People

[jenms]

We are a very small business of 2 people, and we do not have a posted phone number, the only contact we provide on the Web site is the contact us form.

So just received this lovely comment via the form:

"No phone number to contact? What kind of shady business are you? Any *legitimate* company would have a contact number. Good luck with your scam."

I responded to the email provided, but it was a fake aol account.


As it happens, I had been planning to add the chat feature as an alternative to getting an 800 number.

What's wrong with people? Does our site look shady or like a scam? I don't think so!
http://www.banglesofhope.com

[Buttons]

Jen,

Your site is beautiful and very far from "shady" or "scam" like. For myself, I prefer to buy from sites that have a contact phone number available. There are some alternative to getting an expensive 800 number - check out some of the VOip 800 numbers - and you can always just have a voice mail "we are assisting other customers" and call them back.

Again, love your site .... sometimes people are just mean.

[Mark]

Yes, you look like a fly by night scam artisit extrordinare! :D
Kidding.......:D

Get yourself a RingCentral account. it's about 100 bucks a year but recoups in conversion....

Try to get an "800" number, these prove better respected than 877 and 866 numbers......

[Mark]

no, seriously, let me offer our experience.
People want to see a business phone number and your "customer" that you showed is a perfect example of this.
What we did is got a RingCentral account and posted our phone number in our header. Now, this is important, we posted our phone number prominently in an "image" not text, so that your number isn't picked up by the bots.
Although our answers as "Customer Service" you can do all kinds of forwarding to your cell phone or home phone or whatever.
Sure you will get the "I called your company 3 times todays and only got voice mail" it's still better than "you don't even have a phone number you bottom feeder scum".
It's worth the 100 bucks a year. Get it today. Choose your own number, too! :D

[Mark]

actually, I think it was our best move to secure conversion. Our conversion rate is 5%. I even think it's higher rate than the hacker seals....:)
And, when you DO respond or answer calls directly, that's really kudos to great customer service and we have that in our "testimonials" page! :)

[SarahInc]

We have a 877 phone number 100% b/c our dropship vendors require it and post it on packing slips to our customers. I wasn't too happy about having customers calling me on my personal cell phone so I got the 877 phone number. I however, do not post it on our website.

It would probably help our business further by posting it, as there are people out there who are gungho about a phone number (I am not one of those people), but quite frankly I do not have the resources right now to have a number posted on our site. Not to mention since the majority of our products are dropshipped, I usually have to contact my vendor to get certain answers that I wouldnt' be able to do over the phone. We do live help and email for customer service. I respond at quickly as possible to emails.

What exactly do bots do if they get your phone number? I know how it works with email, but I never thought about a phone number.

[Mark]

your number gets into search engines and then comes up in searches where you might not want it to...can generate lots of calls that don't lead to sales.
same reasons you don't necessairily want your email posted on your site.
And some people LOVE to abuse an 800 number, if you know what I mean.
It's "free" to them, but, we have to keep the minutes under control.

[Java]

Thanks, Mark.

When I first sourced our phone system, I was looking at virtual PBX systems that had 800 numbers, advanced messaging, fax, etc, but found it too expensive. I ended up going with Vonage using a local number.

Your comments about putting the contact number up front really struck a chord. We have a phone number in the contact section, but adding an 800 number to the banner will add legitimacy.

Further, at $10/mo, Ring Central is a better deal than adding 800 and a fax line to Vonage. Thanks, again

Jenms,

Very nice site. I would recommend you follow the advice here and get a number to call. We are very new, but have gotten a handful of phone calls (got my first phone order today). I'm going pick up the advice here and upgrade my contact info to an 800 number.

[jenms]

Thanks for the feedback guys! And good tip Mark about putting the phone number in an image file. We are thinking about getting a number that rings to voicemail and we are going to add that chat service as well as soon as I get time to update our template for the new v.3.0 format.

Yeah, I was steaming for about 10 minutes, then I got over it. Personally, when I shop online I don't pay attention to phone numbers - because I'm not a phone person. I prefer email communication, but I know there are people out there who would much prefer to use the phone, so it can only help to have a phone number on the site.

[Mark]

we have a business local phone line, and that is required for many things, but, we use the Ring Central line in advertisements.
Once we placed the 800 number prominently in our store logo header graphic, I think it definately increase our conversions.
Even if they call the number and we don't answer, it still gives a "professional" voice that you can configure to state whatever you want. You can assign extensions for people, setup voice mail, hours of operations, forwarding rules, lots of stuff. :)
I think the best thing is that when people are placing an order, and if they call the number, and it "sounds" like a real comapny greeting, they'll go ahead and place the order.
A few old school customers call and don't want to give their credit card info over the Internet! So, that captures a few conversions as well. Give it a try. You'd be surprised what a $100 investment will do for your sales!
There are other vendors as well, we just happened to pick Ring Central and have no reservations.....
Happy selling! :)

[ScribeTime]

I agree with Mark - Ringcentral is awesome! We've used their service for awhile now and it's the best $15 per month we spend!!

Favorite features:

1. Email and text notification of incoming calls and messages (with notification settings that you control).

2. Call forwarding to any number you choose.

3. Ability to set up extensions. So even a mid-sized company who may use a call center for processing orders - the ringcentral number can be setup so that one extension is automatically forwarded to the call center, one extension goes to the owner/manager, etc...

4. Once you've paid for one month of service - you own the 800 number.

[Mark]

pay annually and save $$$ :)

[cekman]

I'm a business of ONE and work out of my home. I've been online for 6 years and don't post my phone number.

I KNOW I lose business because of this - but it's a decision I've made to date.

I'm really hoping live chat will alleviate some of that for me.

[Mark]

Get a Ring Central account. It's about the same cost as live chat and it really IS live chat! Heh Heh.
You can set hours, forward the number to your home phone, or take messages with the voicemail feature. You can even set it up to only forward to your phone during certain days/hours. Also, it "rings" on your PC, too! You can see the numvber who's calling, and decide whether or not to answer.
Best thing is, the "toll free" number cant be traced to your home....:)

[cekman]

If I ever get upgraded then Live Chat is included for 'free' so won't need to pay extra for it.

I may do the 800 number some time - it's a definite consideration. But boy - by the time you pay 3dCart, Stamps.com, ConstantContact.com, pay for DSL service etc. etc. - it sure adds up fast.