Mobiles and Landlines
Today I’m writing on a bit of a crusade we have here at UKAWP on the use of mobiles and landlines.
The fact is that we all live by mobile phones these days. Honestly I have much more of a meltdown when my mobile doesn’t work than if my landline doesn’t function and of course we use it for email, Twitter and a whole heap more.
However, we see a lot of wedding planning businesses being run entirely with a mobile phone number as the only contact and we think that it sends out the wrong message and can be detrimental to business success. Mobile indicates you’re modern, flexible, on-the-go and always reachable, but on the negative side, it can indicate a sense of ‘here today, gone the next’, lack of stability, inexperience even. Hiring a wedding planner is such a weighty decision and we know that clients appreciate as many reassurances as possible to know that they are working with a professional and solid company and we believe that having a landline encourages that. Of course we know that it’s an extra charge and you may need to have a voicemail on it for when you’re not there or use an answering service but we believe it’s a small price to pay.
Another thing to consider is do you really want to be permanently available via a mobile? What happens when you go on holiday, do you really want your mobile going off ringing every day? Everyone deserves a break sometime. And if you’re abroad it can get very expensive to have all calls coming through to that one number.
What do you think? Do you have a different view and are there benefits to only having a mobile line that we’re not seeing?
You might also like to look at this post on Working Hours that was written sometime ago now but we think is still relevant.
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Good point Kelly
when I’m buying in services and I’m checking out the website of a particular business I feel far more comfortable seeing a landline ‘and’ mobile numbers. It says to me that the business is more established or permanent than if there was just a mobile contact alone.
A real ‘amber flag’ to me is where the only contact detail is a mobile number; no landline, no address. I like to have some idea of where the business is located even when shopping online it just gives me a little more confidence in that business.
Another thing I prefer to see is a geographical exchange number (i.e. 0207, 0116 etc) rather than 0845 or even 0800 numbers. If you want to offer callers a lower cost number that’s great but I think it’s a good idea to give the option. Once again, it’s gives me a little more confidence…. location, location, location, huh?
🙂
Couldn’t have said it better myself! This really riles me when I see only a mobile number, I think it gives a very bad impression and certainly shows many of the ‘pop-up’ wedding planners who are here one day and gone the next; giving the industry a bad reputation. It’s hard setting up, so when you put the hard, honest graft in, and then find others hindering the industry’s reputation, it can’t help but get under my skin. I had an office and landline before I had a website and although my landline is another overhead, especially when I’m out of the office much of the time, it is a neccesity. Now I feel slightly better I’ve got that off my chest..thanks Kelly! 🙂
I totally agree about being reassured by the presence of a landline and a mobile. When researching new suppliers I have to admit that I’m put off when there is only a mobile number listed (even more so when you call it and they answer with just a “hello?” as if it’s also their personal number!).
I think having a landline is a small extra cost to pay for the added value to your business in terms of reputation and professionalism. I actually use mine very little to dial out, as my mobile package includes unlimited free landline calls, but it’s definitely worth having for the extra little bit of confidence and reassurance it instills in prospective clients.