Should your company keep its phone number after relocating?

18th February 2019

There are many good reasons why you could be mulling over a relocation for your business. Perhaps the lease for your current premises is set to expire, and there’s a tempting carrot in the form of a larger building, a cheaper lease, or simply somewhere your personnel could more easily reach.

However, moving a business comes with many implications, some of which concern your phone number. Should you change that, too? Here are a few factors that warrant your consideration.

Does your firm generally focus on the local market?

If so, keep in mind that customers sometimes specifically seek a local supplier, says Marketing Donut – and, from the area code of your company’s phone number, they will be able to tell that your firm falls into this category. Well, or at least perceive so – we will later elaborate on that point…

If your company doesn’t already use a regional geographic number starting with 01 or 02, we can provide that number for you, allowing you to benefit from the wide recognition of these digits.

Will the relocation only be temporary?

This could be the case if the current building has recently become damaged beyond practical use, leading you to have to shift staff into somewhere new until the old site is restored.

In this situation, you obviously wouldn’t want the stream of incoming business to be interrupted, as could otherwise happen were you to implement a whole new number. However, with virtual 01 and 02 numbers sourced from our firm, you can simply and temporarily redirect calls as required.

Would you need to amend details on many marketing materials?

Your current number might show up in many different promotional corners: think your website, business listings on search portals like Google and Bing, and company pages on social media. However, those are all examples of digital listings with which you could easily update.

It could be a very different matter if you have recently printed reams of print materials such as notepaper, newsletters, leaflets or brochures. If your company’s phone number is prominently displayed on those, it might be more cost-effective to keep the number, not reprint the materials.

Does your business have a large body of loyal customers?

If so, this is obviously good news for your continued success – but those promising prospects could be somewhat thrown into disarray if you abruptly change your number now. After all, there might be many online listing channels, like Google Places and Yelp, which need updating as a result.

While having all of those listings updated could be time-intensive, it would remain essential. As Search Engine Watch warns: “Imagine incorrect address and phone numbers sending potential customers to an empty storefront – that’s lost revenue!”

Whether you ultimately decide to keep or change your company’s phone number, we offer an array of solutions which could help you. Our services even include cheap international calls for when relinquishing a local number is heralding your firm’s plans for broader expansion across the globe.