Cell vs Landline business phone

[midnightmadman]

I noticed I seemed to be getting a bit more business when my business was listed under a landline rather then how it is now - cell.. Has anyone else seen this happen? Besides maybe the good old phone book, whats the pros and cons of having a landline business phone vs a cell? or is there really no difference?

 

[Team Valhalla]

Down side to a land line at this time of year is all the political calls, surprisingly got an actual person the other day. She asked who I was voting for and I told her Ross Perot; she hung up for some reason.

We dumped the residential land line a couple years ago and love it. The business land line is forwarded to my cell if I'm out and after hours.

Running with just a cell phone, reception could be an issue occasionally.

SP

 

[Pat Whatley]

Given the option to call a business with a landline number and a cell phone number I'll call the landline every time. Being in the sign business I see far too many mechanics/landscapers/home repair guys running businesses off of cell phones. They'll do a bunch of shoddy work around town, run up a bunch of bills, then just change the business name and number so nobody can track them down.

At home we have a land line but I'm not sure why. I never answer the thing....everybody calls my cell phone.

 

[Gino]

We have land-lines and cell phones and use both. For us, the business is landlines.... for mainly one reason:

It seems and sounds more legitimate than a cell phone.

• With a land-line, you never lose the signal.
• With a land-line you sound better and never tend to have delays or other interference.
  [*]With a land-line, you can plug so many things into it.
  [*]With a land-line, you can have multiple lines and answer and/or have several calls going at onve.
  [*]Most people will know the area you are located by your number alone.
  

Now, my biggest thing against a cell for a business is one we all preach about in our own industry..... to me a cell phone for you only communication is like have magnetics on your truck.... you look temporary and not a solid pillar in the community. In other words, you look too cheap to even get a proper phone.

Keep the cell phone for all your personal stuff, planning, keeping notes and all the other neat little things these phones do today, but not a business line.

 

[ChicagoGraphics]

I had my landline number ported to my cell phone, now I use one phone for all. I know if it's a business call or a friend. It cost me a flat fee of $10.00 to do that.

 

[David Wright]

I ported my long held land line to a cell phone last year. The number looks like a land line but I have suffered with dropped calls, delays etc that I finally had to get an AT&T microcell to handle it inside the shop.
The advantages are still there with a cell, but I feel the shop's phone performance and image have been diminished.

 

[2B]

recently ported over the landlines to a VOIP and have been very happy with the increased functions and lower bill

 

[TheSnowman]

We dropped our land lines but kept the numbers, and kept our cells. Ported all of our land lines at home (had two home based businesses) to MagicJack's. That let us forward to our cells when we wanted, not forward them anywhere if we went on vacation and went to voicemail, or we can call out from our cell phones using the magic jack app, and if you are out of the country, you just fire up that app, and long as you are on Wifi, can call out like you can at home.

I have a Vonage line at work, seems to be a little more reliable than the MagicJack for stability, but it lets me configure it however I want for when I do or don't want to be contacted when I'm out of the office.

To me it's all about keeping the same numbers, but being able to shut them off when I want to go on vacation, or on the weekends so that I can separate business from personal. I rarely give out my cell number. I even got a texting program for here at work because everyone kept wanting my number to text me stuff for jobs. I don't give out my information to people for my cell.

 

[Pat Whatley]

Another catch to mine....my phone lines are bundled with my high-speed internet access. Dropping the phone will only save me $6 a month.

 

[KevSign]

Anyone using Google call? Is that good to use for business?

 

[midnightmadman]

My business is home based.. So what I am thinking about now is it worth switching my home landline into a business line. Its a $45 difference per month to do it and includes yellow pages and white page business listings.. For me I am more concerned with adding exposure etc that a land line can help with. A cell basically cant do any of that right?

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Anyone using Google call? Is that good to use for business?

A local computer company that I do work for, they like google (I thought it was like Google voice or something like that) for what they use it for.

 

[ddarlak]

Its a $45 difference per month to do it and includes yellow pages and white page business listings.. For me I am more concerned with adding exposure etc that a land line can help with. A cell basically cant do any of that right?

you can do that for alot less, they don't want to tell you this, but the phone books will put your non land line number in the book for a small one time fee, you just have to fill out some paperwork....

numbers are their game, even if your not paying for a land line, they need your number in their book.

 

[midnightmadman]

you can do that for alot less, they don't want to tell you this, but the phone books will put your non land line number in the book for a small one time fee, you just have to fill out some paperwork....

numbers are their game, even if your not paying for a land line, they need your number in their book.

So your saying if I was happy using a cell to just list it the same as a business in yellow/white pages?

Is there any other marketing advantage to having a land line then? Besides what some have stated above?
One other thing I was thinking is recognition of the pre-fix to the local area. Important? or not?

 

[john1]

Almost every small business around here uses a cell phone. A ton don't have a storefront location.

 

[Gino]

Almost every small business around here uses a cell phone.

Here's your key reference point. Small indicates you cannot handle it all. Many people rely on knowledge and experience to pull from to perform the necessary tasks needed.


Let's ask it this way........ If you were to call someone and had no idea where you were calling, would you feel comfortable calling someone possibly out of your area ?? So, if you need some work done, say in your house.... like a new range put in or a bedroom set...... if you don't know who to look up and don't recognize any businesses by name.... do you just start calling randomly ?? Do you just google it and start looking for someone in the area ?? Gross waste of time, especially if you don't know anything. They could be from the next county over and you can't tell.

However, if you recognized the area or exchange number, you'd probably give someone you know is in your area first dibs.

In our phone book, we have sign shops advertising from as far away as 65 & 75 miles away. A lot will even use their 800 numbers to make it easy. Therefore, we have an advantage over them, since other than gangstas and hip-hoppers, most people still recognize local numbers. So that alone will carry weight with people making phone calls. So, if you appear to be small and maybe out of the area, it could very easily be hurting you.

On some days, we'll get maybe 15 or 20 phone calls in a day and other times, we'll get that many in an hour. Point being, our phone is usually ringing and we have three lines in, plus the fax and we all have cell phones for other things, but not usually business related.

This is not a make or break kinda deal, but it certainty helps to appear established and not home-made back yard kinda stuff.

 

[Sign Up Graphics]

Sign Up Graphics

cell phone work for me.

 

[FireSprint.com]

Google seems to pick up on yellow page listings, which you generally get for free if you have a landline. I'm not talking about a paid ad, I'm just talking about being listed. It's important for any local business to be listed in as many local directories as possible - even if you're not advertising. Just make sure you're in there somehow so someone looking for you specifically can find you.

You don't need a landline for this, but it makes is a little easier.

I prefer to have desk phones (we use ring central so it's not really a landline) so we can sit down and listen to the customer when they call. If you can get up and do some work while they're talking, you're not listening like you maybe should. Just my opinion.

 

[Pat Whatley]

A lot of the decision is going to be based on your actual business. Do you do most of your work in your shop or do you go out to meet most of your customers?

 

[john1]

Good gosh, Everything has some 1000 word explanation.

I work from home, I use a cellphone so when i am out running errands i can always take calls. Most around me do the same. Deal with it.

This is the way things are right now, I'm not some big whig sitting in a 50,000 sq ft shop who lives and dies by only using phones at the shop from X time to X time ONLY. I am sure me not having a steady business plays a part why i am posting what i am right now but it is what it is. Gotta pay the bills which means answering your phone whether you are in the grocery store, installing semi truck lettering, out on the town with Edna (ha!) or getting your vehicles oil changed.

This is what i don't think a lot on here get why i can't just walk up into peoples place of business around my area, The service industries which is who i target for signage are 99% home based and use cell phones.