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What is an Acceptable Response
Copyright 2004 Sharon Housley
What is
an Acceptable Response?
Many online marketers work odd hours, with no
beginning of
the day and no real end. How does this impact support
and
customer service inquiries? Some small businesses are afraid to reply
to customer queries off-hours, fearful that the message time-stamp will
betray them as a small business. The Internet however is timeless. The fact
is customers appreciate a quick response. With the globalization of the
Internet federal holidays are blurred. Customers expect timely responses and
often make little note of the time zone the vendor they are working
with.
While large corporate businesses have a large amount
of
resources (staff and money) for sales, customer service and
marketing
are often tied to traditional methods of communication with customers. Sales
are in person; customer service is over the phone and marketing by
advertising and mail. Email is often used to funnel customers into
these traditional channels of communication. When emailing often the reply
back is to call back or a request you show up in person. More so in the past
then recently, many companies do not respond to email at all. While
communicating by telephone and mail is important, email is part of
the fabric of how people interact and companies often do not take this
into account.
As many small main street businesses are offering a
more
personalized service, email can be more personalized than large
corporations are able to provide. Since customers have become accustomed to
looking on the Internet to either make or research purchases email is an easy
way to communicate. Besides an easy way to get an answer, some customers
want reassurance there is a human behind the web page, and not just some
wizard speaking out of a microphone.
Service and forum queries are
typically handled by online
businesses within 24 hours; rarely do weekends or
holidays alter response rates. Customer demands and the 'need' for instant
answers have driven the standard. If you do not respond in a timely fashion a
competitor will.
Customers are used to surfing the web and emailing.
They want instant information whether it is 4pm or 4am. They want an
immediate response. Many companies provide 24-hour
customer
service.
While some people expect responses immediately, others
will
think business is slow if you respond right away. This is difficult
to gauge, if the answer is simple respond as soon as possible. If research is
required then at least email a response that you are looking into and will
get back to them.
About the Author
-
Sharon Housley manages marketing for NotePage, Inc.
http://www.notepage.net a company
specializing in
alphanumeric paging, SMS and wireless messaging
software solutions. Other sites by Sharon can be found at http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com
, and http://www.small-business-software.net
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