Many businesses are moving forward into the digital age and adopting digital techniques. They’re taking traditional methods and making them digital. A huge part of most businesses, marketing, is now becoming a digital thing. Now, we see another part of businesses – communication- turning digital.
Digital communication methods are great. However, it’s important that you don’t completely eradicate traditional aspects of your business. There’s a communication method that remains vital; the telephone. Yes, this simple device that was created many years ago, can still stand up against the big guns in this digital age.
There’re lots of ways telephones are important to a business. They’re still an invaluable way to communicate with clients. Yes, you can communicate through social media, email or an app. But clients prefer speaking directly over the telephone. It’s a more personal way of speaking to someone. You can hear their voice and you know you’re talking to a human. Whereas with email, you could easily just be getting automated replies from a script.
You can also make money by utilising the telephone. If your business has an 0844 number, you could start earning money when people call you. These are non-geographic numbers, which means that the number is not locked to a specific location in the UK. People can call the number, and it will be diverted to your land line in your office. Each time someone calls an 0844 number, they’ll be charged by their service provider per minute. You could then earn a fraction of the money they’re charged. Typically, these numbers are assigned as customer service contact numbers for businesses. Speaking of which, telephones are still the primary source of customer service. Even in this growing digital age, companies still offer customer service over the phone. It’s simply the easiest way to communicate properly with a customer.
Likewise, telephones are still a great way to grow your business and sell products/services. Cold Calling people is a popular way to sell things to random people. You call someone up and try and sell them your product/service. Telephones give you a better chance of making a sale than say email or social media. It’s because you have the client on the spot, and you can show the tone of your voice. You can empathise with them, and it makes it easier to make a sale.
Now I’m not saying that digital techniques and methods are pointless. They’re all extremely effective tools for business. Email, social media, mobile apps, etc. all serve their own purpose for a business. Truthfully, if you want your business to grow then you need to incorporate more digital methods.
What I’m saying is that we shouldn’t overlook the importance of telephones in business today. Don’t assume that you don’t need a business number, or that all communication can be done digitally. I think digital communication is still important. Some things can be done with digital communication that can’t be done with a phone. But overall, I think the telephone is still the greatest communication tool for businesses.
