Four Hours of My Life

Regular readers know I’ve got ten thumbs anytime technology’s involved.

However, recognizing how much I need computers to run my business, I’ve learned to rely on professionals for fixing issues related to my own email, website, etc.

This strategy generally makes my life MUCH easier. But it gets frustrating when professional help is so…unprofessional.

Take my recent effort to fix a client’s website copy. Hosted at Network Solutions, I sat on hold FOUR HOURS just waiting for technical service to answer the phone.

I did some work while waiting, but couldn’t really focus. And because I was helping a client, I had little choice but to wait for a ridiculous period of time.

Who do I talk to about getting back those four hours of my life?

Customer service reps largely work from home these days, so things sometimes take a little longer. That’s understandable.

So how come, when I contacted GoDaddy (Network’s competitor) today for a similar issue, I waited on hold a total of three minutes?

That’s an 8000% difference!

I share this tale with you as a warning for your own business. Because regardless of what you sell or to whom, you’ve got competition. And with times being tight, your competition’s looking very aggressively for any type of edge.

Furthermore, just as I sat on hold for four hours, your competitor’s got someone doing the same thing and clocking you.

Sure, you can use cute on-hold music to entertain waiting customers, but that only goes so far. Eventually, your customers will get annoyed and hang up. And if such long delays happen too often, they’ll just switch to another provider.

Ah, I can hear the excuses now: You can’t hire good people. We can’t afford it. The internet was down.

Horsefeathers! Unlike a year ago, today there’s plenty of available talent. As for the budget, investing in your company will go much further in the long-run to appease shareholders than just returning a few pennies per share will this quarter.

Because, as your customer, I don’t care what the problem is. All I care about is the four hours of my life wasted because of real or perceived incompetence on your side. And I, for one, am unwilling to pay for your mistakes.

With that said, I wish you a week of profitable marketing.

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