Do you get a proper response

[Chester Taje]

Hi All
I was wondering if any one else out there gets a proper e-mail response when asking a company about their products.I have e-mailed a number of companies and asked questions about cost or other info and in about 50% of the time get no answere back.I know these companies i have e-mailed are in operation and functioning properly.

[Benita]

Depends on the type of company, management profile and company size.

If the company has a salesperson dedicated to internet sales and responding to emails there will be a response 85-90% of the time. That doesn't say how fast the response will come. But there usually is one.

If its a "I make it" shop you're looking at 50/50. Those who make and those who organize, track things and keyboard are typically different personality types. By the time the maker sits down to keyboard, the opportunity is usually way past so nothing gets done.

If its a small to medium sized company depends on the age of the workforce. The older the management, the lower the using web as a business portal mentality tends to be. If everybody is doing everything or the web response person has too many hats its between 50/50 and 70/30 - 30% chance of getting a response.

If its someone under 45 trying to make a go of it, you'll get a relatievely quick response if they see any hope of making money off of you. If not, they won't bother to respond at all.

If its a medium/large company and no one has web sale responsibility the website is a billboard. No one is in the cockpit when it comes to web sales.

[Bigfoot Mike]

I think you have a pretty good grip on the situation Benita, thanks.

I sent an email to 25 people in my club. Only one responded. I sent an email to several in my family and 2 respond on a regular basis. They all say they get the emails and like them, but they don’t bother to write back and say, “Thanks” or anything.

I have come to believe it is a good internet practice to send a reply and say something, anything. Thanks, Got it, something just to let people know you are alive and well. (I’m NOT talking about replying to Forwards and other SPAM emails.)

I just emailed a business and got a response the next day. It turned out he was so helpful and educational I bought a different product and got terrific help.

[Brian B-P]

I have been thinking about the same subject, and have posted some comments about it before. I find about the same 50% response rate, and it seems that the quality of response goes to both extremes, with examples of levels in between.

I have no problem with businesses which choose not to interact with the public by e-mail or interactive websites - it is up to them to determine the most appropriate business practices for their purpose. I do get annoyed by businesses which offer communication by these methods, then do no follow through with them. To businesses: if you don't want to answer public e-mail, don't post an address on your "contact us" web page!

The response I get from a company in any type of interaction does influence my willingness to deal with them, and how I refer to them in discussions such as this one. I try to promptly acknowledge all responses, and when I get a particularly good one I make it a thank-you note.

I won't mention specific companies at this point, because I think it would be unfair without taking the time and effort to present a balanced summary. The exception, because he makes the effort to be an active member here in FiberglassRV, is Reace of Escape trailer; he has responded to my queries by e-mail and web form, and earned my respect and appreciation in doing so.

[CharlynnT]

Even in the Olden Days of Canada Post, faxes, or messages with a secretary, some people never EVER replied. I recall when returning to work from an extended maternity leave, "She STILL hasn't replied?"

[Natalie]

Hello and a Happy Holiday Season to everyone!

From personal experience, I would wonder if your e-mail is being responded to, but being returned to sender. (?)

There have been several e-mails we respond to that get returned. It seems that "spam" filters are often the cause of this, although one never knows for sure.

Just what may possibly be a alternate outlook to your situation.

Best wishes,
Natalie

[Dan Meyer]

In my experience, the only cicumstance that any company is even slightly interested in a customer is the circumstance where the customer still has the cash, and appears interested in the product.

Once the bill has been paid, they don't care.

Yes, I've had my share of dealing with bad customer service. The only time I've gotten consistently good customer service is when I have dealt with very small (under 10 employee) companies.

-- Dan Meyer

[Brian B-P]

In the specific area of e-mail inquiries for product information, I have not seen a correlation between company size and responsiveness: there are small shops which won't answer, and very small companies which immediately respond; large corporations with no response, and significant businesses who provide an immediate and personalized answer.

I find that it's a matter of the attitude in the business, not the size.

The approach is important, too. Even if I am not looking favourably at a company's product, I try to keep my query as polite and reasonable as possible, so that if someone actually reads it they might be inclined to be responsive.

I do agree that before-purchase and after-sales are different situations. I recently got a great response from one company... but it was clear in the responses that they were coming from (technically knowledgeable) sales reps, who had a stake in getting my business. I don't know what would happen if I purchased and then had a problem... but again, Chester is asking about product queries, not problem resolution.

[james kent]

I've had good luck with companies that use an 800 number.As it's answered through their switchboard, they seem to want our business. whereas an email based company seems to pick and choose. If I don't get a response from an email query then they don't get my business, small as it may be. If we all worked on this theory then mabee they would get the idea that a response means something.