Thanks
to our great customers, our business is continuing to grow at a
steady,
uphill rate. With this increase in business, we seem to notice the
beginning
of customer complaints about our turnaround time for processing
orders.
At
first, I became "paranoid" and thought I was doing something wrong.
I
forced myself to work 20 hour days, eliminated my social and family life
completely
and ignored anything else that didn't pertain to business.
Unfortunately,
this approach did not solve the problem. I ended up running
my
body down and became so ill I was confined to bed for almost 4 days.
So,
what did I gain?
Then,
I received another complaint about our turnaround time a few weeks
later.
But this time, instead of getting "paranoid," I sat back and analyzed
the
situation. The 3 complaint letters had one thing in common _ they were
all
from beginners in mail order. My long-time, repeat customers had not
complained
in the least _ just 3 beginners in mail order.
So,
I telephoned one of the people who complained and learned they had
expected
their order within 4-5 days after they mailed their original
order
in. Since it had been 2 weeks since they ordered, they labeled our
turnaround
time as "very poor." It suddenly dawned on me that they were
expressing
the same behavior all beginners experience _ lack of patience!
But,
they aren't entirely at fault.
Why?
Because most beginners in mail order are used to shopping locally.
They
walk into K-Mart, pick out what they visually want to buy, pay for it
and
take it home (no waiting.) In addition, when these beginners get involved
in
mail order, they are excited about their business. They are ready to go!
They
wait and watch their mailbox everyday for the order they in. Their
patience
wears thin.
Another
reason beginners to mail order are so impatient is because the
advertisement
they answered to send in their order motivated them. They were
excited
and wanted to learn more. Since they don't have many customer orders
to
process and take up their time _ the beginner will rush to their mailbox
everyday,
hoping to find their order. Time is slow for them and a week seems
like
2 years. So naturally they become angry because they are tired of
waiting.
What happens to a child who is promised a day at the circus if
they
clean up their room? Don't they hurry and scurry around just to get the
reward?
Eventually,
these people will understand why turnaround times can take
several
weeks for average mail order dealers. If any mail order business
has
been around for several years or decades, they are probably processing
huge
tons of mail on a daily basis. And since most of us are too poor to
hire
outside help, we do most of the work ourselves.
In
addition, we operate on low budgets and therefore do not have all the
updated
equipment that would make our jobs easier. And on top of all this,
most
of us are very conscientious about our quality and would rather take
the
time to do each job right rather than "rushing" just to get caught
up.
That's
right! Most of us don't have large offices with 200 employees.
We're
one-person operations and have to sleep and eat once in a blue moon!
Most
beginners cannot conceive the idea of hauling a mail sack or tray full
of
mail home on a daily basis. Then, it takes 2 or 3 hours just to open it
all
and another hour or two to separate and begin processing the orders.
Couple
these duties with phone calls, price quotes, marketing, picking up
supplies,
designing advertising materials, etc. the average mail order
dealer
works his/her "behind" off!
Heaven
help the guy or gal that has a family. Or a single mother working a
part-time
or full-time job and running a business out of her home. These
people
are doing the best they can!
So,
if you are a beginner _ give us a little slack if your order is delayed
(within
reason, of course.) The inner-circle dealers who have been in
business
awhile are there because they have proven themselves to be honest
and
reliable. They want to provide you with the best quality, so give them
a
few extra days!
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