for business, you should always find out about its customer support. Search online reviews from independent sources to know whether the phone number provider immediately responds to requests or whether you have to wait for days.

Time to buy your business phone number

Pricing is an important factor to analyse when you’re ready to buy a business phone number. You should see the features that you get with your plan, how easy it would be to upgrade or downgrade it (add or remove users or features), and whether your team will be easily able to share their numbers.

It’s also vital that you pay attention to the contract. You shouldn’t have to sign up for a binding contract that leaves you with no room to cancel. User-friendly phone numbers such as Chalkboard will allow you to easily cancel your subscription.

Once you’ve decided to buy a phone number for business and know which service provider you want, you can either get it from their website or a third-party platform. The ease of installation will tell you how easy it would be to use the service.

The key role of phone numbers in business

When you buy a phone number for business, you’re making it easier for customers to find you. With a dedicated number, you add credibility and legitimacy to your operations and make it easier for team members to collaborate.

But for a business phone number to serve your marketing and customer acquisition and retention services, it needs to suit your usage pattern and budget. It should give you enhanced tools such as business texting for lead generation and customer service.

For your customers, your business phone number will be a gateway to your business while for you and your team, it will be a system to optimise and amplify your business growth.

Take action: Buy your business phone number

When you buy a business phone number from Chalkboard, you’re not just getting a business number. You’re getting an advanced business phone system designed for small businesses, independent creatives and gig workers.

This affordable phone comes with auto-reply, number sharing, business texting and voicemail-to-text transcription as standard, plus a host of additional business-focused features. Plus, you get a free trial to check out those features and can cancel with ease anytime.

Get Chalkboard and give your business the competitive advantage it deserves.