Are You in the Technology Business?
By Sherril Steele-Carlin
Do you own your own technology business? Do you ever wonder why your business isn't growing as much as you'd like, and isn't more successful? If your technology business is taking a nosedive, before you blame it on the economy, outsourcing, and any number of exterior problems, maybe you'd better take a hard look at your employees and the customer service they give and you support.
If you own a technology business and you're not concerned with customer service, then you're in the wrong business. EVERY business has customers, and every business needs to be concerned with how they treat them, especially the technology business, when many of your customers may be new to the technology you sell and support. If you don't know how your employees treat your customers, or don't care, then you may not have those customers for very long.
Customer Service?
I'm consistently amazed by some of the so called "customer service" I see today, and I have to wonder, what are these business owners thinking? To some people, customer service may not matter, but to many of us, it's a deciding factor on what business we'll patronize, and what business we won't.Support People or Rude Boors?
If you treat me decently, I'll be back. If you don't, I won't. It's that simple. It may be for a cup of coffee, or a new roof for my house, but if you don't give decent service and common courtesy, I'll take my business elsewhere, thank you. And that certainly applies to the technology business, where it seems it's "hip" to be surly support person. Since support people usually only deal with people over the phone, they can't connect them to a "real" person with feelings and emotions. And so, they often treat them lower than dirt. It's your job as a business owner to make sure your employees know you value each and every one of your customers, and so should they.
Many people are simply new to technology and it scares them. If your customer support people are rude to them, or treat them as if they are stupid, they may be afraid to call again. Eventually, their computers, cell phones, iPods, and notebooks won't work, and then do you think they'll recommend your company to their friends and neighbors? Probably not. In fact, they'll probably tell them not to deal with your business at all.
One important aspect of customer service that seems to be falling by the wayside today is interaction that is not direct. I mean, if someone calls your business and leaves a message after hours, or sends an email with a problem or complaint. Many of these messages just seem to fall through the cracks in the system, and it's downright annoying.
Answer Those Emails
For those of us who do a majority of work online the problem crops up constantly. I'm consistently amazed at the businesses who prominently display email addresses and their web sites, and never return emails. Why do you bother to have an email if you aren't going to answer your customers? Take the address off your site if you aren't going to answer it. I've seen this from the largest companies to the smallest, technology-based and otherwise. To the customer who goes unanswered, it seems as if you don't want their business, and of course, they'll go elsewhere.
Return Those Phone Calls
The same goes with phone calls. Return them, it's that simple. I can't tell you the number of times I've called companies for estimates, service, questions, etc., and they can't be bothered to call me back. If you don't call me back, guess what? You lose. You don't get my business, my purchase, and my kudos. I'm not the one facing going out of business at the end of the year, and wondering why. You are.
So, if you own a business, and you think customer service isn't important – think again. The basics of good customer service apply to just about any business, but especially technology businesses that often deal with extensive customer service for nearly all their clients. Good customer service is still a great "sell" to a great majority of us, and you might just learn your lesson the hard way, when everyone else takes their business elsewhere, too.
