In this digital age, it'd be normal to think everything is now online in terms of business and customer service. However, nothing can quite replace the traditional phone call when looking for personal service and reassurance. We look at five reasons why phone calls are still valuable for small businesses

1. Phone Calls Provide Instant Communication

The most important reason why phone calls remain essential for businesses is instant communication it provides to customers.

Customer service relies on an instant resolution to queries and talking to a human rather than an automated chat robot.

Taking the time to answer inbound calls from customers will also help build rapport and trust.

2. Brand Image

Following on from the previous point, having a dedicated phone line is important for building a brand image and customer service reputation.

47% of mobile search users will seek for another brand if they don’t see a phone number in company ads.

Providing consistent outstanding customer service can help give an advantage against competition.

Going further, this can also be used in future marketing campaigns and lead to successful customer acquisition and retention.

3. Make it Personal

A phone call adds a personal touch between you and the customer and this is best to understand their needs. Customers strive to be understood and reassured they are making the right purchase.

54% still prefer to have human interaction when making a purchase. For businesses, this is an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of their customers and to improve their services.

By making the effort to interact with customers on a personal level will also help improve customer loyalty and more productive relationships.

4. Phone Calls Generate More Inbound Sales

It’s been proven that inbound calls bring in more revenue than clicks due to customers being in the later stage of the buying process.

Furthermore, over 70% of people using a mobile device have connected to a business via the call feature on Google.

Offering phone calls to consumers can open up to more revenue which could be spent in growing your business and other budgets.

5. Future-proof Your Business

The landline is going out of fashion with BT stopping the supply of traditional phone lines by 2025 but doesn’t mean phone calls are.

The absence of compulsory line rental will pave the way for cloud-based phones such as Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

The time is now to switch and get ahead of the competition, at bOnline, we offer broadband and VoIP packages.

Final Thoughts

Phone calls are still necessary for small businesses and verbal communication is important for success.

The more information made easily accessible will mean better for business and customer service.

Overall, interacting with customers first-hand will provide better customer journeys and a chance to boost sales and improve your business.