What's the Best Way to Communicate: Out of Box Calls or E-Mail?

[ginamkiely]

Question... does everyone prefer out of box PHONE CALLS or E-MAILS?? I'm much more confortable via e-mail (who isn't) and I would prefer that over calling people but I don't know if the response is as good?

Thanks for your help

 

[PCJenni]

I use email so much for my business. I find my customer actually prefer it. I will call and if I get a machine I leave a message and then send an email right after I leave the message. 9 times out of 10 I will get an email response over a phone call.

 

[KellyTheChef]

I would say to try and call first...then send a follow up email like Jenni just said! That's much more personal...

 

[pamperedbecky]

Just my two cents:

I do OOB contacts via phone calls. I'm not that great at staying on top of them (trying to get better) because sometimes they're pretty late. Oh well, better late than never. I prefer these to Morning After Calls. I do send an email to all guests who gave me their email address the day or two (or three!) after the show with a thank you, a review of host benefits, a blurb about recruiting and all of the recipes that I made at the show. Since I do the emails, I feel it's a little over-kill to do big MAC calls AND OOB calls. I'd rather get my name back in front of their face with OOB calls since it's usually a month or so after the show.

 

[pamperedgirl3]

I do both--usually depending on how many people I have to contact & how much time I have that week. But I have found that I get more replies, etc. from the emails I do than the phone calls.

 

[feather18]

what is MAC? I know what OOB is now.. at first i didnt! but i do now!

 

[KellyTheChef]

Morning after call

you can call and see if they need to add to their order or book a show....

I don't do them (bad me) but I do try to do ccc (customer care calls) and tell them it's my OOB call! They usually laugh!

 

[ChefBeckyD]

My Sr. Director does MAC calls....always has, and she is the QUEEN of customer service. She swears by them - but I have never been able to make myself do them.....guess I need to try something out of my comfort zone there!

 

[pamperedgirl3]

My Sr. Director does MAC calls....always has, and she is the QUEEN of customer service. She swears by them - but I have never been able to make myself do them.....guess I need to try something out of my comfort zone there!

Probably how she is a Senior Director!!!

I haven't been doing them for awhile, but once I have this baby already, I'm using my month off to start them up again.

 

[PamperedChefDebi]

I do almost everything via email. I send a thank you email to each guest usually within 2 days of the show. If anyone has booked, I do a separate email with the date and time of their booking. If they've asked for additional info on ANYTHING, I sent it via email as well. Then about 2 weeks after the show ships (remember, I'm in Germany), I do a follow up email.

 

[beepampered]

I send the show recipe and a standard email (attached) after I enter the orders in - usually within 24 hours but not always. I then call 30-90 days after the show closes to see if they like their new products. Calls are usually just messages but I think it's much more personal than email.

 

[ginamkiely]

does anyone have a standard e-mail then send for out of box customer service?

thanks for all the tips!

 

[chefjeanine]

If you're trying to grow your business, I really think you'll need to bite the bullet and do customer care calls. You're not likely to get bookings from sending emails. When I'm on the phone I learn a lot about people (I take notes in PP). This gives me a chance to tell them when might be a good time for them to have a show or purchase a specific item (based on upcoming specials).

I don't like to do MAC calls (out of my comfort zone) but when I'm running my business like I want to, I will send a morning after email. I let them know that they can add to their order with no increase in shipping. I like the idea of including the recipe I used at the show they attended. This might be helpful in getting even more people to share their email addresses with me.