Separate contacts for sales, support and accounts

Key takeaways

Once more than one person handles enquiries, give separate contact routes for sales, existing customer support, accounts and complaints. Each visitor reaches the right person first time, sales are not delayed by support queries, and invoices reach accounts. Keep the main number for buyers and list the others clearly on the contact page.

• Split contacts once more than one person handles enquiries.
• Typical routes: sales, support, accounts and complaints.
• Keep the main phone number for new buyers.
• Use role-based email addresses, not personal ones.

When should a website list separate department contacts?

List separate contacts once different people handle different requests, typically when you have a sales lead, a support or operations team and someone handling invoices. Global Bridge Labs (GBL) sees a single inbox become a bottleneck at around this point, with new enquiries waiting behind support and payment queries.

• What information should every business website have?
• Where to put contact details on your website

Which routes do most businesses need?

Most businesses need four contact routes, each with its own email address and, where relevant, a phone line or extension. Label each route by what the visitor wants to do, not by your internal department names, so nobody has to guess.

• New enquiries and quotes.
• Help with an existing order, job or account.
• Invoices and payments.
• Complaints.

• A support page for existing customers
• Publish a complaints procedure on your website

Should you use role-based email addresses?

Yes. Addresses such as sales@, support@ and accounts@ survive staff changes, can be shared by a team and look more established. Personal addresses on the website break when someone leaves. Make sure each role address is monitored daily, including during holidays.

• Professional email address vs Gmail: what buyers think

Where should department contacts go?

Put the full list on the contact page, under clear headings. Keep the main sales number in the header and footer. Add the support route to your support or account pages and the accounts route to invoices. WCAG 2.2 asks that help routes appear in a consistent place across pages.

• Contact page design mistakes that stop enquiries
• Which page should each piece of information go on?

Does splitting contacts lower enquiries?

Not if new buyers still see one obvious route. Too many options on the homepage can slow a buyer down, so keep department lists on the contact page and lead with the sales route everywhere else. The goal is to route existing customers away from the sales line, not to add choices for buyers.

• Job seekers, suppliers and customers: clear the homepage

When is one contact route enough?

One route is enough when one person handles everything, or when volumes are low. Then a single address and number, with a note on the form asking people to say what their message is about, works fine. Split routes when queues form.

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see: new enquiries wait in an inbox behind supplier invoices and delivery queries, and the sales reply arrives a day late. Adding separate support and accounts addresses, and pointing invoices and customer portals to them, usually clears the sales inbox for buyers.

• See client work
• Website Design & Development for UK businesses

Department contacts checklist

• List the requests you receive.
• Create role-based addresses for each.
• Label routes by visitor task.
• Put the list on the contact page.
• Keep the sales route most prominent.
• Check each inbox is monitored daily.

• Show buyers your business is financially stable

Next step

Sort last month's inbox by request type. If more than a third were not new enquiries, it is time to split your contact routes.