subject: How Your Phone System Can Affect Your Marketing Results by:JD Pham [print this page] As you click on this article, you're probably thinking, "How are phone systems related to Small Business Marketing?". I think having a good phone system is closely related to providing good customer service to your clients and customer service goes hand in hand with advertising.
How? Simple...Let's say you stuffed 1000 marketing letters over the weekend and you send them out Monday morning. Let's also assume you're a 1-2 person operation. There will be a time when you're out of the office and/or everyone will be out of the office. A prospect receives one of your mailings and decides to call. Your answering machine picks up, your message comes on and the prospect hangs up before leaving a message.
Benefits of PBX Systems
Wouldn't it be nice if that call was forwarded to your cell phone, home phone, or any other number where a live person picked up? The answer is yes! "But JD, what about call forwarding?" Yes, even the most basic phone line will have call forwarding and you can use that option. Still, wouldn't have been nice if your call was routed to an automated call attendant where the prospect would of had options where their call be routed to? That's another benefit of using a PBX system. It gives your small business, a not so small feel to your clients and prospects.
This may not be a very big deal if you were selling small ticket items but what if you weren't selling $5 widgets? What if you were selling something that cost $500+ and that product came with a warranty that you service? What if your company provided a service that required the customer to sign up for a certain duration? I would be hesitant to buy a big ticket item that had a 1 year warranty from a company I felt may or may not be around in a year. Especially in this economy...
At one point or another, every business started small but you don't have to let the customer know that you are small. The first thing they see, or in this case, hear, is going to be the person or machine answering the phone. A PBX system let's them know that you're not a small startup company or a 1 person operation. It also gives you a lot of functionality for less money than hiring a receptionist.
Pros: You pay 1 time and own the equipment forever and you use your own phone number.
Cons: The price of the equipment and if your company gets bigger, you'll outgrow the system and will need to buy a new one.
Virtual PBX Systems
You pay for the service monthly, no equipment to buy, and the VPBX company handles everything for you.
Basic service can cost $9.99/month which gives you 5 extensions and 100 minutes.
The catch here are the limited amount of extensions and minutes you have. Just like wireless cell phone service, when you go over your minutes, you end up paying for it. Rates vary but average about $.07 cents a minute.
Pros: Cost of entry is very low, no equipment to buy, and it's scalable. If your company grows and needs more extensions, you would just upgrade to a higher plan.
Cons: You are given a phone number, although you get a free 800 number from the VPBX service, if you ever decide to cancel the service, you'll lose that number.
There are many Virtual PBX providers out there and I will compare them in a follow up article.
JD Pham started his very first company at the very ripe age of 20 with nothing but a small tax return. Needless to say he was very lucky and parlayed 1 internet cafe into 4. Since then he's owned & operated a financial services practice and an inflatable advertising distribution company.
