Help me to Help You!

[drcollie]

I am finding it increasingly more difficult to keep up with the quantity of email and private messages, and even phone calls that come in every day. I'd like to hire someone full time, but don't feel the store can afford to do so (if I raised my prices I could!) so I continue to go along - just me in the business. While I try to reply promptly as best I can, what really slows me down is trying to recap prior conversations with folks and remember what we discussed and who you are. I spend half my reply times going back into earlier emails and piecing together the conversation and I know some people get slightly offended when I don't recall it off the top of my head, and for that I apologize. Also, many people use one made up name for their forum ID (i.e., FurnLuver), another for email (i,e, RustyJ45@gmail.com) and then their real name is Rusty Jackson. No way I can remember all those id's, so please don't be offended if I don't have a recollection.


What you can do to help me - Help You.

* Summarize our conversations in every email or PM.
* Use your real first and last names in all communications.
* Be sure to include your mailing address with each order and sample request. Almost half the sample requests I get have no address included so it requires another exchange to get that.
* If you want me to look up past emails, tell me your email user name or forum ID in our communications
* If you are requesting custom features that require for me to call the maker and you don't hear back from me in 3 days, I may have have lost your contact information or it got buried. Make a follow-up inquiry.
* I don't have delivery information for the white glove services - please contact them directly
* Realize it may be 24 to 36 hours to respond to emails and PM's. I get to them when I can.
* Phone calls often go to voice mail. LEAVE A MESSAGE. Some think that by calling repeatedly every few minutes is the way to go. If I'm on the other line, or with a customer on the showroom a phone ringing off the hook is just an annoyance.
* Never, ever call me on the phone seeking advice on a Craigslist / used furniture purchases, or my opinion on brands I do not sell, or issues you have with another store. The forum is where you post inquires such as that.
* When seeking price quotes be sure to include your City/State AND Zip Code where it is going so you can get a complete quote as I do need both to compute freight. Just sending me a zip code alone costs me time to go search it for the city and state.

Time management is what its all about!

[Ci2Eye]

And then there are folks who use more than one email address.