How Convenient Are You?
Convenience has popped up in many forms all around us through technology.
It wasn’t less than a decade ago that charging stations first started appearing in airports near gates to assist flyers with staying charged up while waiting in line to board before traveling to their next destination. How convenient are you for your clients? A fellow business owner in my area recently forwarded me an email auto-reply he received after emailing a local business that went something like this. “Thank you for contacting XYZ studios. As you may know, we are now in the midst of our busy season and it may take us 1-2 weeks to reply back to you.”
When I saw this I couldn’t believe it! I think it’s great that this company is busy in their business but what message is that sending to potential clients? Today’s client wants answers instantaneously and certainly doesn’t want to wait two weeks. If I were that company I would at least hire additional staff to take care of the inquiries coming in.
Here are two quick action steps you can take to see how convenient you REALLY are to your clients.
Answer truthfully, remove yourself from ownership, put yourself in the customer’s shoes and ask yourself if you would do business with your company. Be honest.
- Do I answer my phone on a regular basis? If not, are phone calls and emails always returned within 24 hours?
- Do you send out surveys after the transaction? Ask questions such as: Why did you choose our company? Did you look at other companies? How did our method of communicating with you prior to your time with us feel? What did you think of the way we took care of you? If you owned our company, what changes would you make?
Offer a drawing for a FREE low cost but a high-value item from your business for DETAILED responses, or a percentage off their next visit (again for DETAILED responses only) as this will only help you grow your business and find areas of customer service of which you can improve.
In today’s day and age of tweets, texts, cell phone videos and instant communication it’s more than ever PARAMOUNT to deliver the best in customer service and always place a high priority of customer convenience within your company.