“GOOD” 800 Numbers
One mans junk is another mans treasure.
How would you define “GOOD?” Unfortunately there’s no simple way to measure the ‘goodness’ of a number. And giving general examples doesn’t help unless you can define what you want to a computer. The bottom line is that Good is Relevant. Sometimes people say they just want a “GOOD” number, as if anyone ever wanted a bad number. But what they don’t realize is that Good isn’t really the right description. They want something memorable but they don’t realize that memorability comes from relevance.
People are really looking for the most RELEVANT number for their business. You probably don’t want 1-800 DISH RAG begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-800 DISH RAG end_of_the_skype_highlighting. It’s an easy to remember number, it’s only 7 digits and it’s easy to spell. But for most businesses it obviously wouldn’t be relevant. However, if you were in the Cable TV sales and you used the slogan, Dump your Dish Rag, that number would certainly be relevant aka Good for your business.
Sometimes people think nice numeric numbers are Good or easy to remember. That’s a common misconception because they think the number being simpler makes it easier to remember. That misses half the equation though. It’s like wanting a word that’s easier to spell, but forgeting to consider whether the word is relevant or connected to their product or service. Even the nicest numeric number in the world isn’t going to be memorable more than a couple minutes or commercials later if it’s not related to your business.
Examples of Numeric Numbers vs. Vanity Numbers
For example, 888-888-8000 is certainly easy to dial, but if your not Super 8 Motels, what relevance is the number going to be to your business. Which do you think would be more memorable in the long run, 888-888-8000 or 888-4-SUPER-8? What numeric number would be as memorable as your company name or your website? Numbers may be easier to dial than words, but you have to ask yourself as the advertiser is it more beneficial to your business for your number to be easy to dial or easy to remember. If you’re the one dialing it, you usually want it to be easy to dial, but if you’re the one responsible for maximizing the calls (and sales), you usually want it to be more memorable.
A memory is simply a connection in your brain, and the more connected a word or phrases is to your business the more memorable it’ll be. The other thing you have to look for is something creative or interesting enough to cut through the clutter and get a couple seconds of your prospects attention, but that’s a topic for another post.
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mark doyle says:
October 5, 2010 at 12:50 pm
WHAT 800 DO YOU HAVE FOR CHIROPRACTOR?
Bill Quimby (678 comments.) says:
October 5, 2010 at 1:57 pm
Mark,
You kind of have to try different terms. The more creative you are the more things you’ll find. You should really look for things that are more specific to you and your business, not just things that apply to all Chiropractors. If you want a generic term, try putting your state initials in front of it, to remove 98% of the competition. Also look for your name. If you think about why someone should use you vs any other Chiro, most of the reasons come down to YOU. And you want to be able to charge more per hour, right? Why do you think lawyers put their name on the business?? It makes you feel confident when you shake their hand and lets them charge more. Unfortunately it takes more work than just asking for the standard Chiro list. All anyone can do for that is give you general options that would apply to any Chiropractor and therefore are harder to get and more in demand and ultimately less valuable since they don’t brand you or set you apart at all.
Bill Quimby
RICHARD(new comment) says:
March 28, 2012 at 6:14 pm
i OWNED THE 800 NUMBER 800-FEELGOOD. ITS BEEN OUT OF CIRCULATION FOR 18 YEARS.WHATS THE BEST WAY FOR ME TO SELL IT . IT ALSO COMES WITH DOMAIN NAME.ANY IDEAS?
THANKS