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Why You Need to Place Your Phone Number at the Top of Your Propane Company’s Website

December 22, 2017 By Hendrik-Jan Francke

Why You Need to Place Your Phone Number at the Top of Your Propane Company’s Website

Like many propane companies, your website may only list your phone number on your Contact page. 56 out of 100 propane sites we checked do exactly that.

I bring this up because you’d think website visitors would be more than willing to click through to your Contact page to find your number.

But the truth is, many times they’re not. Making people find and click to the Contact page asks too much of the visitor.

Make calling your sales team convenient—place your phone number in the header of your website.

Again, it’s shocking how few propane companies make their phone number easy to find. We looked at 100 propane companies from across the country and found that only:

  • 44 put the phone number at the top of the website
  • 31 kept the phone number at the top on a mobile screen
  • 9 linked the phone numbers so prospects can ‘click-to-call’

That means if you place your linked phone number at the top of your website...

You’ll look more appealing than most of the competition.

Here are 3 payoffs of adding your phone number at the top of your website:

Jumpstart your sales cycle with phone number visibility

51% of website visitors will leave your website if they can’t find thorough contact information. In other words, if you don’t make connecting easy, you’re missing out on business.

A highly visible phone number can be your fast track to more sales and more revenue. The faster you get prospects on the phone with questions, the faster you can funnel those prospects through your sales cycle.

Make it easy for people to get on a call with your sales reps by putting your phone number at the top of your website.

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The phone number is loud, clear, and clickable on this propane website, making it easy for prospects to call.

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No phone number…how do I get in touch? This propane website doesn’t give their prospects an easy way to get on the phone with a sales rep.

Not only should your phone number be visible, it should be easy to use. Your web developer should make your phone number in the header (and anywhere else it appears on the website) a clickable text link.

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This phone number is big and noticeable, but it’s displayed as an image. A phone number trapped in an image can’t be copied, pasted, or clicked by prospects.

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The phone icon and hyperlink underline tell a prospect that this phone number is clickable, and they can call with a click!

Make it easy for mobile searchers to call

It’s the age of mobile. You can either capitalize on it, or you can miss out on prospects by not marketing where most prospects search for your propane business: on their phones.

Your website should be optimized for mobile.

It’s hard for anyone to move around a “desktop website” on a tiny, mobile screen—let alone find your phone number. But if going mobile-friendly is too much of an investment now, it’s not the end of the world.

Just make sure your website displays your phone number clearly if it doesn’t adapt to a phone screen. A messy website on mobile makes the difference between a new prospect calling your sales rep or a prospect immediately tapping the back button.

Linking your phone number is even more important on mobile. When your number is linked, people can call you with one screen tap.

Assure prospects they can reach a human

A lot of us may be submerged in our phone screens from time to time, even when spending time with real people. But that fact doesn’t mean your prospects would rather speak to a machine. In the propane industry, trust is key.

Your prospects want to speak to a human.

Your phone number at the top of your site reminds prospects another human is on the other end of the line. This will make them feel more comfortable reaching out to your company over a form-only propane website, so it even gives you a competitive advantage.

The number at the top is a sign that tells them “We’re ready to talk business when you are.” With a promise like that, your sales rep may only need to confirm a few service questions before they become a customer.

TIP: Don’t use an automated answer system, make sure a real person answers the phone. None of that, “Press 1 for Sales; press 2 for Support,” stuff. If you can’t be available 24/7, consider a professional answering service.

Make your propane company’s number part of your marketing strategy

Putting your phone number at the top of your website may only seem like a courtesy, but this convenience directly affects your bottom line.

It is a small change that can contribute more to your propane sales funnel than you would expect. You may start receiving more calls than your sales team is used to handling—can you complain?

TIP: If you really want to power your online marketing machine—you can pay for call tracking services so you can see who’s calling you and from where. You can get a better idea of where your prospects are located and target your marketing efforts to those locations!

Give your propane company an opportunity to close more sales and drive more revenue by simply putting your phone number at the top of your website.

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