Competing with the big boys by supplying direct: ABC Home Cinemas spotted a gap in the market – supplying home entertainment systems to customers, delivered direct from the manufacturer. With its low overheads, the company could flourish in a market dominated by high-street giants… even though it is run by just one person.

The challenge

Despite its excellent products and prices, ABC struggled to attract business. The company has two problems:

(1) ABC advertised in print nationally and on the web. But the unfamiliar ‘local’ phone number put off customers, suggesting the business was a small company, based ‘miles away’.
(2) With just one employee, calls were often missed. And when customers got through, they could often tell that ABC was a ‘one-man band’. This caused some people to lose confidence and buy elsewhere.

The solution

ABC knew that they wanted a non-geographic 0870 number, but didn’t realise how much better call-handling could also improve the way they did business. After talking to DotcomTelecom they opted for the following:

(1) ABC got a non-geographic number
ABC chose one of our 0870 numbers. This gives the company a ‘national image’ for just £3 per month. Calls are forwarded to their home line or to the owner’s mobile – so no calls are missed.

(2) They added advanced call-handling to the mix
ABC also purchased some of our value-added services. These included Switchboard: A fully featured virtual switchboard, ProVoiceOver: Have your switchboard scripts recorded by a professional voiceover artist service and Answers: A PA-like human answering service. (See the sidebar for how these made a major difference).

Business benefits

By taking a few easy and affordable steps, ABC has transformed its fortunes…

• Before, the business received 24 calls per month, leading to 11 sales and revenues of £3,000.
• Now, calls have more than doubled to 51, sales risen to 36 and income has soared to £9,500 per month.

“Now my spending on advertising doesn’t disappear down a black hole. The phone starts ringing as soon as adverts are published.”