Comments on: How We Reduced Phone Calls by 94% AND Increased Sales http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/07/19/how-we-reduced-phone-calls-by-94-and-increased-sales/ Musings of a Balding 29 Year Old Business Owner Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:23:22 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Phone Support and Great Customer Service | Adam McFarland http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/07/19/how-we-reduced-phone-calls-by-94-and-increased-sales/comment-page-1/#comment-4731 Phone Support and Great Customer Service | Adam McFarland Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:27:31 +0000 http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/07/19/how-we-reduced-phone-calls-by-94-and-increased-sales/#comment-4731 [...] two years ago I wrote a post about how we essentially stopped taking customer service phone calls on Detailed Image and still increased revenue that [...] [...] two years ago I wrote a post about how we essentially stopped taking customer service phone calls on Detailed Image and still increased revenue that [...]

]]> By: Breaking Down the New Detailed Image - Part 2 of 3 | Adam McFarland http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/07/19/how-we-reduced-phone-calls-by-94-and-increased-sales/comment-page-1/#comment-2582 Breaking Down the New Detailed Image - Part 2 of 3 | Adam McFarland Wed, 27 May 2009 22:07:05 +0000 http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/07/19/how-we-reduced-phone-calls-by-94-and-increased-sales/#comment-2582 [...] wrote a while back about how we decreased our phone calls and emails with our previous contact page.  We decided to make it a little more intuitive this time around, [...] [...] wrote a while back about how we decreased our phone calls and emails with our previous contact page.  We decided to make it a little more intuitive this time around, [...]

]]> By: Do Consumers Expect too Much? | Adam McFarland's Blog - Musings of a Balding 26 Year Old Entrepreneur http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/07/19/how-we-reduced-phone-calls-by-94-and-increased-sales/comment-page-1/#comment-2403 Do Consumers Expect too Much? | Adam McFarland's Blog - Musings of a Balding 26 Year Old Entrepreneur Sun, 19 Apr 2009 11:25:09 +0000 http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/07/19/how-we-reduced-phone-calls-by-94-and-increased-sales/#comment-2403 [...] have made it almost impossible for people to call us, not because we don’t want to offer phone lines, but because we’d get several absurd [...] [...] have made it almost impossible for people to call us, not because we don’t want to offer phone lines, but because we’d get several absurd [...]

]]> By: It’s a Lifestyle Thing - Adam McFarland http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/07/19/how-we-reduced-phone-calls-by-94-and-increased-sales/comment-page-1/#comment-1542 It’s a Lifestyle Thing - Adam McFarland Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:58:53 +0000 http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/07/19/how-we-reduced-phone-calls-by-94-and-increased-sales/#comment-1542 [...] to celebrate our accomplishments very important to the future success of our company.   We work hard to minimize phone calls because we have deemed the majority of them to be time-wasters, but we still put a huge emphasis on [...] [...] to celebrate our accomplishments very important to the future success of our company.   We work hard to minimize phone calls because we have deemed the majority of them to be time-wasters, but we still put a huge emphasis on [...]

]]> By: Joseph http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/07/19/how-we-reduced-phone-calls-by-94-and-increased-sales/comment-page-1/#comment-1456 Joseph Sun, 19 Oct 2008 06:20:34 +0000 http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/07/19/how-we-reduced-phone-calls-by-94-and-increased-sales/#comment-1456 Hey Adam, I really enjoyed reading this blog especially since I am currently taking a course at my university that deals with Service Marketing. I feel like you are a guest speaker from my class lectures. The importance of the service sector is growing rapidly and I have become more and more interested in the different aspects of not only the importance and relevance of customer service but also on the solutions to such problems. I look forward to reading more of your blogs! -Joseph Hey Adam,

I really enjoyed reading this blog especially since I am currently taking a course at my university that deals with Service Marketing. I feel like you are a guest speaker from my class lectures.

The importance of the service sector is growing rapidly and I have become more and more interested in the different aspects of not only the importance and relevance of customer service but also on the solutions to such problems. I look forward to reading more of your blogs!

-Joseph

]]> By: Making Email Efficient - Adam McFarland http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/07/19/how-we-reduced-phone-calls-by-94-and-increased-sales/comment-page-1/#comment-1358 Making Email Efficient - Adam McFarland Wed, 10 Sep 2008 02:38:32 +0000 http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/07/19/how-we-reduced-phone-calls-by-94-and-increased-sales/#comment-1358 [...] from.  Do everything within your power to reduce the number of emails you receive…including setting up FAQ systems like we did to minimize email [...] [...] from.  Do everything within your power to reduce the number of emails you receive…including setting up FAQ systems like we did to minimize email [...]

]]> By: The Most Efficient Way to Scale a Process - Adam McFarland http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/07/19/how-we-reduced-phone-calls-by-94-and-increased-sales/comment-page-1/#comment-1270 The Most Efficient Way to Scale a Process - Adam McFarland Fri, 08 Aug 2008 17:48:19 +0000 http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/07/19/how-we-reduced-phone-calls-by-94-and-increased-sales/#comment-1270 [...] perfect example is our customer service system.  Here’s [...] [...] perfect example is our customer service system.  Here’s [...]

]]> By: Adam McFarland http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/07/19/how-we-reduced-phone-calls-by-94-and-increased-sales/comment-page-1/#comment-1240 Adam McFarland Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:43:09 +0000 http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/07/19/how-we-reduced-phone-calls-by-94-and-increased-sales/#comment-1240 Nethy - I definitely didn't take it as a shot. You are a fantastic commenter who brings up points of view that I don't usually consider. Nethy – I definitely didn’t take it as a shot. You are a fantastic commenter who brings up points of view that I don’t usually consider.

]]> By: nethy http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/07/19/how-we-reduced-phone-calls-by-94-and-increased-sales/comment-page-1/#comment-1239 nethy Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:56:01 +0000 http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/07/19/how-we-reduced-phone-calls-by-94-and-increased-sales/#comment-1239 Hi Adam, I didn't mean it as a shot. (I don't think you took it as such). I realise that 1/2 hour support calls (or even 5 min emails) add up, interrupt & are time costly, especially at the stage you are at. I can imagine that 'didn't read the manual' type questions are especially annoying. It's a tough (costly) decision to make. The big corporate version is outsourcing call centres vs working locally/inhouse. BTW - it's interesting you bring up G!. They do something similar for adwords help. Basically, they guide, point & force you though questionnaires & try to point you to the DIY help materials whenever possible with a lot of 'are you sure you wouldn't rather look through the materials yourself' before you get to send a form or chat to someone. Occasionally, (presumably when Sergey & Larry are bored) a chat button used to pop up. Lately they've been less determined to steer you away from the people though. If you know which buttons to press you can usually get through to the chat pretty quick. Hi Adam,
I didn’t mean it as a shot. (I don’t think you took it as such).

I realise that 1/2 hour support calls (or even 5 min emails) add up, interrupt & are time costly, especially at the stage you are at.
I can imagine that ‘didn’t read the manual’ type questions are especially annoying. It’s a tough (costly) decision to make. The big corporate version is outsourcing call centres vs working locally/inhouse.

BTW – it’s interesting you bring up G!. They do something similar for adwords help. Basically, they guide, point & force you though questionnaires & try to point you to the DIY help materials whenever possible with a lot of ‘are you sure you wouldn’t rather look through the materials yourself’ before you get to send a form or chat to someone.

Occasionally, (presumably when Sergey & Larry are bored) a chat button used to pop up. Lately they’ve been less determined to steer you away from the people though. If you know which buttons to press you can usually get through to the chat pretty quick.

]]> By: Adam McFarland http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/07/19/how-we-reduced-phone-calls-by-94-and-increased-sales/comment-page-1/#comment-1238 Adam McFarland Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:31:56 +0000 http://www.adam-mcfarland.net/2008/07/19/how-we-reduced-phone-calls-by-94-and-increased-sales/#comment-1238 @Import - thanks for taking the time to comment, glad you like the blog @PhoneTool - not a fan of IVR systems AT ALL @Nethy - great comment as usual. "If you make it super-easy to contact you & work on your support materials at the same time, you get a sort of progress report: The number of support contacts/site visits, purchases or whatever." I probably should have prefaced the entire thing by also saying that each site already had FAQ/support materials in place that we had made readily available. Don't get me wrong - we're always trying to improve them - but we were still getting contacts related to questions that were clearly answered inline and in FAQs, which was the reason for such a preemptive measure. Even if the answer is easy to find, a lot of customers (in our experiences of course) will just click the contact button and call regardless. Being a small business with limited resources, we had to make the call to essentially "force" them through our online support before allowing them to contact us. You're general premise is correct (the router example is a good one): it's not a band-aid solution to cover up other problems that shouldn't be there in the first place. Again, I probably should have prefaced the post a bit better, but that wasn't the goal here. We're certainly also doing that constantly as well. The "perfect" website doesn't need a help or contact section because it is so user friendly that anyone can figure it out. Google search is probably the only example I can think of. Definitely not feasible for us to be that user friendly, but we still strive to eliminate any usability questions inline during the user interaction so that they don't have to pause and read an FAQ or contact us. @Import – thanks for taking the time to comment, glad you like the blog

@PhoneTool – not a fan of IVR systems AT ALL

@Nethy – great comment as usual. “If you make it super-easy to contact you & work on your support materials at the same time, you get a sort of progress report: The number of support contacts/site visits, purchases or whatever.” I probably should have prefaced the entire thing by also saying that each site already had FAQ/support materials in place that we had made readily available. Don’t get me wrong – we’re always trying to improve them – but we were still getting contacts related to questions that were clearly answered inline and in FAQs, which was the reason for such a preemptive measure. Even if the answer is easy to find, a lot of customers (in our experiences of course) will just click the contact button and call regardless. Being a small business with limited resources, we had to make the call to essentially “force” them through our online support before allowing them to contact us.

You’re general premise is correct (the router example is a good one): it’s not a band-aid solution to cover up other problems that shouldn’t be there in the first place. Again, I probably should have prefaced the post a bit better, but that wasn’t the goal here. We’re certainly also doing that constantly as well. The “perfect” website doesn’t need a help or contact section because it is so user friendly that anyone can figure it out. Google search is probably the only example I can think of. Definitely not feasible for us to be that user friendly, but we still strive to eliminate any usability questions inline during the user interaction so that they don’t have to pause and read an FAQ or contact us.

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