No business owner wishes to give off a bad impression to his/her customers. And certainly, no business owner would do anything to give a bad impression – not on purpose, anyways. Nevertheless, there are many customers out there who have complaints about business owners who can’t be trusted. And sometimes, it’s because of simple little mishaps…like not returning a phone call.
Okay, let’s be honest. Not returning a phone call isn’t exactly a “simple little mishap”. It’s downright unprofessional and rude. But, to be fair, there are many reasons why some phone calls don’t get returned. You could have not even received the message that someone called, to begin with. It could have also just slipped your mind. Innocent reasons, yes. But they may not be enough to keep a customer who has been offended.
What are some of the reasons your customers may decide not to do business with you anymore? When you don’t return phone calls, it makes people feel that they are not priorities to you. And when your customers feel like they aren’t important, they won’t be endeared to continue working with your brand. You may also give off the impression that you’re not very professional. For those who don’t take things personally, you may just appear to be incompetent.
Not returning phone calls may also give you the appearance of being a procrastinator. “I mean, if he can’t return a phone call, what assurances do I have that he’ll actually get the job done?” is a question that a snubbed customer may ask him/herself. Perhaps, you don’t even have the answer to the question being asked of you in the message that was left. This is another impression you may give a customer who is awaiting your call.
By snubbing customers who have called you and left messages, you may also appear disorganized, unreliable and untrustworthy. It can also be assumed that you’re avoiding the deliverance of bad news and that you’re not strong and honest enough to communicate it to your customers. This is an important point because it must be mentioned that you won’t always have good news for your customers.
What is the importance of delivering bad news when it can’t be avoided? It shows that you’re an honest and forthright individual and this will reflect kindly on your brand. In some cases, business owners may be afraid to tell a customer that his/her shipment will be late or that the product requested is no longer available. However, such bad news presents opportunities for business owners to actually grow their relationships.
By offering genuine apologies and coming up with solutions that will benefit the customer in other ways, you may gain greater respect and admiration. No matter the response you have for your customer, it’s always important to quickly return his/her call. It will certainly save you from making a bad impression that you won’t be able to soon shake. And, at MeloTel, we offer great services that enable you to receive and return messages easily.
They include Voicemail To Your Email which is part of our Commercial Phone Services. For more information, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 1-888-MELOTEL or use the “Live Chat Support” feature on our website!
