How frustrating is it when a business fails to return your call or takes an age to respond to an enquiry you have made online? Most of us will make a (negative) mental note and move on to an alternative service. As a business, making that initial connection and creating a good first impression is crucial if you are going to establish and develop a relationship with your clients.
Even if you are an established practice, you may not be able to rely on repeat customers to grow your client base. Providing a superior customer service experience is not only likely to secure the loyalty of a client - they are liable to spread the word to friends, family and colleagues.
The All Important First Impression
Your business will be judged on how you manage the initial exchanges, so you need to get this interaction and communication right first time. People are more likely to choose your business if they receive:
- A timely response to their initial enquiry; and
- A quality response to their enquiry
If you can nail these two aspects you have already increased the likelihood of converting an initial enquiry into a potential client.
This video takes a look at the first of these, that is, how to ensure you respond in a timely manner to enquiries to help benefit your practice.
Time to Respond
Practically everyone is online now so consumers are easily able to source and compare products and services in a few clicks of a mouse. Delaying your response to any client enquiry only increases the chances of them finding and using a competitor. This is why it is imperative for you respond to client enquiries as quickly as possible. The first step is to set targets and turnaround times for responding to all enquiries, particularly if you can’t respond right away:
- Set up an auto-responder to email enquiries and a phone message which tell your potential customers that you value their enquiry and will respond within a certain time period, preferably within 24 hours.
- Set aside time each day to respond to any email and phone enquiries received, say 15 minutes at the end of each day.
- If you are busy and don’t have time to provide a thorough response to your enquiries, send a short reply that you have received the message and will get back to them within 24 hours. This is a great way to start building a relationship with a potential client to secure the job before they start contacting your competitors.
Customers who receive a timely response are more likely to be motivated to contact you and develop the relationship further. This dramatically increases the chances of you converting that initial interest into a confirmed booking, reservation or sale.
If a phone or email enquiry doesn’t sound relevant to your business, it’s still a good idea to return the message. This will present a better image for your business and you never know, you might be able to do a job for them that they didn’t mention or they may need your services in the future.
Watch the Marketing Tips video for more information.
Originally published on Sep 06, 2011