We all dream of building up a larger clientele and watching our business expand. Expansion is the only way to increase your income—if you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll always have what you’ve got right now. We hand out business cards, we invite potential clients to visit our offices, we reward referrals—we do what we can to spread the word about our goods or services. But if we aren’t consistently checking our emails, we are shooting ourselves in the foot.
I have a hard time keeping my jaw from falling to the floor when I hear someone say that they don’t check their email very often. The Internet is here to stay, and it’s becoming more and more a part of the lives of every person on the planet, unless we’re talking about wallabies out in the bush, but wallabies aren’t people, so my premise holds.
If you want to find a plumber, you’re more likely to turn to the Internet than to the phone book to find one, aren’t you? After all, not only can you get his phone number, but you can see what his other customers have had to say about him. And let’s say he has a link on his page that says, “Email me to ask your plumbing question today!” So you click on the link, ask him your question, and then he never replies. This does two things—it makes him look unreliable, and it sends you looking for another plumber.
If you are in business, and you are trying to build up that business, checking your e-mail and responding in a very timely manner should be one of your top priorities. You don’t have to do it personally—you can hire an assistant—but in this day and age of computers, if you’re not making yourself known online and if you’re not communicating regularly, you are losing business like water through a sieve.
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Thank You for Calling, Have a Nice Day
Business Marketing 101: Creating a Website
Successful Habits for Business