Last Friday I left a message – during regular business hours – with a local house cleaning service. My message stated that I was interested in contracting their services, and to please call me back with general pricing information.
I heard back from them on Tuesday.
Of course, by that time I had already spoken with a few of their competitors. And while I hadn’t yet selected a company, I knew I wouldn’t be choosing them. Why not, you ask?
If it takes three business days to return a call to a prospect (which equals additional income during a down economy…), how long must an existing client wait for a return phone call? I certainly don’t want to find out.
As a business owner, I can’t help but wonder what these guys might be wasting in marketing dollars, only to have potential new clients turned off by a slow-response staff member?
I realize I’m making a presumption that any service business should be thrilled with new clients right now. Perhaps their business is booming and returning client calls is taking priority over getting back with price-shoppers like me.
But I suspect something else happened.
Calling me back just fell through the cracks.
This is where I have to say that being organized is absolutely vital to our bottom line. And while it’s not always easy to see how directly it impacts our bottom line, the truth is, it does.
What if this company had a more efficient system in place? Perhaps an end-of-the-day routine, where before they leave the office, they review all messages, and return phone calls to customers, right then. Sure, things come up, employees don’t show, technical difficulties arise, but what about Monday? What if they had a start-of-the-day routine, where before they check email, or do anything else, they review their messages, and are sure to call back any customers or prospects who happened to call just after closing time on the prior business day?
Are there areas in your business, where you could use some “cement”? – You know, a little routine or practice that prevents things from slipping through the cracks? Even if you’re 92% organized, efficient and on top of it all, what about that remaining 8%? What could that small percent be costing you? Is it worth it to examine what areas you could use to cover the cracks? Potential customer follow-up, perhaps?
Or perhaps you’ve already implemented something along these lines – with great success? Do tell!
