pros here, business phone vs cell phone only. what's your thoughts?

JWilliams.RadiantDetail

JWilliams.RadiantDetail

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When I was trying to become a professional detailer about 4 years ago I went off the deep end and bought a VOIP phone with a wireless headset that has like a block range. I had phone service with a company that also made me a few professional recordings for greeting and after hours. I was kind of stuck on trying to make it so people felt like they calling a business and not just a guy with a cell phone. My setup though, was to say the least, waaaaay overkill for a 1 man rinky dink operation lol. Now this question's a huge YMMV but if you're calling someone for the 1st time, would hearing a professionally recorded greeting and being told to please wait then hold music playing make any difference to you at all? I was weighing that, against the services I see where you pay per month to have an actual receptionist answer your phone. Vs just having a cell phone with a basic voice mail recording. One thing I did like about my VOIP service, with the mobile app it would forward my calls when I was out, and I'd know which were cell call and which were VOIP. So I could answer accordingly, and didn't need to have 2 cell phones. I'm guessing all you who do this for a living have 2 cell phones?
 
i never had issues to have only a cell phone, is been 10 years now.
i think is more important to deliver to your word , and stand behind your work.
anything else is how much money you wanna waist/ spend around.
 
There are other answering services. You could even setup a Google Voice number and setup and custom greeting for it.
 
I rarely use others to do things for me BUT when I do have to I ALWAYS use my connections for recommendations. So to me whether they are a one man/woman rinky dink place or a multi million dollar operation means little. If I really get down to it I would SO RATHER deal with a one man/woman operation cause they #1 dont have a whole crap load of overhead that I will have to pay for in my price and #2 can put more time and care into the job I need them to do, also I know who to go to when there is a problem. No blame game etc etc etc.
 
It's not about the quality of work you do, because a first time customer doesn't know that. It's about making your business appear as professional as possible. I use a Google number and Grasshopper. I had a custom greeting recorded one time for $75. It tells people to give me a minute to answer the phone as we may have loud equipment running that we need to turn off first. It also tells them that they can book online and gives my web address. I use Grasshopper to forward it to my cell. It forwards as my business phone number not the customer's number so I have a dedicated ring tone for calls from my business number, that way when I'm working and have my wireless ear buds in I know it's a business call and not my kids or something. After I hang up I can get the customer's phone number from the Grasshopper app if I'm going to send them a text for example. I can also forward it to my son's phone on the occasion that I'm in a no cell service situation, so calls don't go unanswered. Grand total $29/month for Grasshopper. There's no need to go crazy with money, that's a dollar a day for a professional solution.

And, my cell phone is not out there floating around the internet, which I prefer.
 
I just downloaded "LinkedPhone" , its 14/month and you can pick number you want and it forwards to your phone.

I just got it but seems good so far.
 
Cell phone only. I haven’t found a need for other options.
 
Google voice number that way i know it's a customer, until some damn telemarketer finds it
 
sudsmobile said:
It's not about the quality of work you do, because a first time customer doesn't know that.
Click to expand...

That would depend on the customer first time or not. If that customer is OCD, then you better bring quality
You can probably skate by on a basic car wash but not a detail

Doing poor quality work will get around quick. People are quick to use their phone to leave a negative review either through google or yelp
 
mckobe said:
That would depend on the customer first time or not. If that customer is OCD, then you better bring quality
You can probably skate by on a basic car wash but not a detail

Doing poor quality work will get around quick. People are quick to use their phone to leave a negative review either through google or yelp
Click to expand...
You really kind of mangled not only the quote of my words but the context by snipping a really small portion of what I wrote and then making an argument that is almost completely irrelevant to the actual conversation.

Of course quality matters but a first time customer can't see your quality so they're going to judge the professionalism of your business on other factors, such as your website and the way you answer the phone before ever meeting you in person.

I don't really need anybody to explain the importance of doing quality work, nor is that aspect of business important to this particular conversation whatsoever.
 
Yes sudsmobile nailed it, the 1st call can make or break you as a potential choice in some customers eyes. The service I'm looking at will include a toll free number, which imho add's to making you look more like a real business. And for a 1 time fee you can pick from vanity numbers. Maybe it's just my poor luck, but I've had maybe 20 cell phone numbers since my 1st one. And 19 were near impossible to remember. I know technically most cell providers will let you pick from a list, but the companies I've had never seem to have anything decent. I don't like companies that have a number that's not easy to remember personally. While I hate that law firm commercial with the "call 800-888-8888" jingle it'll forever be stuck in my head.
 
JWilliams.RadientDetailing said:
See that's one of the extra thing that'll draw some customers in. Unfortunately the selection when it comes to vanity numbers is pretty slim.
Click to expand...
You've got to think I got extremely lucky. The area code is my area code so the possible numbers could have only been 1000 (XXX-000-SUDS to XXX-999-SUDS). Eliminate the numbers that are not assigned and that number is probably somewhere around 600-700. So it is cool that I got it but lucky.
 
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