You're at a trade show or networking event, you meet a prospective client. They're very impressed together with your product and service offering and ask to really get your business card. You're very happy to oblige and excited for the opportunity. Unfortunately, you lose credibility as soon as your prospect sees your o mail address is just a free one given by the kind of Yahoo and Gmail or an Internet service provider such as Comcast or AOL.
An email address of yourcompany @ gmail or yourcompany @ comcast looks unprofessional and prospects will perceive your products and service as second-rate.
Any business organization that utilizes free email services for business correspondence will find it difficult to convince its target market that its products and services aren't inferior. Perception is essential in the commercial world and remains among the key elements that influence a person's decision to complete business with you, or not.
Using free email services can be a major deterrent to potential clients. You do not want to lose a large business deal due to the wrong perception clients have of you. You are able to overcome this hurdle by simply getting your domain name registered to ensure that you can use business emails for the correspondence and open your company to significant business opportunities.
Not making the small investment in registering a company domain gives the looks that you will be cheap and not a serious business organization.
Since registering a domain name comes at a minor cost, it's expected that the financially stable organization would manage to secure its own identity. Your insufficient effort and small investment in acquiring a domain name leaves your prospects with the impression you are not a viable company and perhaps, weak financially.
When you are perceived cheap, your products and services will soon be labeled mediocre in the minds of your existing and prospective customers. This will negatively affect your sales, hamper the growth of your organization, and threaten your survival available in the market space in the midst of your competition.
Utilizing a free email service for business implies insufficient credibility and prospects may wonder if your company is stable and you are here to stay.
Credibility is just a major component in achieving business success and this cannot be over-emphasized. Your clients need to know they could trust you using their money and information before they will do business with you. Small businesses need to prove to their prospective clients that they are trust-worthy and able to handle big projects and keep their personal information safe.
Potential clients need to be absolutely sure that you will be here to stay. A well balanced business relationship is required of prospective clients. Your clients need to be assured you will stand the test of time. Having your own personal business email sends the signal that you will be stable, dependable, and here for the long run.
Your company may be put through hijacking and leave your customers vulnerable to fraud.
With the abundance of information now being communicated through email, the security level of your electronic communications should be sufficient enough to handle the delicate nature of business correspondence. Strict regulations need a advanced level of privacy and security regarding the exchange of information, which cannot be guaranteed by free email services.
Not only do free email services tend in the future with a lot of adverts and associated with spam mails, these kinds are subject to hijacking by fraudsters to defraud your clients. Several cases have been reported where unsuspecting businesses experienced their professional bank accounts compromised by scammers who specialize in intercepting the emails of firms that use free email services. Trying to save several bucks by using a free email service is not worth the agony the financial loss will cause to both you and your clients.
A business email via yourcompany @ yahoo or yourcompany @ aol will soon be presumed unsafe or spam.
Along with the numerous security issues that feature a free email service is the truth that many emails from free providers are flagged as SPAM or Junk, simply by the e-mail domain itself. Your correspondence will likely become stuck in spam filters or assumed as unsafe or junk and will likely be rejected, not delivered, or immediately deleted and never opened.
You get what you pay for.
While the possibility to send online messages free of charge might appear alluring to a small business owner with a tiny budget, the drawbacks aren't so visible on the surface. You're left with many limitations when utilizing a free service such as Gmail. Hoping to get support and help via a free email provider is practically impossible. Because the service is free, these companies have limited support resources for its users.
If you are having an email account given by your Internet services provider, what happens should you will need to change providers? What if the provider becomes acquired and you are forced to change your o mail address? Suddenly, your present and prospective clients are unable to reach you. Additionally, you've the high cost of reprinting business cards, letterhead, and other literature. Then there's the daunting task of changing your information anywhere your company appears online such as directories and social media marketing sites -- and don't forget dozens of user accounts you'll need to update which means you don't miss an essential notification.
Having email addresses such as info @ yourcompany, support @ yourcompany, or sales @ yourcompany creates the impression that the business is reputable and well-structured and ready to complete real business.
Clients have a tendency to respect and place a higher value on firms that may be reached through separate business email addresses for different types of correspondence. This gives the impression you are organized and experienced in processing inquiries, requests, and comments. Likewise, it causes it to be easier for you really to sort out your emails in a more efficient way and therefore your response to such inquiries will soon be faster.