Though the idea of having 2 cell phones is daunting as it is, there is a good reason why all major businesses around the world make sure their employees have a separate personal and professional phone number.
And though entrepreneurs might be tempted to keep their number for all personal and business purposes, this is a mistake, especially as your business starts to grow.
It’s unprofessional
Impressions lasts, and just as you aren’t likely to welcome a client in your home office, neither should you communicate with them via your personal cell phone. It’s unprofessional, and it is especially risky when the number calling you is unknown.
Think about it: how do you often pick up the phone if you don’t know who’s calling? If you’re busy, you might come across and angry or rude. Some people go as far as not even picking up the phone when unknown numbers call them. Following this, what’s your voicemail like? Have you personalized it? Do you check it often?
These are all important questions you need to ask yourself and analyze. While it might incur on a bigger cost to haven an additional number for business purposes, the cost will pay itself out as more clients come to you for your professionalism and treatment.
It blurs even more the line between work and life
Though much of today is more about work-like integration rather than keeping it separate, it’s still necessary that we all unplug and recharge from work every now and then. If you are at a family dinner, on a romantic weekend with your partner, or simply out for drinks with friends and your phone rings you are likely to pick up, even when you shouldn’t. It’s already hard as it is to focus on non-business parts of your life; having a different number for personal and professional reasons will help you in reaching a better state of wellbeing.
Your personal phone can’t grow with your business
As your business grows, so will be the demands from your clients and the demands from you to your workers and to yourself. When it comes to dealing with widespread communication among various individuals, the best option is to have a centralized system, where people know whom and how to reach them when necessary. Plus, it makes it easier to delegate tasks and forward calls to the right person.
If you stick to your personal number, chances are you and your clients will get mixed up, leading to dissatisfaction and unnecessary levels of stress.
So, what can you do?
Well, there are different choices available. Many telecommunication firms offer corporate packages with a set amount of different numbers you can use. Additionally, there are now various VoIP systems, which have the added benefit that you can keep one device only while maintaining two separate numbers: this way you can easily tell if the call you are getting is business or pleasure.
In the end, it’s all about presenting yourself as a professional, always and in all situations. If your business does not have a professional answering service or you are looking to make a change; give us a call today!
