This week I am going to start a multi-part (how many parts?  who knows?  Methinks a good number) of posts about using technology to improve customer service.   When I talk about “improving customer service”  I mean everything from reducing your your costs of customer service to providing better quality customer service over a number of channels.  You can see that this is a broad topic and will take a while to cover!  This week I’ll start you off easy with things we all should know…and yet I can give you many examples where even these simplest of processes aren’t followed.

You have to answer the phone.

It is probably safe me for me to assume that virtually all businesses have a phone.  When possible someone should answer the phone when it rings.  I can understand where some small businesses may have a cell phone as their main business number, say for a solopreneur consultant or the like.  In that case it is ok to let the call go to a professional sounding voicemail during meetings or while driving, etc.  Those voicemails need to be checked regularly and returned promptly.  And promptly means THAT DAY if possible.  I recently called a local dog grooming establishment to make an appointment to get my two labs, Jester and Cimarron, bathed.  I got voicemail or an answering  machine.  The first time I called I just hung up (potential lost customer).  The second time I called I left a message (the dogs were really smelly and it was very cold outside).  My message was returned over 24 hours later, late one evening when I couldn’t take the call.  I had to call a third time to make an appointment.  Turns out when I finally got there that my service was adequate and the cost reasonable but I am not in love with this place.  It seems to me that a service establishment like that thrives by keeping their appointments booked – why do they not have someone dedicated to answering the phone?  Why can they not return calls during business hours?  Or better yet, why don’t they look into allowing clients to book appointments online at their convenience?

You have to have email and check and return it regularly.

It boggles my mind that in 2010 there are still some businesses that don’t have email and or don’t integrate its use regularly into their business processes, yet it is true.  Of course, if you are one of those that doesn’t use email, you probably aren’t reading this article either.  I sure hope you have a friend that prints it out for you and either hands it to you or puts it in an envelope with one of those stampy-things.

I believe that small businesses should embrace email; it is convenient for you and your customer.  It allows your customer to reach you when it suits them, even before or after business hours.  When using email keep the following in mind:

• check it regularly, at least at the beginning and end of each day, more if you can.  Go thru all of it and handle it in some appropriate way. I recently responded to an email I received…later when I saw the sender she claimed not to have seen my response.  When I expressed surprise she admitted that she gets hundreds of emails a day and didn’t always get thru them.  In today’s world not getting thru email (or having someone get thru email) is not an acceptable business practice.  Especially when you send an email and are looking for a response!
• Commit to responding within a certain amount of time.  Consider responding to email with an autoresponder that tells your customer when to expect to hear back from you.  For example, an autoresponder might say “Thank you for your email, it is important to us.  Emails received by close of business will be answered that day, otherwise they will be answered on the next business day.”
• Answer customer questions or concerns politely and completely.  Assume that the sender wants to communicate via email or ask them if you can communicate differently.  Nothing is more annoying than to send someone an email and for them to respond with “call me”.  If you need specific information to interact via email, let the customer know what that is.

I know phone and email are so ubiquitous to barely be considered “technology” but we have to start somewhere.  Next week we’ll take a baby step beyond that.  In the meantime, as always, I’m interested in your opinions on this – how do you use technology to improve customer service?

How many times have you at the end of a busy day (week?  month?  year?) got to the point on your to-do list where you need to make a hair-dog grooming-dentist-doctor-exterminator-repair appointment but it is, of course because you’ve been busy, after business hours?  What happens?  That item remains on your list and, maybe worse, gets shoved further and further down the list.  Aggravating for you, right?  And what about that hair dresser, dog groomer, dentist, doctor, exterminator or repair person?  They are missing out on your current business and might lose your long term business if you find someone who provides their service but is easier to do business with – by allowing you to set appointments when you want, online.

Imagine it, it is in the evening, after the kids are in bed.  You are comfortable on the couch with a nice roaring fire and your laptop (or iPhone) open.  You have your beverage of choice at your side and you are able to actually cross items off your to-list as you make the appointment to get your hair colored and for your son to get his cut (finally).  Your beloved mutt desperately needs a bath after the recent bad weather – in a zip you have a grooming appointment set for tomorrow.  To be able to make short work of your to-list at your leisure…what a wonderous thing!

But wait – you are a small business owner too.  Maybe you aren’t a hair dresser, dog groomer, dentist, doctor, exterminator or repair person (because if you were this story wouldn’t make sense – you wouldn’t make an appointment with yourself!) but you are an accountant, lawyer, designer, photographer or personal trainer.   You have customers that have the same problem you do – they have making an appointment to see you is on their to-do list but they are too busy (or can’t get thru for some reason) to make an appointment by phone during regular business hours.  What is the cost to you of all those missed appointments?  And as more and more people move to using the Internet for convenience what is the cost going to be in the future?

If you haven’t considered adding self-service appointment scheduling technology to your website, now might be the time to do it.  In my next post I’ll talk about some of the vendors out there and the features of their services.  In the meantime, enjoy the fire and the beverage and think about how making  it easier for your customers to do business with you could help you bottom line.