Forum Moderators: LifeinAsia
For example, a request comes in through one of your website contact forms. How much time elapses between receipt and reply?
Another example, you're swamped with a deadline project. You are working feverishly to meet the deadline. Emails are coming in that represent new revenue. How much time elapses between receipt and reply?
Maybe a user has experienced a problem with checkout or some other site function, how much time elapses between receipt and reply?
a request comes in through one of your website contact forms. How much time elapses between receipt and reply?
If you mean simple website requests like "Hey! This link doesn't work you jerk!" or "We've added your link to our directory, please add our link to yours!". It can wait up to a week. It really depends on what they are asking for.
Emails are coming in that represent new revenue. How much time elapses between receipt and reply?
I can leave these for up to 48 hours before I reply and still get a "thanks for the quick response" from the sender.
The delay on these for me is that they usually take a bit of thought.
Maybe a user has experienced a problem with checkout or some other site function, how much time elapses between receipt and reply?
If the email comes in and we're awake (we're in EU selling mostly to US) it is almost immediate. Our customers are quite often under a heavy deadline and are usually freaking out. We make it a point to calm them down as quickly as possible.
Our email support during the heavy sales time of the day is almost like IM.
Of course if it is a potential sale, or an unhappy customer, they get push to the top of the list.
Email is a lot like triage at the hospital
Too many people think Email is IRC, and expect a reply back in 3 minutes.
We rarely let an email sit unless we are waiting on information to provide a prompt reply. If it's more than a few hours, we shoot a quick - "gathering info - will get back to you as soon as we know."
You (rhetorically) are always busy. Most of the time it takes a few minutes to reply promptly, so I get it out of the way. My biggest problem is if I don't do it now, I'll stay on the project, move on to the next one, and might forget about it.
"This link doesn't work you jerk!"
Never gotten one of those specifically but relish firing back a reply to something like this. "Thanks for helping us improve the site!" What I don't add, of course, is "for real customers, not for expletives like you." :-)
Occasionally we'll get a customer who sends us five emails in an hour - they think that because we haven't responded within a few minutes to their first email then we must not have received it. It's this situation where it's very helpful to be able to say to them 'we aim to respond within one working day' - helps clarify their expectations.
Once they know that we will respond to every email they send us, and we'll promise to do it within a day, they tend to get a lot less impatient, because they know they can count on us.
best, a.
the 20 min response time is where we like to be the 1st person to contact the client as they usually are shopping around. Then we try to get the appointment booked for the following 24 hrs to increase the chances of conversion. 1st come 1st served kinda scenario.
the other one is people needing help with certain problems and can wait a little longer to receive a reply.
briggidere
For sales and support related queries, we follow immediate response mode. We work 24x7 in three shifts, overlapping with each other. Web phone, live text chat or E-mail facilitate to minimize our possible opportunity loss. It works wonder!
For day shift operations like 9am through 6pm (stretched to 9pm) the window time can be minimized to 'half a day'.
On my user submitted info page I say it will likely be a few days, maybe a week or two, before I get around to doing anything with it, and if there is an attachment it's going straight to the delete file.
After 5 years I finally started to reply to some of the user submissions when I get around to processing them.
I may be in the wrong business, I dislike email intensely.
After 5 years? Isn't it too late?
dc
Email is a form of communication, not instant communication.
Sometimes it takes me a day or two to get a response by phone, unless it is really urgent.
If it is really urgent, pick up the phone, or dial the pager or the emergency number.
If you want to communicate with the customer in real time, get livehelp or some other package.
Don't give the customer the impression that email gives real time or close to real time response times.
Don't give the customer the impression that email gives real time or close to real time response times.
And customers are always *very* impressed with instant email responses (I guess because they never get them), the sale almost always goes through immediately after an inquiry has been answered.
I think it also gives them confidence that if they have any questions after purchase that we will be immediately available for them.
get livehelp or some other package.
We tried this and it seemed to slow our site down. We found it was much faster and more user friendly to fire off a quick answer via email rather than force the customer to start up a sluggish chat window.
I write the content to avoid emails, so the customer has all the answers already there and ways to find even more answers. In my experience, if they cannot find it and still write back... I repeat, from previous experiences... is not worth to reply.
If they write for something is not there, an error, problem or more info not available... I write back in less than 24 hours.
After that, prioritize. Prioritizing is usually pretty easy. Literacy, clarity of thought - quicker and more helpful. Rambling, lack of focus - not so quick, and fairly cursory, but leaving the door open to take the business.
With experience, one can tell almost at a glance who is $$ and who is not. On the other hand, you never know which illiterate rambler actually intends to spend hundreds of dollars. It is all too easy for lesser companies/personnel to fall into the habit of blowing off correspondence that can be converted into a good business transaction.
We carry an extensive range of products within our niche, and over time I have developed an entire directory of detailed responses. It takes only a moment to paste in the appropriate text, and then customize for the potential customer. It 'appears' that we gave their inquiry serious consideration and responded directly to them. A casual inquiry becomes money in the bank.
An excess of similar emails often indicates an issue with the website. A text adjustment, or an upgraded FAQ to that subject or product line can virtually eliminate email inquiries - converting them order submissions instead.
Also, I try and call any leads if I have their contact info. The likely hood is that they are about to open their wallet, or close, so talking to them there and then can often win their confidence.
For technical issues and support mail they'll get a quick reply, usually within an hour.
For annoying clients who won't shut up - telephone. Amazing how a client will re-phrase their problem when confronted by a real voice.
When working: Waiting is bad, fast is good.
When on vacation: Waiting is good, fast is bad.
