On the “fashionable” side of my life I like to read Fashion Incubator. Kathleen Fansanella is a great blogger with so much inside information to share. Then there’s Zoe Wong, a San Francisco-based fashion designer who contributes to blog sometimes, but has her own blog as well.
In a post titled “The Importance of Follow-up” Zoe goes on a mini-rant:
“...If you tell someone that you will find out the answer to their question by the end of the day and the day has passed and still no luck, call them back and let them know you’re still researching and you will get back to them in 24 hours. Let them know that you haven’t forgotten about them. It takes approximately one minute out of your day, including dialing.”
Sound familiar? Then Zoe finishes with:
“It all boils down to excellent customer service. It doesn’t matter what you do, what industry you’re in, how high up the ladder you’re at. You should be treating all professional relationships as if you’re customer service. “CUSTOMERS” ARE NOT PEOPLE WHO BUY THINGS FROM YOU; THEY ARE ANYONE WHO DOES BUSINESS WITH YOU, PERIOD.
I don’t care if you have to turn your computer monitor into a surrealist daisy with post-it reminders stuck all along the edges, make sure you remember to follow-up. Writing in all caps irritates me, but the fact that I find them necessary right now irritates me more. Simple and consistent follow-up emails and phone calls are the easiest way to build up your professional reputation.”
This past week I’ve had to deal with a car dealership where two sales people told me they would call me back but didn’t. My guess is that they really didn’t want the business.
I know we get busy during our day and often forget what we need to do and who we need to call back. It really is important to write these things down. It could be the difference between a happy customer and a customer who decides to tell the whole world not to do business with you...
Hi, I don't have your email address so I can't write you directly so feel free to delete what is intended to be a private message to you.
I'm glad that my site and sources are helpful to you, you link to me a lot and I am cynical on one hand (doing so raises your site rankings) but also gratified and lastly dismayed that you don't add much of your own original content to what we're putting out. You obviously are smarter and wiser than I am with headlines and seo targeting but part of me resents providing you with source material with which to do it.
The reason I'm writing you is to explain why I don't publish any of your trackbacks. Your site is very very heavy with links and ads and I can't reciprocate because it can cost me a lot in rankings if/when google decides that you're a link farm. I mean, I can't keep you from linking to me but if I link back, I could get painted with the same brush. Sorry, this is a lesson I learned early on. I wish you nothing but continued success with your sites.
Posted by: KF | August 13, 2006 9:47 PM | Permalink to Comment