Are you turning business away?

Whenever I start to work with provider organisations I always ask this question.

Most people are sure they are not.

I start to relate horror stories, only to be told that I’m behind the times and that FE – all of it – has changed.

Here is a modern horror story. It’s true. It happened to me less than a month ago.

Nobody at home

I tried ringing a provider about an enquiry they had made with me. I called at about 9.45 am on a Thursday morning.

I was greeted by an answerphone message which said every one in that office was on holiday and that I should ring the organisation’s main number.

I did just that at ten to ten in the morning.

I was greeted by an answerphone message telling me that the organisation was open between the hours of 9am and 4 30 pm, Monday to Friday. Outside those times, the recording told me, I could leave a message.

I drew breath to leave a message, and the line disconnected.

I rang again, just in case there had been a problem with the telephone system. The same thing happened. I called again later in the day, when the same thing happened and again the next day when the telephone disconnected once more before allowing me to leave a message.

Had I been an employer would I have persevered?
I think not.

Will the organisation ever know how it is turning employers away?
In this case it will, because I told the senior managers about my experience.

However, is this sort of thing happening in your organisation?

Are employers able to get through to someone?
Are employers able to leave messages?
Are employers’ enquiries followed up?

It’s worth checking out if the systems are working. Don’t assume that my experience is out of the ordinary.

I have another example from this week.

We don't want to know

After dialling into a provider organisation and pressing four when instructed to do so, and then pressing one at the next instruction, listening to some music and waiting, I was told my call would be disconnected because the message box was full.

If it’s happening to me, it’s happening to employers, too.

If you have employers who are interested enough in what you do to ring you up, they have already gone a long way towards doing business with you.

Don’t turn them away. It’s a basic rule of doing business.

This is the second post is a series of ten about client attraction basics.