After ten years of on-line business, the continual email questions were getting me down. Same old questions and same old spelling mistakes, punctuation errors, grammatical errors and "tx-spk". The writers were clearly idiots. I was answering them in an offhand, often abrasive manner - probably losing business. Treating your potential customers like idiots is NOT the way to riches. So I decided to advertise for an assistant.
My mailing list is pretty specialised (Digital TV) so I have only 7000 recipients. However, when I asked if anyone would be interested in handling ALL my technical enquiries for just £200 a month I got FORTY TWO applicants!
By posing a series of test questions, I whittled it down to a shortlist of two and made my final choice.
This guy has been great. He is easily earning his money. He's both knowledgeable and polite and he gently pushes the enquirers towards the products that they need to buy.
And I'll tell you another little story - also absolutely true. I decided to change my accountant because the one I used was dependable but not proactive. I took my account records round to the office and they told me they'd send me a letter of confirmation.
They did; my neighbour brought it to me. Not only had they miscopied my address - they'd got my name wrong, too!
I was livid with anger. How could I trust them with my accounts if they couldn't even COPY my name and address off my business card, I asked them. Of course the manager blamed it on the receptionist who had typed the letter. But that's just passing the buck. If the girl can't copy, she shouldn't be presenting the "company front" to the customers. I gave the business back to my original accountant. They lost out because they gave a useless girl the most important job and then tried to defend their actions. (If they'd admitted the mistake and apologised, they might still have kept the business. But they chose not to).
So think carefully about how you answer your customers. Are you helpful and respectful or abrasive and rude like me? If the latter, you need a new "front man".
Martin
http://www.marketingtips.uk.com