The solution is as simple as diverting your landline to your mobile, or onto a telephone answering service.

Have you ever sat down and calculated the cost of every lead you generate? Whether you have paid a commission, or met a prospect at a business exhibition, or advertised in the Yellow Pages, every lead has a cost associated to it. The sad thing is that many small businesses are missing the initial call and first contact from these potential leads, because they just can’t get to the phone on time, or because the phone is in their home or their office and they need to be elsewhere to do what they do best!

Many of us are too busy in our small businesses trying to be the marketing manager and the accountant and the team leader, all at once, to worry about being the receptionist too!

A simple and cost-effective solution is to simply divert your land line calls to your mobile phone, making sure that every single call is answered. Your potential clients will be guaranteed to get hold of you at the first attempt, which will add professionalism and trust to your list of attributes, and your existing clients / customers will appreciate being able to contact you as and when they need to. This certainly helps to build rapport and long-lasting business relationships.

Many visitors to our website are looking for clear instructions on how to divert / undivert their BT or Virgin lines to their mobile phones, so here’s an easy guide:

Firstly, you will need to call BT / Virgin on 150 from your land line, and ask them to activate the Call Divert function. This usually takes a maximum of 24 hours to activate. Then you will need to type one of the following simple codes on your handset:

To divert ALL calls:

*21*the-number-you’re-diverting-to#

To end the divert: #21#

To divert calls that aren’t answered in 15 seconds:

*61*the-number-you’re-diverting-to#

To end the divert: #61#

To divert when your line is engaged:

*67*the-number-you’re-diverting-to#

To end the divert: #67#

To divert when engaged or not answered in 15 seconds:

*66*the-number-you’re-diverting-to#

To end the divert: #66#

This facility isn’t exclusive to diverting just to mobile phones, you can divert to almost any phone, including your mobile, another landline, or onto a telephone answering service. Most telecoms providers also offer a divert facility, but some may take longer than 24 hours to activate.

You need to be aware that you will be charged the cost of forwarding your land line calls by BT / Virgin / etc., but the benefit should far outweigh the cost. However, if you’re finding that you’re on the phone for a substantial amount of time on diverted calls, it might be more cost-effective for you to tell your callers that you’ll call them right back, and then call them from your mobile using your inclusive minutes package.

Don’t miss any more leads that you’ve worked hard for and spent a fortune on….you’ve earned them!

Marcelle Llewelyn, MD at Call Catchers telephone answering service.

You can’t spend all day answering calls…but Call Catchers can! Visit our website at https://www.call-catchers.co.uk to find out how we can help increase your sales