A few weeks ago, we started a 5-part series with weekly installments entitled “Top 5 Mistakes for Businesses in the Digital Age”. In this series, we tackle the top 5 most common mistakes made by businesses while establishing their social media and web presence. On to Part 4…here we go!!

4. Not Following Up With Customers in a Timely Manner

In Part 3, we talked about avoiding over saturation of your business advertisements on social media. Today, we will touch on service level agreements. One of the quickest ways to alienate a customer base is to be unresponsive to information requests or support requests. If a customer or potential customer fills out a form on your website and you choose to send a auto response stating the timeframe in which you will be getting in contact with them, it is of the utmost importance that you honor your stated turnaround time.

This is typically a 2 step process:

  1. Choose a response time promise and ensure that you, at minimum, have the bandwidth to respond in the time you are stating you will be able to respond in.
  2. Try as much as possible to under promise and over deliver. i.e. if you state you will get back with the customer between 24-48 hours, try to get back with them within 24 hours.

If you are funneling visitors through a sales lead opt in form, please understand that every hour that passes by is another hour that the customer could have found another business to fill their needs in a more expeditious manner. Also, by being responsive, you will build a rapport with your customers that makes the entry barrier high for other businesses to come in and earn the repeat business of your potential and existing clientele.

Thanks for reading part 4 and let us know in the comments below your thoughts on today’s topic. In our last installment, we will talk about a topic that is probably the most common mistake businesses make these days. Stay tuned for part 5…

Author: Justin Cox