5. Be A Fanatic About Response Time.

People expect us to respond to their questions and concerns quickly, whether it’s in person, on the phone, or by e-mail. This includes simply acknowledging that we received the request and we’re “on it,” as well as keeping those involved continuously updated on the status of outstanding issues.

Dana's Message:

The first word that comes to my mind with this week’s fundamental is “respect”. First, I believe, we show respect to the person who emailed or called us to answer a question or to fulfill a request. We let that person know we respect and value their time when we respond quickly. As our fundamental says, even though we may not have an answer, it is imperative that we acknowledge the inquiry from our customers, both external and internal. A quick and courteous response sets the tone for a successful interaction with our customer or potential customer.   Famous Supply has earned a stellar reputation in our industry, and we are all privileged to enhance that reputation each day as we pay special attention to our requests.

Recently, I was able to attend my second expo in PA where a customer came to our display to view our vintage candelabra lamps.   As I returned to the office, I placed an order for the lamps so our customer could view these for a specific application. Our customer thanked me for a quick response which I hope will result in a future sale. At the very least, I hope this customer will have confidence his future questions or requests will be handled with quickness and courtesy.

As I was doing some research to gather my thoughts on this fundamental, I found an article entitled “How Fast Is Your Sales Team’s Lead Response Time?” by Eyal Orgil. In this article I found several points that stress the importance of a quick response time;

• Responding within the first 60 minutes of the inquiry, increases the success rate by seven times
• 35-50% of sales are won by the company that responds first to a customer inquiry increasing the chance of beating the competition to close the sale
• Maintaining the quick response and updates throughout the sales/order process enhances our customer’s experience with Famous
• Successful sales/order experiences help us to establish long term customer relationships

Keeping these points in mind for internal and external customers helps to illustrate how our quick response time can have a positive effect on our continued success.

Thank you