Grasshopper provides virtual phone numbers for entrepreneurs who are looking to operate their business at scale without the additional overhead costs of a physical location. This article will be discussing the features provided by Grasshopper and explain how to get started as a new customer using Grasshopper’s service.
Choose The Best Number For Your Business Needs
The first step to begin using Grasshopper is to choose a 1-800 phone number or to buy a local phone number. As you make this choice, consider if you will be using your phone numbers in a specific region at all times or plan to connect with callers worldwide. If you hope to attract customers from all over the world, a toll-free number would be a better option because everyone can reach your business with no additional calling fees regardless of their location.
Whatever you choose, both local and toll-free numbers can be used to advertise your business online and in local directories to attract callers and begin the process of building profitable relationships with fellow business professionals.
Use Customizable Features
During the second step of setting up your virtual phone line with Grasshopper, you can create a personalized greeting that all callers will hear when they decide to contact your business. Your menu should be easy to understand so they can choose the option that best fits their need with no confusion.
Create a menu with single-digit options to hear the voice menu in more than one language (if possible). When utilizing this option, be sure that you have team members who are fluent in multiple languages to provide customer service with no miscommunications.
Streamline Your Communications System
After choosing your numbers and customizing your phone lines, Grasshopper recommends separating your virtual phone number into departments and adding employees. Each department you add should meet a specific customer need. As you hire employees to handle calls and customer concerns within each department, remember that your virtual number won’t limit you to a specific region.
The number of remote workers who are highly skilled continues to increase as the international business world becomes more remote. Therefore, you can advertise positions at your virtual business anywhere in the world. When working with remote employees, an additional benefit includes lower wages since the cost of living varies based on location. This allows business owners to cut costs while remaining fair to their employees without shorting workers.
Take Advantage of Integration
Once your internal business operations are streamlined, you can move forward by setting up call forwarding, virtual voicemail, and fax over IP. In the past, business calls could only be received at a brick-and-mortar location or a home office, and equipment was also needed. Furthermore, voicemails would be recorded on a different machine and faxes had to come through a separate fax machine.
Virtual phone numbers integrate these important business tools into a single system. Voicemails can be played back on your mobile phone, calls are forwarded to any number of your choice, and faxes can be converted into PDFs that are delivered as emails or automatically stored for the purpose of record-keeping.
Additional Features
An additional call feature provided by grasshopper includes call screening. Call screening features provide multiple options for identifying callers. Calls can be answered or sent to voicemail with the touch of a button or the phone number of the caller can be heard in advance.
Voicemail features are also provided. Instead of calling the voice mailbox directly, voicemails can be sent by email. This feature is especially beneficial when you’re in a busy environment where you can’t hear or understand what the voice message says.
Text messaging is also a feature Grasshopper provides so businesses can instantly communicate with their staff and business associates without the delays of emails or waiting on phone calls to be returned. Furthermore, text messaging can be used to answer customer inquiries and make special announcements regarding upcoming events and promotions.
Build an International Business
Entrepreneurs need intuitive systems that allow them to do more than make and receive calls at a place of business. Customers need to know that your business can be trusted, and virtual phone numbers display the professionalism companies need to attract consumers.
Because we are living in a global economy, businesses will always have a competitive advantage if they can position their business on an international level when marketing and selling products. By using your virtual phone numbers as your point of contact, you can increase sales online and locally. Along with the technological advantages of using a virtual phone number, the ability to run a virtual office in the same way as a traditional storefront without physically buying (or leasing) a building and relocating is one of the major advantages of virtual systems.
As a business owner, you can use virtual phone numbers to provide the highest level of customer satisfaction. The benefits will also affect your business on the back end by enhancing productivity and helping business owners to be more organized and strategic as they solidify their brand and build long-lasting relationships in their industry.