This morning, scrolling through my Twitter feed, I came across a tweet that had an air of mild hysteria attached to it…
“If you have emailed us over the past few days, please bear with. Moving house today! Hoping to have broadband up & running later this week”.
What do you make of that tweet?
Definitely an interesting attitude to customer service!
Would love to hear how you would tackle managing your office move like a pro – here are mine for consideration:
- Not everyone on their twitter feed will have read that tweet – so potentially quite a few customers kept in the dark over their planned house/office move;
- I would have sent out a Mailchimp broadcast (other email providers are available!) to everyone on my list, letting them know a) the business is moving, b) how long my comms could be out of action, and c) how they can get in touch in the meantime;
- I would also have put a little notice on my website, letting visitors know that I’m in the middle of a move, and therefore, not as available as usual.
- This was also the perfect time to outsource phone comms and Inbox management to a virtual assistant. They could have easily configured your email settings on their laptop, and would have kept customers in the loop, as well as passing on important messages to you.
I mean, it’s not like the move wasn’t planned?! Plenty of time to get your ducks in a row, you would think, yes?
Perhaps they HAD arranged for their broadband to be installed on the same day as they moved, but obviously, things can and do go wrong!
So now I’m left wondering just what exactly IS their Plan B this week? And how many customers will cancel their order because of a lack of communication?
Now many of you will be saying “but they will probably use their phones to manage everything, Trace”.
Perhaps. However, because they have zero broadband, they will have to rely on using massive amounts of data over and above their standard mobile plan to check their emails, looking after their website (and who wants to maintain a website via your phone?!), and using social media. That’s going to be expensive.
And, when will they find the time this week to concentrate on their business fully? They are in the middle of a move. The third most stressful thing in life after death or divorce!
Far better to invest a portion of the mobile data plan money into hiring someone to properly look after your interests while you are unable to give your usual attention.
How do I know this? Well, I used to be a virtual assistant, and understand the value that one can bring to a business (PS: I now concentrate on WordPress website design, small design projects and e-marketing support *shameless plug* ha!). However, I do have some fab virtual assistants in my network, and would be very happy to pass on their details if you think you could do with a hand in the not so distant future.
Would love to hear your thoughts on this post: don’t be shy, say hello and comment!
Bye for now,
Trace x