Monday, February 11th, 2013 at 2:59 PM EST

Perception is everything in business, but have you ever stopped to think how your phone number may be impacting your quality of service? A good example of what I mean is our friend Chris.

Chris is a photographer…

He has gigs across the U.S. but his local telephone number tells another story…It says, “I’m limited.”

“I may not be able to serve your event, because I’m all the way over here….and you’re way over there.”

When the economy is strong and you have no choice but to turn local customers away, it’s not something you worry about. But when markets shrink, and you need to capture every lead – you need greater reach within the market.

Chris noticed that his call volume began to drop, and all but fell silent the further potential customers were from his immediate area code. Even though he was willing to travel, was his local telephone number giving the wrong perception? Was he sending the wrong message to customers before he ever met them? Being a savvy entrepreneur that he is, Chris called his friend Jeb at Phone.com and asked how a toll free number may impact his business.

Toll free numbers are not limited to geographical locations. They represent a well-established business, and they allow a greater reach. Now when Chris hands someone his business card, he knows he is not immediately dismissed based on location, and in today’s competitive world this may give him an advantage. Just as a customer has freedom to reach companies outside their local community via the web, so too companies should have the freedom to reach beyond their geographical location and appeal to out-of-the-area customers. And in today’s have-it-your-way world, Phone.com offers Vanity Toll Free numbers that can spell out your business name within the number.

Try it Yourself with a Coupon Code

Try our vanity search option below to customize your toll free number today, and use either coupon code when you check out: “FreeVanity” or “Free800″.