Most people will probably go through much of their entire lives without pondering the need to purchase a second phone number. They’ll think that what they have is enough- that single phone numbers, especially this far into the twenty-first century, can be supplemented with all sorts of additions (Whatsapp, Telegram, Signal, Skype, Facebook, etc.). Why, the thinking goes, get a second telephone number when I can just use a bunch of other apps which are, by and large, free?
The problem with this thinking is that it is very, very surface level. And surface-level thinking, especially for small business owners hoping to make it big (or just to stay afloat!) is not the way to go about doing business.
So why is it surface level? Well, we will get into the details throughout this piece, but essentially, a separate, second telephone number provides advantages that saying “message me on Whatsapp instead” just don’t have: it carries a level of professionalism, multiplies what you can do, and breaks down barriers to success which you otherwise might be stopped by.
So what are these advantages and disadvantages? Who needs a second telephone number? What are the potential benefits of a second phone number? And with who should you purchase a second telephone number? We’ll be hitting the answers to all of these questions and more in the piece. Read on to find out why a second telephone number might be right for you!!
So, who needs a second telephone number?
Right off the bat, we’ll be honest with you: every single person does not need a second telephone number. We have all had that annoying trip to the electronics store and been annoyed by the salesperson who tries to force a one size fits all product on folks when it is not really one size fits all, so rest assured we will not be repeating that exercise here.
The fact is, some folks really just do not need a second telephone number. If you are someone who works for a business and you do not really make business calls, don’t get one. Yeah, it might be…fun to switch back and forth, but overall it’ll just end up making your life more difficult.
But there are tons of people who could use a second telephone number and do not yet realize it.
? International and online businesses
Firstly, those who work internationally by default should have a second telephone number. You know how sometimes your phone will ring and it’ll be a number from halfway across the country, and as a result, you don’t want to pick up? Now imagine you’re living in Europe and some American number pops up on your phone. You’re probably going to ignore it. If you do business internationally, it would be tomfoolery to not have a second telephone number.
? Small and local businesses
Even if you do not work internationally, there are still plenty of folks who could use a second telephone number. Like, say, anyone who owns a small business. There is nothing wrong with a small business which puts the emphasis on small—again, Apple started in a garage—but telling people to use the same number you use for your personal life not only smacks of unprofessionalism, but it is also going to be annoying for you. If someone is trying to reach you on your personal number for a business-related reason and your line is busy because you’re talking to your mom, that’s going to hurt your potential business transactions.
? Growing businesses
As you undoubtedly know, new starting businesses do not have years of experience they can point to when people are looking at whether or not they want to become potential clients. They have to work extra hard at being professional. Think of it like McDonald’s versus the little burger joint which opens in your town or restaurant. Does McDonald’s have to work super hard to get customers? No, because you know what you are getting. Can the same be said for the new burger joint? No. Is it fair? Probably not, but it’s reality. And that means going the extra mile and buying a second phone number (which, as we’ll discuss later, is truly not much at all).
What are the potential benefits of a second telephone number?
Now, above we discussed who needs a second phone number, and we went into generalities about how that might help: things like professionalism, self-organization, even with just getting folks to actually pick up the phone. But what about specifics? How specifically can having a second phone number help a person?
Well, for a lot of reasons. Firstly, let us go a little bit more into that organizational point because it is an incredibly important one. Most people divide their life into personal and private, and like it that way. Even those who are workaholics oftentimes separate personal and private, if only for peace of mind. Now, this will be covered more so in the sections to come, but if you get a second telephone number with a company like MightyCall, you do not just purchase a number: you purchase an entirely new way of doing business.
A second telephone number can automate general inquiries
With a second telephone number from a telephony company like MightyCall, you can set up an intuitively designed auto-attendant which you can edit to your heart’s content (from putting in your own voice to your own music- not to mention having full control over design). What this allows for is that your second, business telephone number essentially starts working for you- if you don’t want to talk, you can simply set your auto-attendant up (and if you want to go big, you can set it up in immense detail), and let it do the work for you if you want to take a longer lunch or if it’s the weekend and you are not working. Make personal calls all the live long day; you won’t miss any callers to your second telephone number.
A second phone number projects your credibility and reliability
Secondly, the presentation is important too. We hinted at professionalism a lot, but honestly, it just cannot be overstated. A lot of building a small business is networking, and a lot of networking is doing those seemingly stupid little things—some might even call them games—which everyone hates but is necessary. For example, being able to put your business number and your cell number on your card (especially with the accompanying remark “And here is my cell as well,” or some other garden variety comment) goes a long, long way to staying in the mind of someone you are trying to woo for financial reasons.
A second telephone number keeps customer service going 24/7
Thirdly, it saves you hassle. Let’s face it — customers call at all times of day. With a second phone number, as we discussed above, you can have an auto-attendant deal with folks who decide that thirty minutes to midnight is when they need to talk to someone about buying a new weedwhacker. If you just have a personal telephone number, unless you silence your phone to all callers, you are going to be getting to have those fun conversations all the time (or, at best, your phone will ring a lot, and that’s an annoying intrusion, to say the very least).
When should a business get a second telephone number?
This one is going to be rather short: as soon as you decide this is a long haul sort of deal or as soon as you decide you want your business to be something substantial. If you are only looking to go small—which is totally fine!—and never hope to expand, don’t worry about it. But if you have an inkling that in the future you will want to go big, it’s best to get a second telephone number as early as possible. You’ll be building your business around your telephone number—it’ll be in ads, in people’s contact books/saved as a contact on their phones—and you do not want to change to a new number only after they’ve all memorized your first one. Plus, this way you can build your business around the number.
So again: a business should get a second telephone number as soon as the owner decides that he/she wants to engage in a serious, long-term venture.
Where should you get your second phone number?
Once you have made the first decision—that is, to actually purchase a second telephone number (which- yay!)—the next choice is where to buy it from.
You can start with the obvious choices- that is, the major telephone companies. But they probably are not going to offer expansive choice, because, like the metaphor above, they’re McDonald’s- they don’t need to work hard to please each individual customer because…well, why would they?
Of course, you also do not want to go with an outfit with no reviews whatsoever and a page with basically nothing but a price.
So why not go with the best of both worlds? MightyCall, whose auto-attendant feature we mentioned above, is a long-serving and serious telephony company which offers, along with secondary telephone numbers, tons of unique and cool features which are actually useful (as opposed to just being thrown there to take up space). MightyCall’s plans are also affordable and all of them include even more than one telephone number- upping your potential benefits into the stratosphere!
So take a second…
…and consider getting a second telephone number with MightyCall. With a second telephone number, you can increase your numbers, increase your professionalism, increase your flexibility, increase your personal time- and increase your small business!! Get a second telephone number today, and go get ‘em tomorrow!
