Manage Customer Expectations With Your Business Card
Crystal posted this on March 19, 2008
Sam Leader of Flying Solo offered this story on setting expectations for customer contact: she got an immediate—though automated—company email reply that promised someone would “get back in touch soon”. Months later she still hasn’t heard from them.
She notes her frustration isn’t because they didn’t reply, but because they failed to keep the promise they made. The first (and only) step she offers to avoid disappointing your own customers is
…review what channels of communication you make available. If your business card includes your landline, mobile and email, then you must be prepared to handle all interaction that follows.
Keeping your promises
She raises an important point. While you may feel compelled to include every possible way for a customer to reach you, you’re better off only making promises you can keep. Take a moment to consider which contact methods work best with your personality, business practices, and office setup. Then:
- Include on your business card only the methods you intend to monitor daily
- Highlight your preferred contact method with color, bold text, primary placement, or a larger font size
What to include, what to leave out
Here are some ideas on what to add or subtract from your business card:
- Include office hours on your business card if you don’t intend to answer the phone whenever
- Include your US time zone (e.g., EST) if you have customers throughout the US
- Include your international time zone (e.g. GMT -5) if you have customers all over the world
- Omit your phone number if you don’t want to talk to people…crazy, I know!
- Omit your street address if you work from home and don’t want customers at your door
- Include your usernames for social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn if you monitor them daily
- Include your website URL, period. If you don’t have a website, get one—here’s why.
Online communication tools
And while you’re thinking about how customers will contact you, look over these online tools that can make incoming faxes, calls, and mail more manageable:
- Use uFax or MyFax for a silent, secure fax “machine” that costs less than a second phone line. Another benefit: no need to wait by the fax machine, you can read these faxes online from anywhere
- Consider uReach’s Find Me/Follow Me for a single phone number that will redirect customers to any of your phones or voicemail, depending on the time of day
- Try Google’s Grand Central for a single phone number that can route calls based on the caller. You customize which of your phones will ring and which voicemail message they hear
- Check out Earth Class Mail for an online mailbox. They receive your snailmail, scan the envelopes, and you choose whether they should forward, shred, toss, or—get this—open the mail and scan the contents so you can read your mail online. I can’t wait to try this!
There are certainly ideas I didn’t think of, and services I haven’t heard of. Feel free to comment on what I left out…
Tagged with: business cards · customer service
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19 Responses to “Manage Customer Expectations With Your Business Card”
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Crystal,
Great list! I would add that while you may not want your street address on your business card if you’re working from home, you’ve got to have at least a P.O. box address, otherwise you’re giving a really fly-by-night appearance.
Another one that might seem too obvious but gets overlooked is your own name. I get handed a lot of cards that have a business name but no human’s name, yet the card was handed to me by a human… odd… That just means I’ll never remember you, and I probably won’t call someone I can’t remember.
Regards,
Kelly
Hi Kelly
Doh! I didn’t even think about listing “include your name”…totally took it for granted.
I would love to know what the No Name Folks were thinking when they had anonymous cards printed? Heck, the old old skool way (like, Victorian era) was to have a calling card with nothing but your name.
And you’re right about the PO Box, too. On that topic: What do you think of paying more for a street address at a Mailbox Etc., incubator, virtual office site, etc.? Worth the extra cash for a startup, or no?
Thanks for your additions!
Crystal
I only have phone, web, & email contact info on my cards. Haven’t thought of listing social networking info. That would make your card stand out.
I like your mention of follow-me phone numbers. I’ve been using such a service w/ a toll-free number since 1999.
I’ve also tried Grand Central and like their voice to text technology. I used their web click-to-talk buttons on a clients site and they have received several new client contacts through it.
Crystal,
Re: no names on the card: It is such a doh! but I still see LOTS of them. Maybe they think its a privacy thing, but hey, you’re in business! It’s not supposed to be a secret! (There are an unbearable number of websites that do this, too. No names, no contact info except a lonely email address or a contact form.
No, I say go with the real P.O. box.
1. Lots of businesses with real addresses do it (my attorney’s law firm, in a huge high-rise, does it as do lots of other big boys), so I don’t think it’s a stigma.
2. You can even keep the P.O. box as you move out of the home (if you choose that), and not appear to have moved (unless you throw a big open house for loyal clients, which is a good idea).
3. Although “making money online” is the hot concept, many, many microbusinesses get their bread-and-butter from local clients. Would they like to have a client do a drive-by of their “office”? Or how about why can’t we hold our meeting at the address on the card?
Better to go the honest but not disclosing too much route, and you can explain why meetings are always at their site (if they ask) with no awkward moments.
When I first began in business for myself, almost twenty years ago (ouch!), there was a real stigma about working from home and a huge question mark about a P.O. box on a business card. Now that’s really changed.
Whoa. Long comment. Gotta go make some money offline!
Until later,
Kelly
Hi Sterling,
Thanks for your comments! Good to hear that Grand Central is living up to the promises. I’m excited about my number but haven’t yet worked it out. I’ll be sure to look over that click-to-talk website button.
The social networking info may be a neat way to get potential (or existing) customers tapped into your business like no other medium. FilthyFarmGirl on Twitter is a good example.
Hi Crystal,
Thanks for the info on FilthyFarmGirl. I follow TeslaMotors and GuyKawasaki, other examples of promoting business through twitter.
You can see the GrandCentral web-call in action at http://www.longokura.com. I designed by own button for it.
@Sterling
Hi again!
The TeslaMotors feed was a treat, but Guy was mostly replying to 12+ other feeds LoL Not an easy thread for an outsider to follow.
The Long Okura call button is elegantly integrated into the site. The Lightbox-style execution for a caller is sweet
Love it!
Also, I/we really liked your post on remote working couples. It inspired a great brainstorm session, and the glimmer of a more flexible future.
You rock!
~CC
Hi Crystal,
I’m glad you thought my post was worthwhile. Your expansion on the theme is spot on. Don’t you just love the web?
I STILL haven’t heard back from that company. Corporates have a heap of work to do on their netiquette, I reckon.
Love your work!
Sam
Hi Sam!
I’ve enjoyed your blog for some time, a real pleasure to hear it’s mutual
Unfortunately, I’m not surprised no one has contacted you from the big corp. Gazillions spent on branding, marketing, and such… completely undone because an email went unanswered.
Funny how the Web is a blessing to us ‘little guys’, but the Biggies just can’t get their arms all the way around how to benefit from it…?
Thanks for dropping in!
@Crystal - Guy is primarily an evangelist using twitter to promote his new startups. Lots of interaction from his thread.
Thank you for checking out the sites, and the encouraging words on the button & article. Very kind of you.
It’s wonderful to have found another blog that focuses on small business. I look forward to grabbing future articles from your feed.
@Sterling — Always a pleasure to point out good stuff, and I’m watching your feed too. Later!
I have to admit, when I saw the title of this most I thought “eh?” expectations on a business card??? But it’s things you don’t even think of, like user names to social groups etc, thanks - I will remember to check next time I get some printed - eg take my fax number off as its never got any ink in it for a start!
Emilie–Hi again!
That is SO funny about your fax machine—I completely agree. I use an online fax service ( uFax at http://www.ureach.com ) because on the rare occasion I get a fax, it’s too important to miss because I didn’t leave it on, or was out of ink (like you said!), etc. The online fax is always available and I save paper and ink by only printing the bits I need to, if any.
Just a thought…
CW
ps And yeah, it’s definitely not my greatest headline ever
making customer trust is number one on selling in internet
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I have to say that when I get a business card the one thing that I expect from it is there should be someone there to answer my call if you don’t have voice mail. But then again if you don’t have voice mail then why do you have a business card?
Great tips! I have been working on managing my customer’s expectations, but this had never occurred to me.
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[...] her comments on managing customer expectations, Kelly from Maximum Customer Experience noted a trend in business cards: omitting your name. She [...]
I like the idea of listing your social networking links on your card. This could really help me out. Thanks for the information.
Thanks for sharing.Great tips! It’s one of the most difficult models to build across an organisation “customer’s expectations”, but as straightforward as it might sound, it hardly occurs..I enjoyed reading your post “The Business Peril Of Personality” It can’t get any simplier.