How much help can we give

I always try to be helpful to visitors to our business or website, especially when people call with difficult issues for a toll free number. However that doesn’t mean that I can necessarily solve your problem or even tell you how to do it.

If it’s a number that we got you, I certainly feel we have more of an obligation. But callers need to realize that as much as I do want to help I really don’t get paid for solving most problems. And offering to pay me for my time is nice but there’s ultimately no mechanism for that, nor should there be. We really try to help customers because I believe what goes around comes around.

We’re always happy to help callers but some callers really need to understand that there’s a difference between being helpful and expecting me to guide you the whole way through their situation. I often find that after I give someone some advice I wind up with call after call, where they tell me everything that they did and were told so I can tell them what to do next, every step of the way. Like I said I want to help everyone as much as possible, and I like to hear the outcome of a difficult situation too. But you also have to respect our time at times too.

Some people seem to operate entirely under the assumption that what they are trying to do absolutely has to be possible. Unfortunately everything is clearly NOT possible and as difficult as that may be to face, it is ultimately easier to face that than to pursue something endlessly. Sometimes persistence means backing off on it right now and trying it again in three months. That often allows you to gain some perspective and proves to other people that you are persistent without being obnoxious or belligerent.

You might also get a way to follow up with an agent by just sending a thank you card and then a Christmas Card. You’d be surprised how few customer service representatives ever get Christmas Cards and how much more that will make them want to help you. You don’t have to send anything expensive but sending a birthday card will help you cross the line from customer to friend.
There’s another type of question too that we see and we are happy to get these. These are the questions that people call up with just to find out if we’re real. We have to answer their questions but the purpose is really just to make sure we are competent and willing to help them if they need it in the future. It takes a little getting used to, to recognize them but once you do they are very easy to work with. They are easily recognized because they are always the most obvious questions that are clearly answered on the website. It’s often a little frustrating when people ask questions that are clearly answered on our website, but this is a clear exception.

Customers can be great therapy

That probably sounds kind of weird and is a little hard to explain sometimes, but we all have things happen and pressure in our lives. Maybe it's a flat tire, or having to deal with your health insurance company for something. When something gets me really annoyed I kind of like getting lots of customer calls. I think it's because this is my thing, and I can answer most calls without really thinking very hard. It's sort of relaxing and has become my routine or my comfort zone.

I don't know if it's good to admit this or not, but last summer I enjoyed being able to lay out on the deck and found that I can answer the phone and jump from call to call laying in the sun without even opening my eyes. Some things require changing things in the computer so I might have to get up and go back to the computer for some things.

I think it's also because half of the callers, especially the new potential sales are calling to ask a question or two, but really just want to find out if you're real, or if this sounds safe and someone or an organization they want to work with. That's one of the reasons why I don't think voicemail is good for sales, because customers don't want to just give you their information. They usually want to ask a question or two to make sure they're comfortable.

Just keep that in mind, especially when you end the call. Your sales may go way up, by just adding a little more happiness in your voice at the end of the call, and that will also wind up making YOU feel better too. You can't help but feel good, if you really feel like you're helping people and they really appreciate your service.

Bad connections on VoIP - 202-580-8200

Caller ID note: If you see the number 202-580-8200 on your caller ID, that seems to be showing up for callers using VOIP from places like Pakistan and China a lot lately. The quality of the call is usually quite bad and often has 3 to 4 second delays. My advice to people overseas, is to try to communicate via email, rather than over voip phones.

Phones without buttons?

The Consumer Electronic Show is going on in Las Vegas right now. It's a great place for tech companies to show their versions of the future. This is a concept phone from Onyx (Photo Credit: Synaptics). And it made me wonder a little about vanity numbers, as you might imagine. I think in some ways this will actually help though.

Cell phones have very small buttons and many don't have the letters on the keys. This may be the answer, because this type of phone will always have a way to bring up a keypad and that keypad can take much more room than the tiny cell phone buttons on most phones today, and they'll certainly have the lettters there. So ultimately I think this is a very good thing. As phones get smarter they ultimately have to work and interact the user wants or needs them to. And since vanity numbers are in grained in the consumer and our society, no matter what happens technologically (and the dizzying range of possibilities at the CES show how uncertain that can be!) vanity numbers aren't going to go away, no matter what nay saying prognosticators say. That's just my humble opinion, but I do have a little bit of experience.

I actually think our technology is going to ultimately increase the use and acceptance of vanity numbers more and faster than technology is going to undermine it. That's just my opinion but I am putting my money and life into that, to make this possible for more and more people and small businesses everywhere.

Tell me what you think!...