Which phone number should I choose for my marketing?

12 June 2017 5708 Views

One of the biggest choices you can make in regards to the logistics of your estate agency can be picking a business telephone number. It may seem like a small task in the scheme of things, but this is a really important part of your business, and it can have a huge impact on how customers view you.

A lot of small businesses will use local telephone numbers - but in certain industries, they can also discourage the customer. Which is the right number for your agency - a local number, or an NGN?

What is an NGN?

An NGN, or a 'non-geographical number' is a number that can be provided by a telecommunications company that will be the same throughout the country. As a service to your customers, you can also set up an NGN so it is free for them to call. NGNs like 03 numbers have always been free to call from a landline telephone. Recently, the legislation was changed and these numbers are now also free to call from a mobile telephone, so the customer should always be able to get in touch with you for free. This has lead to more companies purchasing NGN numbers - but, again, this has largely been businesses who deal across the UK, rather than those specialising in local areas.

What are the benefits of NGNs?​

Larger companies in the UK tend to have set ups that favour many different offices. While this is usually a great plan for the business, it is not always easy for customers to get in contact. If you have a local number and you have offices dotted all around the country, not only will your customers need loads of different numbers for loads of different departments, but you will also have to pay extra for printing all of these on marketing material. Having a NGN means you have one central number or contact, which is a lot easier for both companies and customers.

As certain NGNs are free of charge for the customer to call, this will give you the edge over any competing companies that have a local number. If you provide a service or a product that is quite popular, like an Estate Agents, and someone is going down choosing from a list of search results, it is more likely they are going to call a free phone number than they are a number that is going to cost them money. This is also true for existing customers wanting to get in touch. It is just polite and respectful in general to let your customers be able to contact you free of charge. After all, they would be able to do this via email if they wished to, so they should be able to use the same service via telephone.

Why choose a local number?​

A local area telephone number is a telephone number that will match your home number. Depending on what area you live in, you will have a code and then six digits after. For the customer contacting you, they will be charged at local rate if they are calling from a landline, and then possibly a bit more if they are calling from a mobile phone, depending on their tariff. For example, a London number may start '020' which is perfect for any business who are operating exclusively in the capital - but can be a turn-off if you’re looking to get business from other regions too. Similarly, numbers like the 0161 prefix do not tend to look as good as NGNs on promotional material for large businesses, but can be ideal for local estate agents - especially if your local branches are each using the unique area code for each location.

Number Supermarket are able to provide both NGNs and local area numbers to businesses of all sizes - and specialise in doing so for estate agents. Whether you’re looking to create a national campaign, or need extra telephone numbers for marketing purposes, our team can offer help and advice tailored to your needs. Visit our site at NumberSupermarket.co.uk or phone our team on 0330 332 0400.