Cutting The Cost Of Running A Business - By: Shaun Parker

We've all seen those adverts. Ring 0845 numbers and get put through to the job of your dreams, the man of your dreams or the bill of your nightmares. 0845 numbers always come with a degree of fear yet, it would seem, these fears are unfounded. The idea behind this service is to make calls cheaper to the masses and to also give the company the appearance of a large national company.

This fake persona is not necessarily a bad thing. People trust size, the bigger the better. Therefore, they believe that if they are contacting a large corporation then they are getting a company that will deal with their enquiry or order in a well practiced, experienced manner. They may well be getting that, but they may actually be getting it from a much smaller operation.

No company is born big. By providing a good service, they build a reputation as reliable and trustworthy and word spreads. But it takes time. For that reason, many choose to invest in an 0845 number to speed up the process. This has a knock on effect - fake the size of the company, gain more customers, become a bigger company - it's not rocket science.

Using one 0845 number is also very useful to the customer. It provides an easy to remember number that covers all departments, whatever location you may be ringing from. It also means the call will be charged at a local rate. So, you could be calling from the other end of the country with an on-going enquiry yet be charged for a local call.

This has to be of benefit when you get one of 'those' calls. You know the ones. Press one for sales, press two for enquiries, press three for complaints and press four if you want to speak to an adviser that will put you on hold for an eternity while you listen to Greensleaves for the seventy fourth time. Stuck on one of these calls, who would want to be paying anything other than local rate?

Opting to use an 0845 number couldn't be easier. Customers that already know your old number can still use it but will be automatically re-directed to the 0845 number. All calls to the old or new number go to the same place. For companies with more than one depot or shop, you can choose to have all the calls directed to one first point of contact or you can arrange it so that anybody in any depot could pick up the call.

Having one number for all stores is a good way of removing the need for a central switchboard and cuts down on personnel expenses. Staff are able to transfer calls between branches and deal with enquiries or orders via a linked computer system.

Unifying working environments in this way with the use of an 0845 number is a financially sound idea, making life easier for customers, staff and human resources departments.

In this time of recession it is vital for all businesses to be as frugal as they can with money to ensure they stay afloat until times begin to look up again. If a centralised number is the way to work this then that has to be a good thing.

About the Author

Shaun Parker is a leading financial expert with many years of experience in business. Find out more about 0845 numbers at http://www.blueboxtelecom.com

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Shaun-Parker/28721

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