It's the 21st century! We have the ability not only to walk on the moon now, but also talk to the other side of the world and see them through your mobile phone. That's technology! But as your computer gets smaller and your car begins to talk to you, when do past practices become obsolete? When is it no longer necessary to follow past expectations? Or common courtesy for that matter? A friend of mine was recently holding a dinner party. The night was just beginning and people where starting to arrive. He receives a text message on his mobile phone from one of the guests, saying that he could not make it. Are these complete disregards also happening in business today? Is it that as technology gets better, we get more rude? Can you still get 'good service'? What is classed as 'good service'? Well looking through my old notes I found six simple rules that a marketing guru once told me. They are quite straight forward, but maybe simplicity is what we need at the end of the day. 1. Prompt service. This means RETURNING PHONE CALLS. Its not hard, a quick phone call before the end of that day will not make the world fall off its axis. They made the effort, so should you! Things get done quicker and people really do respect prompt service, basically because they are not used to it. 2. Preparing written documents inside a short time-span. I admit this is sometimes hard to do, but making a habit of it can mean more work gets done quicker, also it lets you totally focus on what you are writing about because it is fresh in your head. 3. Avoiding spelling errors. Most people use spell check, which works 99% of the time unless you have it defaulted to U.S English! Also a quick read through may save emarrassbent (woops!) later. 4. Clear and plain language. Not all of us have doctorates from UNSW; so simple layman's terms will suffice. Don't think for a second that your client will think you're a dummy, they will understand it more easily, and in turn things stay simple. This is especially directed to anyone in the legal sector. 5. Being a good/REGULAR communicator. Keeping in touch isn't hard and makes it easier when you ring someone 'out of the blue' for a favour. 6. Showing empathy. Humans like to feel that they matter to someone, if you show interest in someone's life, they are happier. Try it, you will be surprised from the results. The reason why it's called good service is because it's good, not bad. Hopefully someone out there will adopt some of these rules, so it makes at least one consumer happier. Give it a shot, if it doesn't work send me an email and tell me why. I'll try and get back to you (joke!).
Written by: Diane Costa. Director, Marketing MechanicsPlease feel free to contact us on 02 9565 2120 for more information or visit us online @ www.marketingmechanics.com.au VIEW OUR BLOG! http://marketingmechanics.blogspot.com/