Three quarters of consumers prefer phone over online

The phone still trumps the computer

Despite the increased presence of online communications in consumers’ lives, 75% of people still prefer talking to a brand over the phone than online.

A Roy Morgan survey found 75% of respondents preferred talking to a customer service representative on the phone rather than on the internet.

Phone Names executive chairman, Jack Singleton, said consumers like the immediacy and the ability to get a faster confirmation when dealing with brands over the phone.

Singleton, who was a director at ad agency Jack Watts Currie, owns and operate Phone Names, a company which provides brands with a phone name such as 1300 DOMINOS. He contends the phone is still growing as a channel for brands to communicate and market to their customers.

He said brands have found if they run an ad with a phone name rather than just the numerals, the company will often see a doubling in the number of calls received.

Singleton said the increased usage in mobile internet has led to an increase in voice calls. He said: “With click-to-call, from a transaction point-of-view, the shift from full desktop websites has actually moved the phone back in focus.”

1300 FLOWERS chief executive, Alvin Ng, changed his company’s name from Flowers Corp as a result of securing the phone name. He said: ‘It’s part of our business, our phone number is our consumer brand.”

Ng said the consumer recall of a phone name has made a significant difference to his business. However, he is adamant a phone name is more effective if the company can get a close match.

Roy Morgan’s survey also found 97% of people were aware of the phone names concept while 45% of consumers dial phone names.

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