Why You Didn’t Get My Business - The Phone List
You didn’t answer.
I dunno why this one is so hard for so many to understand - in all sizes and types of companies and nonprofits. That ringing could be your next big deal calling.
One of the top complaints about small biz is that they don’t answer their phone…and then there’s the service avoidance by large companies. Gee, I might actually be calling to buy something from those “special offers” with which you bombard me!
Related Post: Why You Didn’t Get My Business - The Web Site List
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Tags: marketing, marketing troubleshooting, customer service
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September 26th, 2007 at 9:54 am
…please leave a message at the tone…
I left a message two days ago for a company from whom I wanted to buy something. No call back. Now I’m going to google to find someone else.
September 26th, 2007 at 11:36 am
Yes indeed. People are always seeking that super-sexy, ultra-secret marketing technique that will enable them to beat the competition….when they could be far ahead of the pack if they just did two things:
1. Answered the phone
2. Returned messages
September 26th, 2007 at 12:18 pm
I totally agree and small businesses should know better.
When we initially set up our very basic phone system, we had the choice of putting an IVR in or not. We did actually think about it for a few minutes (shame on us) because, hey if you have the cool features, shouldn’t you use them? But no, we decided that we wanted real people to answer the phones and worse comes to worse, if more than 3 calls happen to our hotline, it does default to voice mail (hey, I did say it’s a very basic phone system).
We’ve found it to be a wonderful way to generate business because everyone is so surprised to get a real person on the phone. Just the positive shock of it starts us off well.
September 27th, 2007 at 8:20 am
I pretty much hate IVRs (and this from a former call center/help desk product developer/manager) - they can be a great tool, but are often used to avoid service, not improve it. Ditto voice mail.
I particularly “enjoy” it when a company sends me a ton of paper (more dead trees) telling me how valuable I am to them..plastering an 800 number all over…and then when I do call, I’ve got to be ready to enter my 16-digit account number, the last four digits of my social, select a language, select what I’m calling about…and then repeat the whole thing to the person who finally picks me out of the queue. Oh, and I’d better have the offer number, catalogue number, customer number available too. Sigh.
September 27th, 2007 at 5:08 pm
IVRs are evil. The second thing I did when we set up our company (the first was get email) was hire an agency to cover all the phones all the time. And even if I’m running around from airports, they actually find me.
There is one great application where an IVR is better than a person. It’s when you…hmmm… wait a minute…..I’ll think of it…………………………………
September 28th, 2007 at 5:52 am
Years ago, the president of a small software company kept dodging the calls of someone calling from an insurance company. But the insurance guy was persistent, and finally got through. Guess what? He didn’t want to sell his insurance, he wanted to buy our product. Pick up the darned phone!
September 30th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
The other day I had a suit on hold at Nordstroms. I called, and when a human being answered the phone instead of a IVR, I was so surprised I was at a loss for words.
Just another reason why I love Nordstroms and will shop there instead of two other stores in the same mall that carry the same brand.
November 13th, 2007 at 7:06 am
[…] complaint often enough that I have to believe it. But, as Mary Schmidt explains, this very thing is Why You Didn’t Get My Business - The Phone List, posted at Mary’s […]
April 9th, 2008 at 11:26 am
[…] More: Seth Godin’s insightful semi-rant post, Who Answer The Phone? Related Posts: Why You Didn’t Get My Business - The Phone List Customer Service Tip: Hire Grandmothers Customer Relationship Management: Control or […]