1-800 numbers help online retailersArticle from ProStores.com: Everyday Warehousers has been around for five years, but it wasn’t until last year that the online hardware store got a 1-800 number and hired staff dedicated to providing live customer service.

“It made a big impact on sales because customers love to know that they can call a real person,” says owner Ralph Smith. “Sales have been growing so steadily in the last six months that we’ve had to hire more people.”

“We offer shoppers our expertise to help them make purchasing decisions. We get a lot of calls from people looking for specific products or who have questions about product functions. We even get questions we never thought to include in product descriptions, like ‘How many threads are on this screw?’ or ‘What’s its diameter?’ If we don’t know the answer, we reach out to the manufacturer.”

Having a 1-800 number also allows Everyday Warehousers to offer an important service that would otherwise be difficult to sell to shoppers. Customers can call in to get their locks rekeyed.

If you do get a 1-800 number, it’s important to staff it properly so that people don’t need too wait long for an answer. Daniel Baughman of My Real Outdoors is fully committed to his 1-800 number. “The calls go directly to my cell. Other merchants promise to call people back in a couple business days. If you call me, I’ll pick up nine times out of 10.”

“The biggest challenge in customer service is if you don’t have a phone number,” Ralph reminds online merchants. “Email is much less reliable than people think it is. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve sent messages to customers, and they say we never contacted them.”

Contact Darryl at 224-200-0000, and he will be glad to discuss any aspect of using and aquiring an easy-to-remember 1-800 number for your business

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