Choosing a 310 number for your business

Think about where people find the number

Before choosing a pattern, picture the places your number will turn up. On a yard sign, a van or a banner it has a few seconds to register. On a call sheet or a letterhead it is read closely and dialed later. Spoken by a front desk or a voicemail greeting, it has to be easy to hear. Each of those favors a different kind of number.

In 310 the code is part of the choice too. New lines in the area may be given a 424 number, so a business that wants 310 on its sign usually has to buy an existing number.

Patterns by kind of business

• Studios and production companies: crews, vendors and agents call the production office all day, so a round-hundred line (310-XXX-4100) or a vanity word that spells the company or the show is easy to pass along.
• Agencies, management and entertainment companies: palindromes and alternating digits look sharp in an email signature, and a round thousand looks established.
• Law, accounting and financial firms: a round-hundred or round-thousand main line looks settled on an engagement letter and pairs well with extensions on the office phone system.
• Real estate: listing signs are read from the street, so repeating digits or double-digit hundreds (7700, 8800) work best. Many agents also choose a memorable number for the mobile phone they put on every sign.
• Medical, dental and therapy practices: patients copy the number from appointment cards and reminder texts, so pick one that is easy to dictate, such as a round hundred or a short sequence.
• Restaurants, cafes and bars: vanity words (TACO, SUSHI, BREW) and repeating digits work on menus, delivery apps and the front window.
• Builders, contractors and home services: a number painted on a truck or printed on a job-site sign should be readable at a glance, which favors repeats and round hundreds.
• Aerospace suppliers, engineering firms and logistics companies: dispatchers and buyers read numbers back to each other, so choose digits that are hard to mishear, like round hundreds.
• Salons, fitness and wellness businesses: lucky 7s and 8s and palindromes are friendly and easy to pass on by word of mouth.

Try it out before you buy

Read the number to a friend over the phone, then ask them for it again at the end of the call. Put it on a mock-up of your card, your sign or the side of your van and look at it from across the room. If it still feels right after both, your callers will find it easy too.