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Don't Leave Your
Customers Hanging Are you answering your customers calls and
e-mail promptly and politely? Why you must—or suffer the consequences. by David Lewis As we all know, if you have a business
that has a phone line, when it rings, you answer it. It's just expected. But, when you get on-line, what do you do with your email? The reason I bring this up is that I do much of my research, and a lot of
buying, online. Recently, we were in the market for a TV/VCR combo for our car. We take long trips in the summer and have two little kids ... such a gaget saves us from "are we there yet" repetition. :) So, I found
the product we were interested in, looked up the local dealers on the corporate Web site. Well, I called the first place, on a Saturday, and the phone rang and rang ... no voice mail or answering machine. Bad. So I
emailed the next place because they had an e-mail address. Two weeks later I heard from them. No professional response, just a curt e-mail. Guess where I didn't buy from. Answer Your Customers My point? Well, if you are doing business, be it a
one-person shop, like mine, or with dozens of employees, remember that you are there for the customer. So, my words of wisdom: Phone: Get voice mail. Most telco's offer such a service for a
reasonable price, or, at the least, get an answering machine. The voice mail route is better as, even if the phone is busy, a message can be left. Busy signals drive me nuts when I'm trying to spend my money. But even
if I call after hours, give me a place to leave my message. Email: If you list an email address or have a form, place a little note that you will get back to the person within one business day. I
always assume at least a one-day turnaround, but it's always better to provide that information for your visitor. I would think that few consumers expect an answer on a weekend however, so the "business day" route is a
safe one. Make Sure Your Tone Is Professional
When you respond, remember that how you say something can be as important as what you say. We've all called some company only to think they were rude or unpleasant. With so much competition, no one has to
spend their money at a company that isn't nice to them.Email can be trickier, because you can't convey intonation. You _can_ use underlines, like that, to emphasize a word—and that can help make your
meaning more clear—so that it reads like you want it to sound. Whatever you do, make sure your responses are clear and there's little doubt as to what you're saying. If the customer email is unclear, and you're not
completely sure what they're asking, make sure to politely and precisely explain the additional information you need to answer their question. And just as it's good business to answer the phone on the first ring (or
as close to it as you can), it's also good business to answer your email as soon as possible. A bad impression via an email is just as bad as one over the phone.  David Lewis
owns and operates an eight-year-old, one-man, electronic publishing company,
taybridge.communications that provides a broad range of online services.
Prior to starting his own business, David did several tours in the retail sales sector in areas ranging from food services to sporting goods.
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