Question

Topic: Branding

Can A 7-digit, Toll Free Number Be Useful?

Posted by Anonymous on 7/5/2009 at 11:38 AM ET 500 Points
In the world of toll-free calling, is there an advantage that you might see in a 7-digit national number, versus the usual 10-digit numbers?

I am researching the potential interest from national advertisers for 7-digit dialing, using the very limited 555 telephone exchange.

If Company A had a number, such as 555-1234, instead of 800-490-1234 used by Company B, would that be a competitive advantage?

THe specific answers I hope to glean from this conversation are to find out if we have a market here (the client represents over 5,300 of the possible 10,000 numbers in this arena).

Is there a Unique Selling Proposition if a company has a more memorable toll-free number because it is only 7 digits to dial (and the 555 is already memorable).?

There is a test website at call555.com which may better explain the proposed offering. Thanks for letting me pick your brains!

Mike Weiner


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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 7/5/2009 at 11:59 AM Accepted
    Mike, this is an interesting business concept, but it's not clear whether any of our opinions are worth much. This is one of those things that will or won't work based on the appeal when it's actually available and can be subjected to the real-world dynamics.

    Back when 800 numbers were first introduced, long distance telephone charges were a lot higher than they are now. Add to that the growing popularity of VoIP and cellular plans with unlimited long-distance calling, and it's not clear that "toll free" has the same appeal it once had.

    Further, a lot of the calls that might otherwise be made are now handled on the internet -- using a URL that's generally easier to remember than four digits following 555.

    Net: I'm something of a skeptic ... but I'm probably not your prime target audience for this service. And I'm not sure there's any market research you can do that will give you a good assessment of this opportunity a priori. There are a few situations that don't lend themselves to market research solutions, and I suspect this is one of them.
  • Posted on 7/5/2009 at 12:07 PM Moderator
    One thing you might consider is some testing among consumers to see whether they are more likely to call a toll-free 7-digit number than a toll-free 10-digit number. If you could demonstrate a clear advantage for the 7-digit approach, that would probably carry a lot of weight among major national advertisers.

    Be careful not to "load the dice" by using 866 or other non-standard toll-free area codes. Use 800 and 888. And use mnemonic "numbers," easy-to-remember numbers and no-rhyme-or-reason numbers. You never know where an advantage (for 7-digit numbers) might show up.
  • Posted by Mandy Vavrinak on 7/5/2009 at 12:25 PM Accepted
    Personally, I think you'll have some education to do with the marketplace (that 555 numbers are in fact toll free). This will be especially important in the older demographics. If you can overcome the education situation, I think the ability to only remember 4 digits for a phone number could be very marketable...
    Since the 555 would be well-known by the time you complete the education marketing, people would essentially only have to know 4 digits... shorter by far than the is it an 800, 888, 866 or 877 number debate plus the other 7 digits.
    Good luck :)
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 7/5/2009 at 12:29 PM Accepted
    Dear Michael

    With a seven digit number you run the risk of people asking what happened to the other three digits.

    Were I to come across a number like this I'd certainly be scratching my shaved head and possibly moving on to the next supplier with a "proper" telephone number.

    Without a great deal of PR, will people know that the 555 code in the number isn't something from the movies? (555, where valid, IS reserved for Directory Assistance applications, but millions of people do not know this).

    Can this service work? Possibly. But it's a large PR ball to push up a very steep marketing hill and I wish you every success.

    I hope this helps.

    Gary Bloomer
    Wilmington, DE, USA
  • Posted by Mandy Vavrinak on 7/5/2009 at 2:17 PM Member
    Another thought: For market validity... Australia has a program where businesses can get a special, short number instead of the "normal" 10 digits. I believe they are 6 digits. No standard prefix, but definitely elements of what you're interested in trying. I would do some research in that market... How long has the program been in place? Adoption problems? Education problems? Percentage of eligible businesses using the short numbers... Etc. Might be your best bet for data in this situation.

    Best,
    Mandy Vavrinak
  • Posted by cookmarketing@gmail. on 7/5/2009 at 6:06 PM Accepted
    Experiment with names to numbers...i.e.

    PICK UPS or CALL FEDEX (One does not need 7 numbers to be remembered - the key to the number anyway).

    To your target market, calling national accounts, it may seem like calling down the street.

    On the other side, most major urban areas will have multiple area codes, but 7 memorable digits may work.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 7/6/2009 at 9:24 AM Accepted
    Add me to the "I don't think so" pile. The phone companies have done a great job of marketing 800#s and re-educating the public will take time/money.
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