I often see signs, trucks, apparel and other marketing materials with multiple phone numbers on them. Why? Are you not organized enough to set up call forwarding? Perhaps you have a partner and you are hoping half the call volume goes to her. Maybe you just plain don’t like phone calls, and you are hoping that your confusion with what phone number to use will carry onto the customer and get them not to call you.

There is only one reason why you would want two numbers on the side of your truck, if you have two locations in different area codes and you want to offer the customer the option to call their local number. Even this is sitting on thin ice with me - get a toll free number.

The truth is, you want your customers to call. How do you get them to do that? Most importantly is to make it easy to get your number. When you give them an option you do two things:

1. You make the number smaller. This is both literal and figurative. If you have limited space on a vehicle for example, you must make the numbers smaller to fit them both on there. It also shares the importance of your phone number - therefore making it less.
2. You may confuse your customer. They may not know which number you want them to call. A confused customer will not open their checkbook.

So what do you do? Pick one number.

• Pick a number and have it forward to whoever can answer the phone at that time. You might change where it forwards depending on who’s available.
• Put the second number in the voicemail of the first. Give customers the option to call down the phone list after they have written down and tried the “main one”
• Use a service like phonepeople.com and get a toll free number with a virtual pbx.
• Hire an answering service to answer your main line and text you when you have a message.
• Use the easiest to remember number. Zeros and repeating digits make a number easier to remember.

These are just a few ideas. Get creative, but stop using two phone numbers. I promise you, it’s not helping your business get double the calls.