Why we are cutting off our phone number...

Longish post - Please take the time to read

Cutting the cord – well, kind of

Since the birth of this business, we’ve had an open phone line for anyone to call with questions about the products we build and sell.

We’ve always taken pride in offering what we consider one of the best pickup and callback rates in the business.

Over the years, as our reach has grown, this phone number has been increasingly used as a free advice hotline - often for products we don’t sell or never have sold, or for system and installation advice on products purchased elsewhere when the original supplier couldn't answer.

Another trend is shoppers calling for detailed advice on products like Victron gear, getting all the answers they need, and then purchasing from the next website for a few dollars less.

Right now, for every 10 calls we get, roughly 8-9 aren’t from genuine buyers, and are calling purely out of convenience.

The average call takes 10-20 minutes, with some surpassing 45 minutes. Some people call multiple times per week, for several weeks asking the same questions

This adds up to a lot of disruption and lost time - several hours per day - time that has to be made up with extra hours and weekend work, time that is spent at work instead of with family (business owners are also people)

This was never the intention of having our phone number public, and we can no longer support fielding these kinds of questions.

For us, most of our real business and sales happen via email.

People who take the time to sit down and write solid questions generally convert into sales.

Email also provides a record of who said what and when, so nothing is forgotten, there is less room for misunderstandings and lets us answer efficiently in batches, rather than being interrupted constantly.

It’s also more convenient for you, the customer, who can reply when it suits you, unless you want advice that minute.

How this will work moving forward

Our phone number will be removed from Google, our website, and social media.

A "Request a Callback" tab will be added to our website.

On this page will be instruction to please read related product manuals to see if your questions can be answered - Both Victron's and our own are fairly comprehensive and cover most general questions - All available on our website.

Leave your number and enquiry details, and you’ll receive a call within 24-48 hours (Monday–Friday).

So if you need to talk to someone on the phone, it can still happen - just not immediately.

Customers who purchase from us will still have access to our phone number - it’s on every battery we ship, and every invoice we produce.

A note to genuine callers

This change may affect the 1-2 in 10 calls that are from genuine buyers, people who value the support we provide and choose us based on service and quality, not just price.

Phone support is still available, but now there’s a process - sorry.

Our goal is to reduce calls from people seeking advice they don’t intend to pay for / purchase products directly from us, so we can focus on helping our actual customers faster and better.

Will we lose sales from this, possibly, but it is something that needs to be tested.

Do some people have a distrust in company's who do not provide a phone number on google / website - Yes, I believe there are some out there that do, If shoppers continue to operate in the way we have described, there will come a time when basically no business has a phone number for you to call.

Don't get us wrong, Installing a system yourself is a viable route for those of you who are willing to invest your own time into delving into the data, reading the manuals and understanding the how / why / what goes where in an installation,

For those out there not willing to spend the time learning, just pay a professional installer to do the job and be done with it, these attempts to save a few dollars should not come at the cost of anybody but yourself.

For all of the small business owners out there - Power to you