And to accommodate people with all kinds of preferences, such a site includes a personal email address, fax number, telephone number, and even physical address so that the web visitor can make an educated guess when a good time to call might be. Let's take this a step further. Imagine that someone who inquires gets a personal answer to his or her email within a few hours or a live person on the phone. If you think that what I've written so far is so obvious that it should go without saying, think again. Recently at a seminar I gave to bankers, some said that they couldn't possibly post the names, email addresses, telephone extensions, and photos of the people responsible for various functions on their web sites because it would pose a security risk or make them overly vulnerable to headhunters.
Clients love that.
And in a small business, tending to relationships is something that is done as a matter of course. Big companies have Customer Relationship Management Teams. There is a difference. We've even hired part-timers to fill in on the weekends to make sure all inquiries are answered right away. When we respond to a customer within hours, addressing them as if writing a friend, we'll most likely see that person again.