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View Full Version : Does displaying you phone number in plain text on your site increase unwanted calls ?



Harold Mansfield
08-25-2009, 12:09 PM
Something I have been thinking about. Do those of you that display your phone number on the front page of your site get a lot of unwanted calls ?

I always thought that it would be an invitation to crank calls and telemarketers.
What has been your experience ?

KristineS
08-25-2009, 12:33 PM
We have our phone number on all our sites, and it has been the footer of every page of the site in the past. I don't think it increased our level of nuisance calls.

Vivid Color Zack
08-25-2009, 01:04 PM
I don't really have anything to compare it to. I've always had my phone number up in plain text on my sites.

I don't think I receive any more spam calls than a regular resident who doesn't advertise. I get the standard new business phone calls that I've usually received every time I register a new business. Credit card processing, labor law poster enforcement, chambers of commerce, etc.

billbenson
08-25-2009, 03:29 PM
I don't recall any nuisance calls and mine is right at the top in big letters as well as elsewhere on the page. Its a very small niche low traffic site though?

Steve B
08-25-2009, 04:02 PM
I don't get any nuisance calls from my website. I don't think even one in 6 years.

When I do print advertising however, I ALWAYS get solicitations from other print advertising people. To me it's a nuisance, but I understand it's how they get their leads.

Ad-Vice_Man
08-25-2009, 04:03 PM
I read a study once that said the #1 piece of information visitors to your website are looking for is your contact information. And because of that all of it should be on the front page... I also happen to think it would make sense for it to be on every page so in case an organic search leads someone to a page other than your first page they'll still have it.

Harold Mansfield
08-25-2009, 04:21 PM
I read a study once that said the #1 piece of information visitors to your website are looking for is your contact information. And because of that all of it should be on the front page... I also happen to think it would make sense for it to be on every page so in case an organic search leads someone to a page other than your first page they'll still have it.

Oh I think it should be too and I have always recommended that to people, but I have never put MY phone number on the front page of a website.:o

Spider
08-25-2009, 04:25 PM
For a long time, I had it on every page. Then I had it on none. Now I have it on only the most obvious - Contact, Order, Résumé. Cannot say I noticed any difference.

vangogh
08-25-2009, 06:27 PM
Until recently it didn't lead to any nuisance calls. It didn't always lead to a new client, but for the most part it's always been honest leads.

Lately I've been getting calls from India weekly asking me if I want to outsource work. I'm pretty sure the number came from a list though, since they reference my business under its old name. It did make me reduce how often and where I list my phone number. It was never in the site template, but it did appear on several places on the site. Now it's only on the contact page and it's possible I'll even remove it from there at some point.

Harold Mansfield
08-25-2009, 08:14 PM
Until recently it didn't lead to any nuisance calls. It didn't always lead to a new client, but for the most part it's always been honest leads.

Lately I've been getting calls from India weekly asking me if I want to outsource work. I'm pretty sure the number came from a list though, since they reference my business under its old name. It did make me reduce how often and where I list my phone number. It was never in the site template, but it did appear on several places on the site. Now it's only on the contact page and it's possible I'll even remove it from there at some point.

THAT's what I'm worried bout. They are relentless coming out of India, especially anything that is a web, or computer based business.
Nothing against India, but DUDE...c'mon.
When I was doing the Internet mortgage leads, it was constant..all day long. Saturday's, early morning..it never stopped.
This number is set up to screen, or listen to messages as they are being left, so it should cut down on some of the frustration.

vangogh
08-25-2009, 11:02 PM
I woke up to a call this morning. I just tell them I don't outsource and then hang up. I don't think they got the number off my site though. Like I said above they ask about my old domain, which hasn't shown a phone number for a year and a half. I think it's more likely they grabbed the number from some list out there or perhaps from the info on the domain registration.

If I wasn't half asleep I would have realized the incoming number showed nothing but a string of 0s and I wouldn't have answered.

billbenson
08-25-2009, 11:15 PM
Might try a second line so you can screen things a bit? I use Vonage, which isn't perfect but it has a couple of benefits. A second line is only about $10 I think. Also, if you move either across town or country, you can keep your telephone number. If I had to go for an extended stay to CA to care for my aging parents, I could take a laptop and my Vonage router, hook into any broadband network and I am working. Very little down time and the same number.

vangogh
08-26-2009, 02:36 AM
This is a second line. It's the one I use for business so the number is out there. What I really need to do is remember not to answer the phone when I don't know who it is. If it's someone who's called before I'll know who it is and if it turns out to be a potential client I can call right back.

Steve B
08-26-2009, 03:34 AM
I know there's no perfect solution to this - just keep in mind there are people like me that rarely leave a message when calling around to find a new service. I keep dialing different companies until a real person answers. I also leave any website that doesn't provide a phone number.

I also know I've missed out on business by not being able to answer the phone. Sometimes they leave a message and even if I get back to them the same day, they sometimes have signed up with someone else.

Harold Mansfield
08-26-2009, 11:19 AM
Might try a second line so you can screen things a bit? I use Vonage, which isn't perfect but it has a couple of benefits. A second line is only about $10 I think. Also, if you move either across town or country, you can keep your telephone number. If I had to go for an extended stay to CA to care for my aging parents, I could take a laptop and my Vonage router, hook into any broadband network and I am working. Very little down time and the same number.

I have a number that is dedicated to the website and redirects to any phone I choose, normally my cell (mobile) and I can screen messages as they are being left if I just can't answer right away, and also get an immediate email if I miss a call.

I just hate that feeling when you answer the phone in your best friendly corporate demeanor, and you hear, "Hello Mr. Mansfield, my name is ____ and I'm calling to offer you a great opportunity...."

It's almost funny, like an old western when one of the characters stumbles into the hide out clutching an arrow in his chest, speaking with pain in his voice, "They got me Dutch. They got me good.."

When they figure out how to make caller ID look like a name, we are all in trouble.

How's that Do Not Call list working ? Does it really stop the unwanted solicitations? My last job I was on the a phone a lot, and we couldn't even call people back after they made the initial contact, if we already had them in our database as "Do Not Call", we had to ask the tech to release the number.

It was funny, you could call some people back in 30 seconds, and the first thing out of their mouth was "How'd you get this number, I'm on the DNC list ?", Defiantly too, with anger in thier voice.
Then you get to make them feel stupid, "Um..you just called us 30 seconds ago". "Oh yeah!".

Do they have to follow those rules when calling for another country ? What's the difference, if they violate, how do you enforce U.S. FCC regulations in India, or the Philippines ?

KristineS
08-26-2009, 12:39 PM
I was told once that the DNC list did not apply to business numbers, after I'd put our business numbers on the list. Don't know how that would apply to people who work from home and might use the same number for both.

vangogh
08-27-2009, 03:44 AM
These aren't telemarketers that are calling. At least not the ones calling me. My number is on the Do Not Call list, but that doesn't prohibit certain types of sales calls. Also in my case the calls are coming from India (I think) so I doubt they have to honor the DNC.

KristineS
08-27-2009, 12:36 PM
Oh, that's a good point. Didn't think about the overseas call thing. Wonder how that works if the company for which the call is being made is a U.S. company?

Kind of makes your head spin doesn't it.

vangogh
08-27-2009, 12:46 PM
I'm pretty sure that the DNC doesn't say no one can ever call you. It's kind of like email spam. If one person writes an email specifically for you it's not spam even if the content is spamlike. It doesn't become spam till the same email is sent out en masse.

I think it's similar with the DNC. Not so much the en masse thing, but there are specific rules about who can and can't call you. For example people can still call seeking political contributions. Some sales calls are still legit and in compliance with the DNS even though we'd rather not get the calls.

Business Attorney
08-27-2009, 03:02 PM
I know there's no perfect solution to this - just keep in mind there are people like me that rarely leave a message when calling around to find a new service. I keep dialing different companies until a real person answers. I also leave any website that doesn't provide a phone number.

I'm in the same group as Steve. I know not everyone can answer the phone immediately, but I rarely leave messages when I am shopping for a service. The service needs to talk to me at my convenience, not at theirs. I don't want to receive a call back when I am in the middle of something else; I want to talk when I am focused on what I am looking for.

I have a question for those of you who screen your calls with the expectation that you will call back those people who you think are appropriate. Do you get many hang-ups, or can you even tell? My assumption is that there are a lot of people like Steve and me, but that is just a guess.

vangogh
08-27-2009, 04:59 PM
I think that's fair not to leave a message if you know the company has a few people working, but if you're calling a one person shop, it's unrealistic to think that one person is always going to be able to answer the phone at the exact moment you call.

I've had people call me while already on the phone. I never put one client on hold to take another call. (I probably have at times, but it's not something I do regularly). I also take breaks for lunch and believe it or not even go to the bathroom a few times during the day. Some days I'm very busy with work for existing clients and I won't lose the flow of work to answer the phone all day.

You do have to be realistic about someone always being able to answer the phone. I'm usually quick to return any call or email. I think it's more than reasonable to get back to you within an hour or so and more often than not I may call back within 15 minutes. My contact page even says the best way to reach me is via email and it lists the hours I work and that I'll get back to you within 24 hours.

As far as getting a lot of hang ups without a message, that's rare. With most calls I can see the number of the incoming call. 99% of all the hang ups have been telemarketers. It's easy to check by typing the phone number into a search engine. If someone does call who might have been a legit client and hangs up, because I couldn't get to the phone my attitude is really, "Oh well, no big deal." Like I said above. It's not realistic to think I can answer my phone 24/7. If I miss the one call then it wasn't meant to be and I'm sure someone else will call before too much more time has passed.

Steve B
08-27-2009, 06:37 PM
I have different expectations for different types of services. I wouldn't expect my web designer to have employees - so it would never be an issue if the phone wasn't answered directly (lucky for you VG). This is also true of my Graphic Artists.

With many services however, I don't want to deal with a one-man shop, so it's a good screening tool for me as a consumer.

As a business person, I do get hang-ups when I can't answer. Some leave messages but many don't. I'd say it's about half and half. I've saved a few prospects by calling them back from the caller ID log. Sometimes if I call them back after a couple hours it's already too late and they've signed up with someone else.

I've had several prospects want to know if I was a one-man shop. They said they were concerned about me not being around in the future to service them. Now that I have a few employees I'm sure I have benefited from being a bit bigger.

vangogh
08-27-2009, 08:13 PM
That's fair to me. If a company has employees or you want to deal with one that does then it's more than fair to expect someone to answer the phone. The thing is a lot of service based businesses these days are one person shops.

Related to this discussion is the idea that some one person businesses think they need to make their websites sound like they're big companies. I did that myself at first, but I soon realized it was a mistake. If I was trying to get across the appearance of a big company then I did need to be able to answer the phone more than I can now. Having the site that makes you sound big works, but it also changes the expectations of potential clients/customers. And if you can't deliver on those expectations then why try to give people those expectations.

Patrysha
08-27-2009, 08:32 PM
I take new calls unless I'm in an actual client meeting, others I answer on a case-by-case basis depending on what I am doing and what I think they are calling about. I don't answer when I am driving - no matter who it is. The only person who has called and not left a message is my husband (he will leave them sometimes...but sometimes doesn't) everyone else who has contacted me has left a message.

Spider
08-27-2009, 09:10 PM
I wonder at this expectation that a big company will answer the phone. The majority of companies I call - large or small - have automatic answering: Press 1 for sales, Press 2 for accounts...if you know your party's extension enter it now... and so on.

True, if I press 1 for sales, it's usually picked up quite fast, but anything else, and especially individuals' extension numbers, are almost always routed to voice mail.

Either I am calling geeky companies or it's just my bad luck!

vangogh
08-28-2009, 01:34 AM
It's not just your luck. The same thing happens to me. I'm getting better though at learning how to cut through the automated systems that I have to call quicker.

I guess with the phone answering we're thinking more the small business with a few employees rather than the big companies.

By the way I just read a quick news item saying the the U.S. government is going to be banning the robo calls starting Sept. 1st. Some will still be allowed, but the telemarketing ones will no longer be permitted. Each call could result in a $16,000(?) fine.

Business Attorney
08-28-2009, 02:42 AM
I don't see the fact that I don't leave a message as being "unfair." Let me give you a real example.

I had a client that was doing a transaction and needed to talk to an appraiser about valuing his company. I have a number of appraisers in my Outlook. In this case, I wanted to give him three appraisers to talk to, but I wanted to screen them first to make sure that they had appropriate experience. I didn't call them in any particular order. If one of them answered his phone, I talked to him. If he didn't, I hung up and went to the next one on my list.

It wasn't that I had an expectation that a particular appraiser would be sitting by his phone; I had a problem to solve and I wasn't going to solve it by leaving messages for the first three appraisers and then waiting around to see if they called me back before I tried anyone else. People are entitled to be in meetings with clients, out to lunch, or going to the bathroom. It doesn't really matter what their reason was, the fact that they were unavailable was a roadblock to the efficient completion of my task.

I have done the same thing when recommending an accountant, a banker and other professionals. Not always, because sometimes I have a particular person in mind and I want to reach out to that person. But often, if someone isn't available when I call, the best solution is to go to the next person on my list.

Even when I do leave messages, I don't hold back my plans waiting for a response. This spring I replaced my furnace and central air conditioner. I made a number of calls and I was able to set up three companies to come out to give me quotes. The next day, one of the companies that I left a message for called me back, after I had set up 3 appointments. Since this was going to be about a $10,000 job at a time when things were slow, he really tried to get added to the list, but I had decided before I started that I wanted 3 quotes and saw no good reason to spend another hour or two getting a 4th quote. I had no problem with the guy returning my call a day later and if everyone had done the same, and I still needed to fill a spot, I would have been happy to meet with him. He may have had a very good reason that he couldn't call back the same day, but by the time he called, the train had left the depot and he wasn't aboard.

Needless to say, I do list my telephone number on my website. If someone calls while I am on the phone or with a client, I don't take the call. If I am at lunch or in the bathroom, I can't take the call. But if I am sitting at my desk drafting a contract, I stop what I am doing and take the call even though it might be less disruptive to let them go into voicemail and return their call later.

Steve B
08-28-2009, 05:27 AM
Great point Spider - bigger does not always mean the phone will be answered more often. I have the same frustration as you with automated systems. In the beginning it was easy to get out of the loop and get a real person (remember when hitting zero got you a real person most of the time?). Now, a lot of times they've outsmarted us and put up even more roadblocks to keep us from doing business with them. Now, hitting zero often gets you to a standard recording and the call gets terminated without an option to try anything else. They should be so proud at their ability to make it impossible to talk to a person!

I see the ability to frequently have a phone answered by a person capable of solving the consumer's problem to be a huge opportunity for small, mid, and large sized companies.

As the business owner, I do understand the trade-off. It's certainly cheaper to make heavy use of voice mail, or to refuse to list a phone number and force people to contact you via e-mail. This saves money, avoids interruptions from telemarketers etc. But, there are definitely going to be missed opportunities (like the people in David's example). Like other things, it's just a business decision.

In my case it's easy to quantify the trade off. With caller ID I can count how many local (non-telemarketing) calls I miss and don't leave a message. I know from my statistics how many calls it takes to generate one sale. I know the short and long term average value of one sale. It's not always worth it for me to pay the price (hiring someone) to answer every call. But, it IS worth it on Monday's in the Spring and Fall.

Harold Mansfield
08-29-2009, 01:25 PM
I'm in the same group as Steve. I know not everyone can answer the phone immediately, but I rarely leave messages when I am shopping for a service. The service needs to talk to me at my convenience, not at theirs. I don't want to receive a call back when I am in the middle of something else; I want to talk when I am focused on what I am looking for.

I have a question for those of you who screen your calls with the expectation that you will call back those people who you think are appropriate. Do you get many hang-ups, or can you even tell? My assumption is that there are a lot of people like Steve and me, but that is just a guess.

I would only screen calls when there is no information from caller ID, since most people calling from, or for a business don't block their calls, or it is past normal business hours and I don't recognize the number.

I would hope to be available for any call during business hours but it's all going to be new to me, actually taking calls for service. I imagine quite a few days will go by before the phone rings anyway without some legwork.

mingamo
08-29-2009, 05:59 PM
There are a ton of ways to get phone numbers.
Its highly likely that if they are on your site they are looking for something you offer.

Any call center has list after list, use auto dialers, and do not search individual small business websites.

Put your number on your page. Make it easy for people to reach you.

Heres a tip. If its a nuisance call, tell them to contact you through your contact page on the website. That you do not give out your e-mails. That way you build more traffic to your site.

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