How bad is that?

[Vectis]

Just taken a booking for a wedding later in the year. Twas the bride-to-be who rang; she moved away from the area a few years ago and is coming back for the big day to be with family.

On 26th February she asked her mum to get her a list of discos from the local paper, and she set about emailing them all (all four...). We hadn't advertised that week so we weren't included :rolleyes:

She got two replies almost straight away - "Sorry, booked". Simple as that. No "Unfortunately blah blah" or "Hope you get sorted" or recommendations for other DJs. The third came back the following day with a quote for £80 which she, sensibly(!), discounted. The fourth responded TODAY!!! That's FOUR WHOLE WEEKS LATER :eek: . Needless to say, even though they are free on the wedding date, they're not getting the business.

A quick google later and she's all sorted with us.

FOUR WEEKS to answer an email enquiry? I'm absolutely gobsmacked :zip:

[spin mobile disco]

Had a problem with emails not arriving once, turns out hotmail and AOL dont like each other and like to slow down inter mail. I sent a reply to someone once and they didnt recieve it for 2 weeks. Royal mail would have been quicker. (maybe)

[sleah]

FOUR WEEKS to answer an email enquiry? I'm absolutely gobsmacked :zip:

Don't be too ****ing unless you know the story, maybe they were away or lost their email connection.
Although you would expect a grovelling appology if it were a good reason!

Edit: Grrrr... d a m n isn't a swear word as such, and is quite acceptable in the context above. Flippin' computers, think they know best all the time:D

[Corabar Steve]

Just do what I do with d@mn, unfortunately it's pre-programed into the censor.

I agree there can be many reasons for emails not getting through on time, & for all you know the reply might have been sent in good time. If, however it wasn't then you would think there would be some sort of apology involved

[Vectis]

Well the lesson I've taken from it is to set up a clutch of free email accounts and ping myself regularly to make sure everything's working OK!

[rob1963]

On 26th February she asked her mum to get her a list of discos from the local paper, and she set about emailing them all...

...The fourth responded TODAY!!! That's FOUR WHOLE WEEKS LATER :eek: . Needless to say, even though they are free on the wedding date, they're not getting the business.

FOUR WEEKS to answer an email enquiry? I'm absolutely gobsmacked :zip:


Thats terrible!

I once emailed a couple of discos to ask for quotes, partly to see how much they charge, and partly to see how quickly they replied.

They both took about a week to reply...and I thought THAT was bad enough!

I answer ALL queries well within 24 hours...and 80% of the time it's within 12 hours.

When I ask people why they booked me, they usually give 2 answers: Firstly that my website gave them all the information they needed, and secondly because I replied very quickly to their query.

I'm just wondering how many bookings I'd lose if I took between a week and a month to reply to queries. I'm guessing it would be quite a few!

[Candybeatdiscos]

I wouldn't really have a choice to be honest lol I live at my computer most of the time lol - wife is threatning to divorce me and cite an affair with my PC as the reason :)

Seriously if you can't be bothered getting in contact with a potential client then you deserve to lose thier business, on the other hand i also agree with the problem of slow email servers, usually its the free ones, hence i use hotmail for personal stuff but try and keep my domain hosted one for business pueposes. Which is the answer i suppose, if business means a lot to you why depend on a free hotmail or Gmail account when you can have a more customer focussed domain hosting company look after your email server.

Am i allowed to recommend the company i use? If so they are called OAkweb Design, if not I'll let the mods edit my post and take a slap on the wrist as long as it aint shaun who does it, he is too powerful and slaps hard!

[DMX Will]

Agree with the comments so far.

But doesn't it make you feel good about the customer service you provide when you hear stories such as this.

Although I also agree with the email problems that arise all the time. I lost email for about a week a couple of weeks ago, whilst I switched to a new provider, right at the same time (or just after) MS Exchange totally died on me which slowed down the process (Exchange is a server app for Outlook that does lots of fancy things like remote access to my email, calenda, contacts etc)

Oh well, alls well that ends well. She was clever enough to realise a cowboy DJ, and found one of the good-guys. :)

[Shaun]

Am i allowed to recommend the company i use? If so they are called OAkweb Design, if not I'll let the mods edit my post and take a slap on the wrist as long as it aint shaun who does it, he is too powerful and slaps hard!


:D

Recommendations are allowed, Garry. :)

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Rob,

Sometimes mate from reading your replies on a lot of things, I think we are EXACTLY the same! A lot of the things you do, I do aswell and that fills me with confidence in that being relatively new to running a business, I must be doing things correctly.

If I get an enquiry from someone and I am booked I will reply to them with something like the following ;

Dear ******

Many thanks for contacting Shakermaker Promotions with reference to Disco Entertainment on the above date. Unfortunately, on this particular occasion we are unable to supply you with a quotation as we are fully booked. If you would like me to recommend some other companies to you, please let me know.
We wish you the best of luck and hope you have a great function.
Best regards,
Gary

Another thing I do (slightly off topic here) is...

When I get an enquiry via email or another site and the customer's mobile number has been included, I will send them an enquiry by email as normal but I will also send them a text message alert. I think this looks quite professional and I have a draft text message made up which reads as this ;

"From SHAKERMAKER PROMOTIONS : Many thanks for your enquiry regarding Disco Entertainment. A quotation has been emailed to you. Many thanks"

Rob, as you also said...I always ask the customers WHY they booked me in the end. Was it because of the advert? Was it my customer service?
A lot of the time they do say (as you said) that everything they needed to know was on the website and then the service and the way I came across on the phone was very professional and re-assuring.

That works for me.

[Dragonfly]

Now theres an idea !!!!!

[Shakermaker Promotions]

You like that one then eh?

Most people have said it's a great idea. It gives the professional impression...well, I say 'impression', you know what I mean.

[soundtracker]

I often get told that people have chosen me because of the speed and thoroughness of my reply - its no biggie really, its pre - wrtten, and I just fill in the blanks to personalise it!

[rob1963]

Rob,

Sometimes mate from reading your replies on a lot of things, I think we are EXACTLY the same! A lot of the things you do, I do aswell and that fills me with confidence in that being relatively new to running a business, I must be doing things correctly.

If I get an enquiry from someone and I am booked I will reply to them with something like the following ;

Dear ******

Many thanks for contacting Shakermaker Promotions with reference to Disco Entertainment on the above date. Unfortunately, on this particular occasion we are unable to supply you with a quotation as we are fully booked. If you would like me to recommend some other companies to you, please let me know.
We wish you the best of luck and hope you have a great function.
Best regards,
Gary

Rob, as you also said...I always ask the customers WHY they booked me in the end. Was it because of the advert? Was it my customer service?
A lot of the time they do say (as you said) that everything they needed to know was on the website and then the service and the way I came across on the phone was very professional and re-assuring.

That works for me.


Hi Shakermaker,

If I'm already booked & get an enquiry for the same date, I send them a letter or email which is almost identical to yours...so I think you're dead right about us thinking & working the same way!

I'm also flattered that you're filled with confidence because a lot of what you do is the same as me, although I'm certainly not perfect.

The main reason I joined this forum was to get advice & information to improve my business, and it's certainly working.

Basically, I always aim to be professional, honest and efficient with clients, and do everything I can to ensure I give them exactly what they want.

I've done over 1000 discos in the last 23 years, and only received 4 complaints (all of them unjustified!), giving a customer satisfaction rate of over 99.97%...so I must be doing something right!

Thanks again for your comments, which are much appreciated.

:)

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

.

I've done over 1000 discos in the last 23 years, and only received 4 complaints

That many! :p :D