Forum Moderators: open
I don't really think this is appropriate. If someone is interested in what I provide then they should not make the enquiry if they are not ready to proceed.
Anyone else have this problem?
It doesn't have to "sound" automated.
"remind me in two weeks"
You have one section of your site where you create emails. Tag them with email type, in this example, "reminder email." The email entry would contain subject, body, reminder subject, email type . . . .
So on a daily basis, your cron job
- opens member base, looks for reminders for this date
- if one is found, take the corresponding reminder type from the member record, open the email for that type
- send the automated email:
Dear [member name],
You are receiving this email per your request for a reminder today about [reminder subject]. Please let us know if you are ready to move forward with your project. Your next reminder will be sent on [next date], or you can discontinue these reminders [inactivate url]here.
Of course, if any emails are actually sent, this should include an email report, a list of emails and their type sent to YOU, so you know it's working and know it's doing your work for you.
why can't they use a diary instead of me?
Personally I think this is a good thing, yes you're "working for free" but this keeps you in touch with them, which can never be bad . . . I think . . .
I have two words for you:
Customer Service.
You like repeat customers? Then why not do something that will only take 5 minutes. If only keeping my customers loyal was that simple....
[edited by: lawman at 7:46 am (utc) on June 10, 2009]
a paying customer asks for a reminder and you think it is inappropriate?
Umm no... not a paying customer - an enquirer that bitter experience shows is probably just wasting my time. Time wasters are the bane of my existence and these people seldom if ever turn into paying customers.
Would you do this if you were looking for a service from someone or are you sufficiently organised to remember that you are looking for this service?
[edited by: BeeDeeDubbleU at 8:26 am (utc) on June 10, 2009]
Both work. If they really want a reminder they will come back.
Time is money... and if not money, time is sanity. Whatever float the boat, so to speak.
I don't want to waste anyone's time, but I need some rough numbers before I can figure out whether or not I'll need financing or have enough in cash. If I need financing, that leads to another round of delays and, with the current money situation, possibly a no-go.
I expect that often, inquirers want the work done in the abstract, but when it comes down to it, the numbers are higher than they expect and they're having trouble processing the disconnect that causes.
Or possibly when you tell them that you need X, Y and Z in order to craft a reasonable bid, they realize they just aren't at that stage and they're dragging their feet because, again, they're having trouble processing the disconnect.
I'm only speaking from personal experience as to why said home improvement project didn't get done three years ago ;-)
Both work. If they really want a reminder they will come back.
One thing I would add to that: provided your initial communication was prompt, effective and professional.
I asked three guys for bids on a small job last spring ($10K). Only one ever really did a full bid for me.
I decided to save my money for this year's big job (about $60K), which truly is the one that needs to get done first.
Now the big job is on the table and I have most of the money for it in cash, but need some numbers because I'd like to finance most of it if possible. But at least $40K in work is on the table, maybe $70K.
Did I ask for bids from the guys who didn't respond or responded half-heartedly to last year's bid? No.
And that guy who did a good bid last year, but $2K higher than I had expected? His bids are thorough and he follows up well and, well, he pestered me a little to get a yes/no out of me on the previous job. I really respect that actually, and if he's in the ball park with the other bids (I have two bids, but not in a form where I can compare them), I'm going to give him the work, because he's demonstrated really good communication in my book.
Frankly, in this economy, I wouldn't even regard it as pestering if contractors facing down time we're calling me up to see if that job I asked for bids on last year was still on the table.
