More Important Than Ever

Yesterday a long-standing client of the studio called. The first thing he said was “Kudos to you”. I know we had not just provided a deliverable, so I asked why the kudos. The client said because we answered the phone. “Kudos for answering the phone?” I asked. Well it seems that the client has been calling his other vendors and they have not been answering the phone.
I guess in today’s economic environment, every other call you make or receive is trying to collect money. You can easily see why the phone can become a source of pain. But these situations will get better as the economy gets better. Being available to your clients is not a short-term practice. It should be along-term habit. Make sure you answer the phone especially if it is one of your clients or prospects. You can always use caller-id to identify telemarketers. Answering the phone also includes returning phone calls.

Today’s consumers have the following characteristics. They are:
• Angry
• Cynical
• Time Starved
• Don’t care about the how only the results for them
• Measure their level of being impoverished not by amount of money but by connectivity.

If they cannot get in touch with you, they will feel impoverished. At times this can be troublesome for it creates a high level of psychological noise but not being able to reach you will make them uncomfortable. Our clients on the whole are more demanding. This is true not just for the graphics design industry but for all industries.

Even product oriented businesses find themselves in the service industry. Taking orders, processing orders, delivery instructions, etc are all service-oriented processes.
It is not just a matter of performing at your present level, but constantly raising the bar. So start today by answering the phone, or returning that call and do it with a smile.