I get frustrated with companies that put up their web pages but never put contact information for any of their personnel. Ok, ok I understand you don’t want every salesperson and stalker going after your staff, however without any human contacts, companies seem to me to be mechanical and aren’t really reaching out to their customers.
Personally an email directory of a person in each department would be fantastic. If I had a question or an issue, I could direct it to someone who could forward it to the appropriate person. Having a “form” to fill out doesn’t cut it with me. I don’t know if it was ever sent, have no record of it in my outlook file, and frankly feel like I’m talking to a computer, especially when I get an automated response.
Don’t get me wrong – automated responses aren’t bad, if there purpose was simply to tell you that the message was received and would be acted on. At least I know that it wasn’t lost in cyber space.
If you want an example, check out the web site of our printer, Ovid Bell Press. You immediately can find the executive board, customer service, sales, tech support. Real people with email addresses, phones, and the like.
In an age of email, texting, FB, twitter, and voicemail, having a real person to talk to seems to me to be important. So what if you get a few extra emails in your in box? So there’s a message or two you didn’t expect in your voicemail. You are in business, aren’t you? And who is the most important person in your business life? If you answer isn’t “my customer” then you may have a problem
JVH
2 Responses
Two words:
Spam avoidance.
We have individual contacts on our website, and we get tons of spam, but we think it’s worth it from a customer service/sales standpoint. We also believe in answering the phone with a human voice.