Doesn’t it seem like for all the connectivity we have in the world and our communication devices, that somehow we don’t receive responsiveness? Like your message goes into nothingness because you never receive a response. You’re left wondering if the recipient got the message, whether it was a voice mail, text, email or some other form of electronic communication.
It does seem to be the way of the world these days. You try to reach someone in multiple ways, and never hear back. Your communication could be to a friend, colleague, family member or a business. It doesn’t matter. Collectively, there’s a lack of “getting back to you” in a timely fashion.
A group of us are going to participate in a Ragnar run race this week. My wife has been communicating with the organizers on multiple fronts for several weeks. For the most part, they’ve gotten her all the information she needs.
Then, suddenly, as the runners are supposed to individually register and she was trying to get this information to our team, she couldn’t access that section of their web site. And she couldn’t raise anyone to help her. No phone number on the web site. While we did eventually get a response, it got quickly frustrating in the near term as she was working to finalize details so our runners could get their information properly registered for the race.
Though that is a mild example, there are many more most of us could come up with that inconvenience us as customers, partners, suppliers or any other relationships that bind us. And, many times it can be worse than just an inconvenience.
One of my pet peeves has always been companies that don’t include contact information on their web sites. Isn’t it pretty fundamental that if you run a business, you should make it simple for someone to contact you to ask a question or get a response? Perhaps your product doesn’t work properly. The customer needs to talk to an expert. Access should be easy.
Maybe you want to talk with a member of their communications department because you have an idea for a positive story, or you saw something they did in the local community that would make a good television story. Shouldn’t the contact information for that press contact be accessible in a click or a call? It should, but often isn’t.
You dig and you dig to come up with nothing. You check Facebook and LinkedIn. Same story. Twitter is worthless. You finally give up.
What’s left is frustrated customers and even do-gooders who want to help you out. Sure, companies kept the complainers off their backs by making it difficult to reach anybody with the company. But you know what? The complainers need to reach you, too. How else do you know when you screwed up?
The people (and companies) I appreciate the most are ones who acknowledge your communication in a timely fashion. It doesn’t have to be instantaneous. But, it does need to come to you in a reasonable timeframe given the circumstances.
It does seem to be the way of the world these days. You try to reach someone in multiple ways, and never hear back. Your communication could be to a friend, colleague, family member or a business. It doesn’t matter. Collectively, there’s a lack of “getting back to you” in a timely fashion.
A group of us are going to participate in a Ragnar run race this week. My wife has been communicating with the organizers on multiple fronts for several weeks. For the most part, they’ve gotten her all the information she needs.
Then, suddenly, as the runners are supposed to individually register and she was trying to get this information to our team, she couldn’t access that section of their web site. And she couldn’t raise anyone to help her. No phone number on the web site. While we did eventually get a response, it got quickly frustrating in the near term as she was working to finalize details so our runners could get their information properly registered for the race.
Though that is a mild example, there are many more most of us could come up with that inconvenience us as customers, partners, suppliers or any other relationships that bind us. And, many times it can be worse than just an inconvenience.
One of my pet peeves has always been companies that don’t include contact information on their web sites. Isn’t it pretty fundamental that if you run a business, you should make it simple for someone to contact you to ask a question or get a response? Perhaps your product doesn’t work properly. The customer needs to talk to an expert. Access should be easy.
Maybe you want to talk with a member of their communications department because you have an idea for a positive story, or you saw something they did in the local community that would make a good television story. Shouldn’t the contact information for that press contact be accessible in a click or a call? It should, but often isn’t.
You dig and you dig to come up with nothing. You check Facebook and LinkedIn. Same story. Twitter is worthless. You finally give up.
What’s left is frustrated customers and even do-gooders who want to help you out. Sure, companies kept the complainers off their backs by making it difficult to reach anybody with the company. But you know what? The complainers need to reach you, too. How else do you know when you screwed up?
The people (and companies) I appreciate the most are ones who acknowledge your communication in a timely fashion. It doesn’t have to be instantaneous. But, it does need to come to you in a reasonable timeframe given the circumstances.