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When I launched my company, Championship Communication, ten years ago, a veteran entrepreneur advised me, Get your toll free number right away. He argued that I would attract more clients and keep ongoing clients happy if they could call me at no charge.

But, I asked, isnt that quite expensive?

No, Bill, its surprisingly reasonable, and it will be well worth the moderate cost because of your increase in customers.

Following his advice, I got an 800 number and displayed it on my stationery, Web site, business card, and E-mail signature. For a decade, I mentioned that number when I was leaving a voice mail message for an out of town contact I had called and missed.

Then not long ago, I started rethinking whether my toll free number was gaining business for me. Discussing this with a professional speaker colleague, I was surprised to hear him say, People who want you to have a toll free number, so they can save three or four dollars when they call you, are unlikely to be ableor willingto pay the professional fees your experience merits. If they are so cost conscious that they dont think they could afford to call you, then how will they change that mind set to invest in your services?

His idea startled me. At the same time, his logic seemed sound. Over the next few months, I started looking at my monthly telephone bill to see who was using my 800 number to reach me. The answer: mostly friends and relatives.

Even worse, one company I had never heard about printed my toll free number as the contact number for its customer service department. I spent some agonizing times assuring callers I had nothing to do with that company.

Also, I reasoned, in the era when many calls originate from people using cell phones, the savings an 800 number once promised are likely to be obsolete. With most providers, cell phone minutes used are cell phone minutes, period.

Then I thought back to my twenty-three years in management. Like every manager, I fielded numerous calls from sales people who wanted to talk with me about their product or service. How did I decide which calls to return from someone whose name meant nothing to me? SimpleI eliminated the calls from strangers with toll free numbers. I knew I was in for a sales pitch, and with my packed schedule taking time for those calls would not demonstrate wise time management.

Remembering that, I wondered how many people had filtered me out of their calls-to-return list since 1996 because of my 800 prefix.

However, I didnt want to trust my intuition alone. So I surveyed twenty-five professional speakers I had become acquainted with through our state and national associations. Included in my survey: the speakers with the most book sales, highest fees, packed calendars, and greatest reputations. Most I reached by E-mail, and with the rest I simply checked their Web sites.

The results astonished me. Out of the twenty-five, only eight have toll free numbers. The seventeen others were prospering nicely with ordinary phone lines. The most significant indicator: a speaker with a $20,000 keynote fee publishes his office and cell phones, but no toll free number.

So I took the logical next steps. I called the phone company and canceled my toll free number. I notified my friends and relatives who had been using the number that it was no longer active. The tech professional who makes requested changes in my Web site eliminated the number from those pages, and even from the landing pages accessed through Google. And I eliminated the number from my formal E-mail signature.

Do I fret because the toll free number remains on my business card and stationery? Not really, certainly not enough to order a fresh batch of both. Ill change those eventually. Meanwhile, from what I have learned I will not be missing out with top-tier prospects.

I recommend that you evaluate whether my findings match your professional niche. If your toll free number attracts mostly friends, relatives, and marketers who want you to spend money on them, its time to switch to a traditional phone number. Youll save substantial dollars annually, and more importantly you will attract the caliber of callers you want to do business with.

Bill Lampton, Ph.D., helps organizations Finish in First Place by strengthening their communication, motivation, sales, and customer service. His speeches, seminars, and communication coaching have benefited numerous clients, including the Ritz-Carlton Cancun, Gillette, Duracell, Procter & Gamble, Missouri Bar, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Visit his Web site to sign up for his complimentary monthly E-mail newsletter: http://www.ChampionshipCommunication.com Call Dr. Lampton to discuss how his services will benefit your organization: 770-534-3425. E-mail him: drbill@ChampionshipCommunication.com

Are you having trouble sleeping? Sleep is an essential ingredient for a healthier life. Although it's usually mentioned casually in health class: "Exercise, and pay attention to the food pyramid oh, and make sure you go to sleep for eight hours"; how many of us really paid attention to the old eight-hour rule or the food pyramid?

Fact is millions of Americans short-change themselves; they don't achieve a decent quality of sleep night after night, year after year. Instead of treating sleep like a haven, they view it as a refuge of last resort. Many of us sit plopped on the couch, willing our eyelids open in front of the TV and forcing our brains to stay semi-operational a few minutes longer at night.

And all this so we can catch a few more minutes of the latest reality show or sit-com.

Bed should be a refuge. It should be the place we seek out, not as a dreary inevitability at the end of the evening, but as a welcome sanctuary after a well-lived day. And yet many times the reason people have such trouble sleeping and a dread of even trying to go to sleep has to do with where they sleep at night.

See, the mattress we choose has a huge impact on the attractiveness of our sanctuary. A great quality of sleep starts with the mattress you rest on. Fortunately, mattress technology has changed a great deal just in the past five years. Several competing new sleep systems have emerged as alternatives to the traditional innerspring mattress.

In its day the innerspring mattress was revolutionary. Sleeping on springs sure beat sleeping on straw or ropes. But after a century and a half this sleep surface was a bit, well, tired. It's not that an innerspring mattress is bad. It's not. Truth is, if you've been sleeping on a worn-out, lumpy mattress, nearly any new sleep surface you buy will improve the quality of sleep you experience. At least for a while.

But the new technology has brought choice. For the first time, we have several competing sleep systems: water, memory foam, air, and natural latex are all alternatives to the traditional innerspring mattress. Millions go to sleep on these mattresses each night, and are all the more well-rested for it.

So if you have trouble sleeping, before you go out to buy your next mattress, remember that there are several attractive options out for you to investigate. If you search about a bit on the web, you'll find studies that show how long-term sleep deprivation has negative consequences for mind and for body. The best advice--get a good night's rest.

Cody Smith writes extensively on lifestyle and business. An accomplished business consultant and personal coach, father, and husband of a professional Ironman triathlete, Cody serves as Sr. Vice President of mattress manufacturer Land and Sky. Since 1971, Land and Sky has produced quality specialty sleep systems, including the iSleep sleep adjustment airbed and theNaturalBedStore all natural, organic mattresses.