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Customer Ghosting - impolite
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estebanana
Posts: 9351
Joined: Oct. 16 2009
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 Customer Ghosting - impolite
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To whom it may not concern, ( sarcasm)
Have you ever had customers engage you in several emails asking detailed questions only to stop corresponding after you've answered all the questions?
Looky guys, if you ask 70 questions and take 30 or 40 minutes of someones time and you don't buy a guitar from them, that's part of the business, it's ok because guitar makers are grown up's who expect a lot of tire kickers and slow deciders. It's part of the job to answer questions about yourself, your experience, your brand and your work methods etc.
If you do engage someone in a long volley of emails it's expected, because laying out several thousand dollars for a guitar is a big deal. Customers however should say thanks for all the information - leaving a conversation without saying anything to either close a deal or close the conversation is very rude. Just because someone wants to buy a guitar and spend a lot of money, it does not entitle them to snub someone who just gave 15, 30 or 60 minutes of professional shop time returning emails and writing thoughtfully about what the guitar maker could help them with.
Here are a couple of things one could say:
Thank you for all the information, I appreciate your time. I'm evaluating my guitar buying budget and I'll get back you eventually when I'm ready to buy.
or-
I'm auditioning several guitar makers at once and I appreciate your help and information. Best of luck with your work...
Falling off a conversation and leaving people wondering is not cool. It may be a buyers market, but it does not mean being rude is cool. I appreciate the final close of an inquiry one way or another.
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https://www.stephenfaulkguitars.com
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Date Dec. 17 2017 0:22:44
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Mark2
Posts: 1871
Joined: Jul. 12 2004
From: San Francisco
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RE: Customer Ghosting - impolite (in reply to estebanana)
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I've been there as well. I can remember being 25 years old in a conference room with competitors for a pre bid meeting for a large job, knowing I had zero chance. And over the years I was denied jobs right and left. Being denied even if I was low bid. But at some point the tables turned, and I started being offered the low price by suppliers, and customers started showing me they preferred giving the contract to my company, often saying my quote was higher, but they liked or trusted me more. I think it comes down to experience, and to an extent age. Now I'm 59 years old, and I'm the guy looking at the young competitor, knowing he has zero chance. And I realize that in ten years, I'll be the guy who won't get the job because I'll be considered too old. A forty or fifty year old will look more.....capable. I still have tire kickers, including people who come to my showroom, take pictures of the labels of the products, likely to try to purchase them on the net for less. All part of the game. I curse those sorry mf'ers and move on.
quote:
ORIGINAL: estebanana
Yeah I've been in that situation. Especially with school contracts, they gave to assemble five or six bids, but they know who they will hire.
The one I hate is the project manager who needs to put a budget together for a job, and puts you through a site visit and an estimate, only for a bid they won't give you.
There's a lot of time wasting games. I don't mind educating and give support and advice, and selling myself and my work. But you would think musicians would say thanks, only about half do that.
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Date Dec. 18 2017 16:21:07
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Ruphus
Posts: 3782
Joined: Nov. 18 2010
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RE: Customer Ghosting - impolite (in reply to estebanana)
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There was a documentary about amazon (amazing how it can creep into your life. Some families have been put under Amazon deprivation for an experiment. And to them it was like cold turkey), and besides how retailers are going bankrupt under its competition. Which seems to be concerning all the stores who have shown too inflexible for to react correspondingly.
Others who would have had a decline of turnover around ~ 5-20% or so p.a. went into a parellel of online sales and are seeing turnover increase of around 5-20% p.a. or so.
The online dealing makes for additional time investment, with some small store owners after closing shop having to schlep parcels to the post office and to sit until midnight for to update their online offering, but it comes with a growing instead of a going down business.
Behind the computers are sitting people and clients. Some are just tire kickers and uncivilized AHs, others are clients.
I know that I have quite pestered a luthier with special requests (which he understood, while doing what he could to make features come true) and a lengthy correspondence (albeit sensing a kind of connection and pal being at that, to this day), but ordered a guitar too.
The procedure with ordering such a special thing like a guitar of individual demand actually being close to what would be occurring if I lived next door and had visited his shop several times talking about details. Only that conversation is being held per typing, which naturally is more time and energy consuming.
The latter could meanwhile be reduced by use of an app like telegram though, where sound files of conversation can be exchanged (-and listened to anytime that fits you best), which is much less consuming than typing.
The internet mustn´t be enhanced competition, anonymous misuse and suppliers nightmare only. It can as well be a business accelerator and marketing tool.
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Date Dec. 20 2017 5:14:14
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estebanana
Posts: 9351
Joined: Oct. 16 2009
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RE: Customer Ghosting - impolite (in reply to estebanana)
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With respect to the idea that if you make yourself more aloof in business that you will attract more customers, for instrument makers this is not true at all. Every good maker I know, and many I don't know in person, but have corresponded with, spend great amounts of time communicating with ongoing customers, other makers, and potential customers.
In the early 1990's a guy named Jim Furey taught me how to hair violin bows. He was Rolland Fellers shop partner at Feller violins in San Francisco. The first day in the shop he said you have to work to educate customers, they don't deserve to be left in the dark, that mysterious stuff some makers pull is annoying. He said learn to explain what you're doing, tell them as much as they want to know about the process. It's reciprocal too, you have to listen to the musician. He was right.
I know a couple top makers in the violin world, they have lifetime closed waiting lists, they are also engaged almost everyday in lots of emailing. It's just become part of the job now. I think makers would rather hear something like thanks for the valuable input, now I'm going to think carefully. All I'm saying is, use makers as a resource, just don't drop conversations without saying thanks for the information.
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https://www.stephenfaulkguitars.com
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Date Dec. 20 2017 12:02:11
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