I read somewhere several years ago: If you want to leave your competition in the dust, use a toll free number to sell your products and services.

Today, when you see the ads in any national publication, most of the ads will have a toll free number. So, I suppose what I read must have been true. Right? Well, let's take a close look at some of the details of using a toll free number to sell your products and services.

USING A TOLL FREE NUMBER TO GET INQUIRIES

As we all know, using a toll free number is the easiest way to get a prospective customer to call for more information about your product or service. Every one who has a business or is thinking about starting a business has a telephone and the call is FREE! So if you are advertising in publications that has readers who are interested in what you have to sell, you are sure to receive a lot of calls on your toll free line.

Now, this all sounds very good, so far. Right?

METHODS AND TECHNIQUES OF MARKETING WITH TOLL FREE NUMBERS

Most advertisers use their toll free number to get the names and addresses of their callers so they can send them more information about their product or service and then they hope that they will make a sale. However, there are so many toll free numbers, there is still a great deal of competition in getting a potential customer to call your toll free number. So, the advertiser has to take additional steps to attract potential customers to call their toll free line. To solve this problem most advertisers offer something free such as a report, booklet, audio tape etc. The most important thing is to get people to call. Even if you have a very strong offer, the prospect won't hear it if you don't get them to call.

However, let's look at the other side of the coin, the down side of this method of attracting people to call your toll free line. What is this method going to cost you? Let's say you're using a classified ad and it's costing you $50.00. Each time someone calls your toll free line it costs you .20 cents. Now, your free gift, let's take the least expensive way and say you're giving away a three (3) page report which will cost you .30 cents to produce and you have to pay .32 cents each to send your free report and sales letter.

Now, let's see what it will cost you if you get, we'll use a nice round number, let's say 100 calls on your toll free line. Your ad will cost you $50.00 your calls will cost you $20.00 your free gift will cost you $30.00 your postage cost will be $32.00. You're total cost will be $132.00. Now, how many sales do you have to make to cover the cost of your advertising campaign. Of course, this will depend on the cost of your product, service or program. Right here, we'll just use an example and say your product costs, $25.00. Now, you will have to make at least six sales to cover your costs. This means that you will have to get 6% response from your offer. If you make six sales your total income will be, $150.00 leaving you with an $18.00 profit.

The above example is just to give you an idea of the cost involved in using this method to obtain new customers using your toll free line. However, what if you don't get that 6% response, what if you only get 4% or 3% or even only 1% then of course, you're going to lose money. I can tell you from my own experience, you must be very specific in targeting your potential customer, you must have a strong offer if you expect to get better than a 2% response. You might not like to hear this but it's the truth! Many small business operators are finding that giving away free gifts using their toll free number can be very costly (unprofitable).

The only way to find out whether this method can be of some benefit to your business is to test it for your self. My main purpose here is to point out to you that you can get many inquires using the method of giving away something free, people are always looking for something free but it doesn't mean that they will buy what you have to offer.

OTHER OPTIONS

One method that can be used to cut the cost of postage is to ask your prospective customer to send a couple of first class stamps to receive the free gift that you are offering. Some dealers say that you should not do this however, you should test it for your self and see if it works for you.

Another method that you can consider, is to make your sales pitch right from the greeting on your toll free line. However, I must point out that using this method takes a little experience. However, let me assure you that it can be done, this is a method that I have used several times and will continue to use.

Using a toll free number is certainly a good way to bring in the inquires but turning those inquiries into customers is the only way that you can make a profit.