Find out what happens to customers when you’re busy

This article first appeared on July 25, 2011.

It’s time to go undercover for a little investigation into your customer service systems and processes. The question: What happens to customers when your business is running flat out?

As a leader, it’s easy to see what happens inside your business when things are running at full steam – the team will invariably focus on delivering on existing deals and customers, which can mean there is little time for new ones.

Heck, I remember one time when I made a web inquiry with a business only to have them tell me they would get back to me within 28 days!

With this in mind, wait until a really busy period and spend a few minutes conducting some simple tests:

• Send an email with a customer inquiry to your standard “contact us” address. See how long it takes to get a response.
• Send an inquiry through your website’s “contact us” form. See how long it takes to get a response.
• Leave a phone message for your sales team. See how long it takes them to return your call.

Now, you’ll need to judge what you think if a good, bad or indifferent response time. But the results will be instructive about how your team copes during periods of high demand.

Get it done – today!