Re: Re: Tuba Consumerism & Emails


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Posted by Joe Baker on February 20, 2004 at 12:22:06:

In Reply to: Re: Tuba Consumerism & Emails posted by Rick Denney on February 19, 2004 at 18:50:38:

Challenged by Rick Denney to a war of words. Against my better judgment, I rise to battle.

I pity the guy who is an artist at shaping brass or making music, but whose typing skills make long and articulate correspondence a burden.
I pity ANYONE who wants to do business today and hasn't learned to type. Unless you are able to hire a secretary to do all of your typing for you, typing has become an essential skill in business today. It's not that hard to learn to type well. Businesses fail to recognize this at some peril, I think.

And given the level of discourse visible on Tubenet and other forums, the proprietor might well be at a loss as to what is being requested in most emails.
I agree. But there is an equivalent problem when speaking to some people on the phone. Some don't speak English (or don't speak it well), don't know the terminology well enough to make their point, or (like me) suffer speech impediments that tend to get many times worse over the phone. That's just part of doing business: trying to figure out what your customer wants so you can provide it at a profit.

In the presence of a surplus of demand, the supplier can and should choose the demand that is easiest and most profitable to serve. When there is a surplus of supply, there will be more time to provide wordy answers to emails.
No argument here. The market works, in this case, to the benefit of the merchant. But let's not make the mistake of assuming that this is usually the case. I've spent about $800 in the last year on various instruments, repairs, mouthpieces, supplies, etc. from different vendors. Only one purchase, off of ebay, could not have been roughly duplicated elsewhere for roughly the same price.

About $200 of that was spent for repairs. I am willing to go through some considerable difficulty to get them done right, including waiting a few days for an email response. I should note (again) that I did not have to wait for said response, but I would also note that some other folks might not be willing (or able) to wait.

That said, I think it's reasonable to expect a response to a complicated question to be, "When can I call you so we can discuss this?" or "Here is my 800 number--call me when it is convenient and we can talk about it. In in the office from X to Y." I think it's also reasonable to automatically request those who have questions to call because emails may not be responded to within X days.
Agreed completely. If I know it's going to be three days before I can speak with vendor X, I'm at least not left hanging, wondering if he got my email. I can make an informed choice about either calling another source or waiting until the person is available. But when an email disappears into a black hole, and I've heard nothing AT ALL back by the next day, I find it frustrating.

I think it's reasonable to expect that response within a business day when it is sent to a general business email address. When it's sent to a personal email address (even one at the company), then it's just like voice mail or snail mail--it should be answered when the person has had a reasonable opportunity to do so (after returning from vacation, etc.).
Again, I agree. Businesses could help themselves IMMENSELY by just adding an autoresponder that will give the customer an idea of when to expect a reply and what other way there might be to get the information they seek.

Again, if businesspeople have too little business, then they have time to respond at length to emails. When they have too much, they should respond to those messages likely to net them the best profit (that's what I would expect of them if I owned stock in their company). Adding supply is the answer, but it is not always possible (supply for tuba services is somewhat inelastic due to the skills required). Answering emails could prevent serving those who call, and serving those who call could prevent serving those who come to the store in person. If I'm in the store, I would be offended to stand there and wait unnecessarily while the proprietor answers his email.
Actually, you have stumbled upon one of my MAIN reasons for preferring email to the phone. It burns my biscuits to walk into a store and begin speaking with the clerk/salesman/proprietor, only to have that person answer a phone call and make me wait. The beauty of email is that it can be INSTANTLY set aside for the guy that walks into the store, without making the emailer sit on hold. And if it arrives while the merchant is with a customer, it requires no immediate attention. As long as they get around to it within a few hours, everyone is happy.

The customer is always right, but the definition of a customer is one whose check doesn't bounce. That standard is not attained by many who float out email requests and expect instant responses. It is far more often met by those who will call, and still more by those who walk into the store.
I don't disagree with the notion of paying first attention to the person most likely to become a paying customer, and without question the guy who goes to the store is the one most likely to open up his wallet. But people who don't live in the city where a store is located -- and most of us don't live in a city where a tuba vendor is located -- will call or write before they come. Increasing numbers of serious buyers write. If they feel the store doesn't care about their needs, they won't come.

The bottom line is that a business shouldn't have a phone if they aren't going to take calls, and they shouldn't advertise an email address if they aren't going to reply to emails -- and there's often no point in replying if you don't reply when the customer is ready to buy.

Joe Baker, who is "ready to buy" lunch.


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