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| Saturday, 01 November 2008 13:26 |
Sophie’s World: Get up close and personal“Many of those I spoke to said they didn't mind paying slightly more for specific services if they knew they were going to get continuity of contact".Working out a consensus is pretty tricky at the moment and, having been asked earlier in the year to place some accurate forecasting on growth (or otherwise) within the wide-format sector, after careful consideration and much soul searching, I declined to come up with any ideas at all. In truth, none of us really knows what the future holds and, more to the point, I don't feel we can just blame the government and the state of the economy for putting many print service providers and display producers into a bit of a spin, wondering what to do next. My experiences in contacting companies has brought up an interesting difference between the despondent and the cheerful — and that's always been based on how these businesses have answered the telephone. Let's face it — we've had a buoyant decade or so where money has been more or less growing on trees so, perhaps, a bit of complacency has crept in along with a need to speed up the initial sales or ordering process. This has been complemented by the fact that ours has been a so-called growth industry, with new technology increasing automation. It's great that we have so many tasks that can now be performed seamlessly with minimal human intervention but, without any jobs or orders, no-one will get very far in securing work. Perhaps it's now time to get realistic and appreciate that winning jobs on margin alone isn't going to help when energy increases and price rises really start to bite. This is a golden opportunity for many to add the personal touch and polish up communications' skills. Although this is an industry which is technology driven, from start to finish, we're also in a people business. A few years ago I carried out a survey on supplies for one of the major manufacturers, and this involved contacting a random selection of end users and asking why they chose particular companies for their materials, inks and other consumables. Surprisingly, when it came down to media, there was remarkably little brand loyalty and, although price and delivery times came out on top, a clear third on the list was the fact that purchasers preferred to deal with people they like. The same principles tend to apply when print producers are pitching for work or using sales and marketing teams to promote awareness of what they can bring to the outside world. Again, it's hardly surprising that, on both sides, end users and their customers believed the personal aspect was important and that it made the world of difference being able to deal with a consistently friendly and knowledgeable individual or team rather than what can only be described as a wall of indifference. In fact, in both these instances, many of those I spoke to said they didn't mind paying slightly more for specific services if they knew they were going to get continuity of contact. Communication is a skill and, normally, you only have one chance of getting it right. We've all played the call centre game and suffered the rigours of having to sit in an endless telephonic queue. After punching in countless numbers for multiple options (none of which quite fit the category we were after anyway), we're told, "your call is very important to us - please hold", before being subjected to the same truncated loop of Mozart before mysteriously being disconnected. In the majority of cases, if you can't get the response you want (or, indeed, any human reaction whatsoever), it's unlikely that you'll ever contact that particular company again unless it's absolutely essential. Instead, it's just easier to move to the next name down the list and try again until, finally, you succeed in getting through not only to a real person but one who actually sounds pleasant and understands what you're talking about. Successful companies are those who are able to respond quickly and accurately; those forever on voice-mail or who leave you faced with a bewildering choice of options once you're connected stand a far lower chance of winning business. Although logistics seem to have led us into a world of remote call centres sometimes located in countries we never even knew existed, that very term is enough to send a chill down even the most tolerant of spines. Many seem to be manned by the equivalent of Stepford wives (and husbands) whose total lack of vocal inflection confirms the fact that you're being addressed via a pre-prepared script. People need people and businesses need humans in order to communicate effectively. There's been a noticeable improvement in recent times where, even if you have to telephone your electricity supplier or telephone service provider, names are beginning to be added to the strangers' voices on the end of the line — I even have a bank manager I can call Jessica rather than just an 0845 number where you need more than a basic knowledge of arithmetic to work out which combination will get you through to the right department. Although the Internet has risen in popularity as a method for making initial contact with a company, the telephone still plays a vital role. And the person receiving that initial call can make or break a relationship. Creating a good and lasting first impression has never been more important. 
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