Business must be good

K

kissingmybbgoodbye

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Business must be good seeing the response I get from companies for quotes. I want to convert some steel windows to aluminium. I started of contacting 3 companies, send them an email requesting a quote, gave them the sizes etc. After 2 days no response at all. Ok next 3 companies, 1 response, Tried again 3 companies no response. So after requesting quotes from 9 companies I get 1 quote. what the h3ll is wrong with South African companies. 1 quote out of 9 request in a week. I even gave some courtesy calls to the companies reminding them that I requested a quote. Response we'll get onto it directly. I am still waiting.

Same for a quote I need for a total replacement of underground water pipes (leaking like a sif). The assigned company by the insurance company estimated a certain price (which was above the insurance threshold, so the bank pay me directly for the max. I am free to choose any company. I am still waiting after 3 days to get a quote from the the insurance appointed company. (there is an urgency to it as I live in sinkhole area, plus it is costing me buckets loads of water everyday which equals to $). I guess they are just to busy overcharging insurance companies.

Lucky i found someone who could start immediate at a lower price as the rough estimate of the other company.

Rant over.
 
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yeah - its takes 3 calls to most companies to get a quote. I applied to Cell C and Telkom, who I already hate, for their 100GB contracts. Filled in forms etc, had to pop into the shops twice to follow up and never heard back from either of them. Clearly they don't think they need R1k/month.
 
Sure .... common problem.

These martha fokkers complain about slow business, but treat potential customers like shirt ..... frokkem!!
 
TEXTILE GUY said:
Sure .... common problem.

These martha fokkers complain about slow business, but treat potential customers like shirt ..... frokkem!!
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The owners complain and the workers ignore the clients... so there is the disconnect.

Except if it's the owner that complains and ignores, then they are hypocrites.
 
I think it may not be as simple as that. Business is tight so most companies do not have money to employ lots of sales people to do quotes for people who are just shopping around. You'll probably find its a combination of:

* responding to orders only since its assured business
* responding to quote requests from existing customers - return business
* responding to requests to get the work done at any price

If you're just going fishing for prices for small projects and there is a 10-20% chance that they'll get any business from you then you will be at the bottom of the priority list.
 
Also, try the telephone. Using a comms medium such as email where the recipients already get more spam than genuine queries significantly increases the risk that your email will get lost or at least deprecated, perhaps even moved to a spam bucket and only seen days or weeks later.

I get dramatically better results using the phone.
 
ambo said:
I think it may not be as simple as that. Business is tight so most companies do not have money to employ lots of sales people to do quotes for people who are just shopping around. You'll probably find its a combination of:

* responding to orders only since its assured business
* responding to quote requests from existing customers - return business
* responding to requests to get the work done at any price

If you're just going fishing for prices for small projects and there is a 10-20% chance that they'll get any business from you then you will be at the bottom of the priority list.
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This is a dumb business model. Sales and leads drive a business. An email enquiry might not mean assured money in the pocket, but no response means that if you've spent any money marketing to the people who contacted via email (an email you might have supplied as a means of contact), not replying is costing you money on top of not making the sale due to not response.
 
Arthur said:
Also, try the telephone. Using a comms medium such as email where the recipients already get more spam than genuine queries significantly increases the risk that your email will get lost or at least deprecated, perhaps even moved to a spam bucket and only seen days or weeks later.

I get dramatically better results using the phone.
Click to expand...

No doubt, but from what I can gather you were in business, if you're trying to make it a successful one you're going to respond to every email that isn't blatant spam.
 
ambo said:
I think it may not be as simple as that. Business is tight so most companies do not have money to employ lots of sales people to do quotes for people who are just shopping around. You'll probably find its a combination of:

* responding to orders only since its assured business
* responding to quote requests from existing customers - return business
* responding to requests to get the work done at any price

If you're just going fishing for prices for small projects and there is a 10-20% chance that they'll get any business from you then you will be at the bottom of the priority list.
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Yes three windows might not sound a lot, but I have got another 15 or so windows which I am going todo in the future as well. So by ignoring me as a potential new client they will have lost out on future business as well.

If you're just going fishing for prices for small projects and there is a 10-20% chance that they'll get any business from you then you will be at the bottom of the priority list.
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Well how am I supposed to get pricing info then. can I make up my own prices? Also how much effort is it. I send them the dimension by email, they don't have to come out they should be able to give a quote on that and when I finally decide on which company to use then they can come and do the final measurements before they custom make.

Even if you are small company it should not be rocket science to get to a price based on dimensions.
 
Not trying to defend bad service. It's never ok, and I unreservedly want the market to sort out the good from the bad.

Without prescinding in any way from the rightful insistence on basic good manners and attentiveness to customer requests and requirements, experience tells me that quite often in these situations there is in fact a mismatch or "understanding and expectations gap" that is explained not just by a lack of desire for more business or an inattention to service quality.

Like you, I very much prefer to get quotes and place orders and do other commercial interactions by email. For all the obvious reasons. I live and work through the screen, and it suits me very greatly to do my business electronically.

However, not everyone has a business that has migrated to the virtual world to the same degree as mine has. Frustrating as it might be for me, it's a reality that I must recognise and adjust to if I am to get the services I require.

Just this past fortnight or so I've had to deal with four suppliers who have an email address (who doesn't?) but who just don't or can't interact via email in the cycle times I expect - Dries the lawnmower service guy, Mark the pump/irrigation system guy, Christo the instant lawn/turf maintenance guy, and the local chemist. (Mike the Plumber is very responsive on email. And Jacques the garden refuse collector responds via WhatsApp.)

They all know I'm a "computer" person, and I've asked them whether we can deal by email. And each has said they'd prefer if I phone because most of the time they're away from a computer.

All four of these are pretty focused on good customer service and go out of their way to help, assist, etc. They are all keen for business, and none is in the position where they can just ignore genuine opportunities.

When I put myself in their shoes and imagine what percentage of their business is now or even could be done via email, I can see why email responsiveness is not an immediate priority for them.

Moreover, at least one of them (the turf guy) has said he gets many RFQ emails from people he's never dealt with and when he follows up with them they almost invariably say they're buying elsewhere. Christo's experience is that it's so easy to fire off the same RFQ email to ten or twenty people that he's almost sure that his email queries will not produce real business, and so for him it's just not worth his while following up on first-time queries from unknowns unless he's spoken to them on the phone.

He added a further point worth considering: He can only get to emails outside of business hours. He always has ten or twenty emails fighting for his attention (hah! wish I had so few), whereas when he's on the phone the customer has 100% of his attention.

You and I certainly find this frustrating. But I can understand it from his viewpoint, which is also valid.

So, for certain types of suppliers, especially those that require a fair mix of custom services work to develop a quote or deliver the product, telephone just is the better way to get what you want in the shortest time.

And this isn't necessarily because businesses are backward or lackadaisical or making too much money to care.

Of course one should always ignore and stay well clear of businesses that are just rotten.

But not every good and even excellent business is totally geared up for all-electronic interactions. If you insist on that, then you might well find the set somewhat reduced.
 
However, not everyone has a business that has migrated to the virtual world to the same degree as mine has. Frustrating as it might be for me, it's a reality that I must recognise and adjust to if I am to get the services I require.
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I actually first phoned 2 companies, there first response was send the dimensions by email, as we don't come out to quote, they only come for final measurements. Never heard from them again after I send the required info. So they want it by email but then don't respond (I had only one response out of nine) it is a week later. They must realize that of course I will get several quotes, but by them not responding or coming back after a week or later, they will obvious miss the boat.

Hopefully i get a second quote tomorrow from a person I met for some other work, I asked him if by any chance he does aluminium windows conversions as well. He said I'll see you monday (Ok he stays in the area so it will be easy)
 
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