Re: Re: Re: Tuba Consumerism & Emails


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Posted by Rick Denney on February 20, 2004 at 13:27:48:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Tuba Consumerism & Emails posted by Joe Baker on February 20, 2004 at 12:22:06:

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.

I don't think we really disagree much on what business ought to be expected to so. But I think the theory you are operating from is very different from the one that I think really works in the market.

Most businesses have a phone so that people can do basic things:

1.) Determine price
2.) Inquire about availability
3.) Get directions to the store
4.) Make an order
5.) Make an appointment

They may additionally use it for consultation, but for many activities, especially those requiring expert inspection, that consultation cannot be performed over the telephone. For example, I can call and ask how much it would be to overhaul my tuba all I want, but no amount of willingness to talk on the phone will provide me a reliable answer. The only choice is to bring it in for an inspection. Yes, some people who call in will think this is prevarication, or some subterfuge to force them into the store, and their skepticism (really, disappointed desire for instant gratification) will only get in the way of getting the service they need.

Your statement suggests that because they bought a phone they should be prepared to use it for all possible business transactions. The reason businesses have phones is so that both customers and proprietors won't waste their time on an unproductive visits to the store. As soon as they determine that a visit would be productive (or necessary), it is reasonable to expect them to do so.

Email is in some ways more convenient and in other ways less convenient. I use it in business routinely, and out of respect for the people I work with (both when I'm the customer and when I'm the supplier). It does indeed allow me to make an inquiry after business hours, and it does indeed allow the other person to respond when it's convenient. But it has less usefulness than the telephone, because it is not conveniently interactive.

The notion that experts should be able to type to be in business is one I also argue against. It's true that I could not do my business without typing, but in large measure I'm paid to think and write, and thus my ability to type is part of the product people are buying. If I was paid to bend brass, it would not be so, and the quality of the work for which people pay me would not at all be related to my ability to type.

An Internet presence can do no more than the telephone. It is not always advertising (which is an appeal for business), but rather a filter to allow people to learn price, availability, directions, and other information needed to determine if a visit will be productive. Of course, there are businesses built around Internet transactions, but invariably those are for commodity items, and they don't work well for specialty discretionary items.

By the way, the seller's market usually is the case when dealing in a specialized business with high-end discretionary products. If I'm buying a ring for my wife, I can go to the mall jewelers and look at a lot of mass-produced products and expect pretty immediate service. But if I want to have a ring made with a special stone and incorporating my own design ideas, then I'll seek out the craftsman who will do the work that makes it worth it to spend the money for the stone. That will require that I wait--both for the consultation and for the product. And I'll get to pay extra for the privelege of waiting. Yes, I can choose to go to the mall, but if that craftsman's product is what I want, there are no alternatives except buying nothing. The tuba sales and repair business is more like that specialty jewelry maker than it is like the mall jewelry store.

A business transaction is most effective for both parties when both parties approach it and leave it on an equal footing. When one or the other is dominant, it becomes a win-lose situation instead of a win-win situation. The whole principle of markets is that this balance is always ultimately achieved when it's allowed to. But when something external limits the supply, then the buyers have to compete for those services. When the demand is limited, the suppliers have to compete. I submit that in most businesses today, what is being sold is cachet, and it is the buyers who compete for it. I've (almost) happily waited an hour to be seated at a popular restaurant, but I'm hopping mad if I have to wait five minutes at McDonalds.

Rick "who thinks high-end sellers are often smart to limit service to increase cachet and therefore demand" Denney


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