Communication Challenge

I still retain a small interest in direct sales and had to place an order for a customer last week. The company they use to deliver their products  had changed their delivery times for my area, one which did not suit me.

I decided to ring them up and ask them to put the goods on hold, as I would collect them myself. I searched their head office on the web. Rang the number on there for my local depot and guess what ? It was an old number no longer in use. Checked my copy of the Yellow Pages and it had an old address and wrong number. Then I went through a copy of residential numbers with a small business section at the back and found the correct number and address.

I rang and before I asked them to put the goods on hold, I enquired about a collection point in my local area, stunned silence and was put on hold for six minutes. They had to check around to see if this was correct. Now all of this didn't bother me as they are pretty good with delivering items.

Now imagine if you were a first time customer. What emotions would you be feeling ? You possibly be thinking " well if the information on their main site is not up to date, what else is out of sync ". Also " why didn't they know about the new collection point ? ".

The lesson for any business that wants to prevent customer frustration, keep all relevant contact information current and make sure new programmes are communicated to all. Because time is a person's most precious commodity and one of the quickest ways to frustrate an existing or potential new client is make them waste it.

Check your contact information, it may be your answer to slowing sales.

Colin Myles
Author

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