If getting potential customers to remember your contact details is one of your objectives, you’d have to spend 20 times as much on advertising if you don’t have a phone name.
Thinking about buying a franchise? Does it come with a phone name? You’ve probably noticed that more and more Australian businesses are advertising phone names rather than phone numbers.
Phone names are simply the alphanumeric translation of 1300 numbers. Some well-promoted examples in franchised businesses include 1300 DOMINOS, 1300 PIZZA HUT, 1300 FERNWOOD, and 1300 GO HARVEY.
The basis of a phone name is call routing which is not unique to phone names. Any 1300 or 1800 number works the same way.
While phone names have been promoted in the US for decades, it’s only been the past few years that they’ve been embraced by Australian businesses and franchises.
The monthly costs of maintaining a phone name licence can vary from $300 to $2500 for national usage, depending on the demand for the name. The franchisor has the right to use the phone name in perpetuity at a pre-agreed CPI-based price increase.
“If a franchisor and franchisee promote the phone name and put the phone name in all their store signage, vehicles and advertising, they need to know they can keep using the phone name forever,” says Jack Singleton of Phone Name Marketing Pty Ltd. “Companies with a licence have first right of refusal on the name.”
The ideal name is a category killer such as 1300 OFFICE (picked by Officeworks), but these are increasingly hard to find so a name or slogan is another option, Singleton advises businesses.
Names are always easier to remember than numbers. But how much easier? Well, he reports independent research has shown that phone names are up to 20 times easier to remember than phone numbers.
“To put this in dollar terms, if getting potential customers to remember your contact details is one of your objectives, you’d have to spend 20 times as much on advertising if you don’t have a phone name,” he says.
On the surface, the benefits may seem fairly obvious but there are some hidden advantages for the franchisee, Singleton suggests.
1. More business from referrals
“Imagine how easy it is for someone to recommend your services if you have a phone name.
“Without a phone name, your potential customers will have to try and find you in the phone book, or with a search engine, where they’ll find all of your competitors too.”
2. More business from existing customers
“Getting more business from existing customers is a great way to grow sales without having to spend on expensive marketing. When a customer can remember your phone name, next time they’re in the market for your goods or services, all they have to do is call your name.”
3. Turbo charge local marketing efforts
“Effective local marketing is critical to the success of a franchised business. And when you replace a phone number with a phone name, the response rates to local marketing initiatives are increased dramatically. In fact, research has shown that phone names can boost effectiveness across all forms of local promotion including vehicle signage, store signage, letterbox drops, fridge magnets, outdoor advertising, and radio advertising.”
4. Greater response rates to all advertising
“Case studies have proven that ads with phone names will generate about 300 per cent greater response rates than the same ads with phone numbers. That’s three times more phone calls from potential customers.”
Singleton believes all of these benefits to franchised businesses are probably best summed up by Gerry Harvey of the Harvey Norman group. “As part of Harvey Norman’s assessment of phone names versus phone numbers, a ‘split run’ trial was conducted with two otherwise identical ads.
“Ad ‘A’ had a phone number as the call to action while ad ‘B’ had a phone name. The ads were run in even rotation on the same radio station over a period of seven days.
“The results? The ads with the phone name generated nearly three times more phone calls and sales than the ads with the phone number.
“Based on this trial, Harvey Norman now uses phone names in all its advertising.”
One of the more recent conversions to phone names has been Eagle Boys Pizza. The franchise’s existing phone number, 13 14 33, is being phased out over the next eight months and replaced with 1300 EAGLE BOYS.
Managing director Todd Clayton expects that this will generate 20 per cent more calls, lifting sales by between 10 and 15 per cent.
The more calls we receive, the more sales we make,” he says. “At the same time, 1300 EAGLE BOYS will increase brand awareness as customers physically dial our name.”