Service businesses must make the quickest response times to customer service requests. When booking customers, your response time is of critical importance. Customers go away if their requests aren’t answered in a timely manner! Depending on what business you’re in, the customers will have different levels of patience in waiting for your reply. In every industry however, customers are less and less patient. But it’s always a horrible feeling of loss when you have just lost a gig because you could not respond to the customer right away!

How do I know this stuff?
I’ve been booking gigs and making special event reservations for over two decades through my event company. After fielding literally thousands of customer calls over the years, the importance of quick responses is ingrained in me. As they say, time is $$ money! Let’s not forget that.

The Early Bird Does Get the Worm
How many times have I heard “Oh my gosh, you’re the only one who’s picked up the phone today!” I also hear very often, “I’ve been waiting all afternoon for other people to respond.” Apparently, other event companies in my area aren’t on their game in those moments. Because customers are aware that there is a lot of wait times and phone tag with certain vendors, it can be an easy booking for you because you’re available on the spot.

Gratitude
I often get a response from my prospective customers, “Thanks so much for the quick reply!”
The customers get an immediate sense of being taken care of when the business responds in a timely fashion. Your customers will let you know their appreciation.

Communication
These days, communication abounds. A business can respond to customer requests in a number of different formats, such as phone, email, Twitter, Facebook, text, fax, and the list goes on. Event businesses should respond as fast as they can to customers, and can even double up on the follow-up methods to get the business.

Customers’ Decision-Making
Of course, customers vary for the time needed to make a decision to hire your event service. But that doesn’t mean to take your time and delay if you know that your niche customers don’t make immediate hiring decisions. These days, most consumers who are calling you have done their prior research, and are weighing options between your service and other companies.

Auto-Responses
Many businesses have an “auto-response” email that immediately gets sent out acknowledging the customer request. An “auto-responder” is an automated email system that is customized for businesses through different softwares. Last week when I put in a request to a local company, I received on auto-response, and that was all I got – no other communication at all. Sometimes, auto-responders aren’t a solution in themselves. Customers actually need real human contact at times to gain their business.

photo credit: The Absurdity of Time  via photopin (license)

Patrick Duffek, Founder, Event LightNing Mobile Productivity Apps, has managed over 12,000 events for the Silicon Valley computer giants, organizations and special events over two decades. Www.EventLightNing.com