Quote:
Originally Posted by nvr2mny
Jim, I hear you to a certain degree. I have no trouble ‘using’ technology. I too own a small business. I too provide a service in sales. I exist due to the services I provide to my customers, THEY are king & queen, NOT me. IF you had a product that I was interested in but refused to talk to me AFTER I made the request then I’d be damned if I gave you a penny of the hard earned money I make by making my customers happy and SERVING them.
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Good point I guess. I think it is unreasonable when people want to talk on the phone. Most of the time they are lonely older people who want to tell you their life story and tie up my receptionist on the phone for 20+ minutes.
To be honest, I do not want that person as a customer, they tend to never be happy and never stop pestering us. You need my service, I come out perform the task deliver the product and move on, they want to make it into something so much bigger, longer and more drawn out, to the point I am losing money on the job.
So that King or Queen is welcome to go to my competitors and run their business into the ground.
I do not have a website, I do not advertise, I have a great set of clients that order from me daily that keep me too busy as it is. When the economy is crap those are the people that keep my doors open not Joe Blow off the street who will be a one and done and expects me to put them before my day to day clients.
Right now my receptionist has a, "No off the street customers" order in place from me. We are too busy, if you email us right now that is the response you will get. We tell them we are about 4-6 weeks out, 99% of the time they need me in 1-2 days and move on.
If you email and ask us to call them, then 100% you will be told we are not taking off the street clients, since you already demonstrated you want us to stop our day and make you feel special.
When I have to call for a contractor I call knowing I am a one and done customer and in this economy, I am not important. It typically takes me 2-4 contractors before I can find one willing to fit me in.
Perfect example. My hot water heater failed. I felt I was too busy to deal with it, called a local plumber, I was told it would cost $1200 and be 2 weeks before they show up. I scheduled it. I understood, I am not important. Their day to day customers are. Most people do not get that.
I took one cold shower, went to Home Depot, bought a Hot water heater, and installed it myself. I called the next day and cancelled the appointment.
From 2008-2016 when the economy was crap? Yes, I would take on an off the street customer, they were extremely rare. When one did pop up, yes I would call them, hear their 30 minute story, go do the job, talk to them another 30 minutes when I was there, talk to them some more after it was done, I would have 2-3X the time in the job but then again, there was nothing better to do.
Now there is.