Hey Your Phone is Ringing! Somebody? Anybody? Hello?

Have you ever found yourself at a place of business and the phone is ringing off the wall?  To most anyone this would be a little annoying but I lose my mind and have even considered picking up the reciever and answering it for them. 

My guess is that this particular business doesn’t understand that the telephone calls may in fact generate new business and they certainly don’t understand the power of great customer service.  I wouldn’t want to be the caller on the other end getting a busy signal or continually calling and getting no answer.  I want to do business with companies that place value on customer service.

In this month’s issue of Inc. Magazine there is an article about customer service and a company named Drybar.  Drybar is a Los Angeles start up that sells blowouts and hair products.  Like the online shoe king, Zappos, Drybar believes its success depends on exceptional customer service via the telephone. I know, it’s hard to believe in this age of Internet shopping there are successful businesses that actually value and are willing to put dollars and time into systems that promote humans talking to humans. 

The benefit of talking with someone on the phone is that you can gauge a customer’s temperature for your product or service very easily by asking additional questions and allowing them to speak freely.  Don’t get me wrong, there is perfect reasoning for allowing customers to place website orders and communicate via electronic messaging but I believe the telephone will be around a lot longer than anyone anticipates. 

My hope is that one day all businesses will answer their ringing phones or hire an answering service to do so. It’s just good business.

Gail Gamertsfelder
VP/CAO, A Better Connection, Inc.