Customers Better Off With 03 Numbers

Martyn King looks at the positive impact of switching to 03 numbers in your contact centre.

Over the past year there have been a number of changes to how the phone companies charge for calling certain numbers. The biggest one was back in July when there was a huge overhaul of the cost of a range of numbers including 08 ones.

The end result is that the cost of calling service numbers has gone up. This is especially true if you are calling from a mobile phone.

The impact

Nobody likes having to pay more, especially if it’s for a potentially long call.

It can result in some extreme cases of bill shock at the end of the month, which can translate into added negative brand image of your company from those customers.

The impact for your company can be pretty big. Your clients may be reluctant to call your customer service number, leading to a broken journey for them. This could then further add to any frustrations they may have and get them even more vocally negative.

The 03 solution

There is an alternative to the issue of expensive 08 numbers. This is to switch to the new national standard of using an 03 number. But what will this change?

First of all, it reduces the cost for your clients. Perhaps the biggest advantage of the 03 number is that calls to it are included in your mobile phone minutes. Meaning that a customer who calls the number will generally not be charged for the call.

Cheaper calls have a knock-on benefit that customers will be more likely to call you using the numbers. From here you will get a better customer journey, which will improve customer satisfaction with your company.

While it will be possible to get a similar result with a local 01 or 02 number, you lose the prestige of having a national 03 number. This can be the difference between being seen as a business operating in only one area and a business seen as nationwide.

There is also benefit to some companies in the reduction of costs for their own connection calls. Quite often a company’s 08 public number will connect to a local rate number that hosts their IVR.

This may incur further costs for the company in connection rates. By switching to an 03 number you avoid this issue.

For more information about switching to 03 numbers, get in touch with Nexbridge.