HugeNerd - 11:38 pm on Jan 20, 2009 (gmt 0)

Also you really have to ask yourself, do you really want to spend you or your employees time (Which is money) on answering people that you do not carry certain products?

I waste my time, not my employees time on these...but for good reason (beyond that I may be some sort of moronic, bleeding heart liberal): Sales. I don't keep statistics on it, though the economist in me feels compelled to do so now, but I find this to be an easy way to drive sales.

Let's take your ice-cream and automotive example and I'll filter in my own experience. I'd call or email the auto-part seeking individual and do exactly as the Zappos CS did, "Thank you very much for your enquiry. Unfortunately, we, company XYZ, are distributors of fine ice-cream products and, therefore, cannot provide you with adequate assistance in your search for auto parts. Maybe you have us confused with ZYX; our names are similar and we are often confused with each other. I believe they sell auto-parts. Here is their URL/phone number. Please let me know if there is anything else I may do to be of service to you."

Sure, you waste some time. But, I've developed a few useful sentences for myself which work well as a response to the majority of such situations and take maybe 5 minutes to write out. Typically, I find that these people have made an honest mistake. They bothered to write to you thinking you had an answer, so why not be civil and respond?

<snip>

His timing couldn't have been more perfect, and I will probably have to tell him so!

Anyway, my point is that responding begins a dialogue. Just because he doesn't need what I have now, doesn't mean he won't have a use for my products at some point in the future. The site I work on has been up since 1998; I know these people return and purchase. They might have bought from me regardless, but I choose to believe that my service directly influenced their behavior.

Can you respond to every. single. message? No. But you can respond to more than you think. Do I respond to requests for whole containers of high-end widgets being shipped to Nigeria for Rev. Brown? No. I'm not advocating idiocy. Define your target audience/customer base and respond accordingly.

As for poor decisions being the reasons businesses fail, I agree. I think more fail than need to because of poor decisions regarding CS, though.

[edited by: lorax at 1:31 pm (utc) on Jan. 21, 2009]
[edit reason] no emails please [/edit]