Butcher around the corner & luxury car dealer: what do we expect?
Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2025 6:17 am
The sector 'producers and suppliers' includes both a luxury car dealer with ten employees and the butcher's shop on the corner with three employees. Do we expect the same response time from the butcher's shop as from the dealer? Even though the butcher probably has less time and opportunities to sit behind a computer or answer the phone during his daily work than the receptionist at the dealer, the conclusion from the Accessibility Barometer is that the consumer makes no distinction in this and still expects the same response time.
Accessibility via website, email and telephone
It is no surprise that SMEs in the business services sector are the most reachable by phone with a good 57%. Healthcare scores the lowest on telephone reachability with 44%. This sector appears to be well reachable by e-mail (56%).
Of the entrepreneurs surveyed, 83% have a website. The findability of the bolivia mobile phone number list contact details on the website scores high (91%), but the accessibility via email still leaves much to be desired. Only 52% of the relations who send an email receive a response within 24 hours. In 42% of the cases, there is no response to emails at all. When it comes to telephone accessibility, half of the entrepreneurs meet the standard. This means that half of the customers get someone on the line within 15 seconds. But here we also see that one in five callers does not get in touch, because the phone is not answered at all.
Both the telephone accessibility and the accessibility by e-mail of SMEs decreased significantly in 2013 compared to 2012.
Illustration: Friso Blankevoort (frisoblankevoort.tumblr.com)
Illustration: Friso Blankevoort (frisoblankevoort.tumblr.com)
Accessibility via social media
Social media are not yet widely used as a contact channel: one in three SMEs offers one or more references to social media via the website. The most important channels used are Twitter (24%) and Facebook (33%). Furthermore, entrepreneurs only respond to few questions via Facebook within the 24-hour standard (25%). For Twitter, this is 23%.
SMEs often use social media as a PR/sales channel, and less as a contact channel. SMEs run the risk that it is not clear to customers that questions via this medium will not be answered (in a timely manner). Setting usage purposes per channel and communicating expectations on the relevant pages can clarify a lot.
Illustration: Friso Blankevoort (frisoblankevoort.tumblr.com)
Illustration: Friso Blankevoort (frisoblankevoort.tumblr.com)
The importance of good accessibility
A customer with a complaint that is handled well (quickly) is usually more satisfied than a customer without a complaint. Being unavailable for questions or complaints can have far-reaching consequences. Not only might customers switch to the competition, but more importantly, their confidence in the entrepreneur decreases and this threatens to damage their image. In addition to 'shaming' at birthday parties about not answering emails, telephone calls and questions via social media (in a timely manner), consumers now use the same social media to openly complain about this inaccessibility.
In addition, good accessibility does not automatically mean that customers are satisfied with the answer they receive. When choosing from the contact channels, it is therefore also important to determine who responds to questions. Drawing up internal guidelines or a Q&A document is advisable. If many of the same questions are received, offering an FAQ page on the website is an option.
Managing expectations
As an entrepreneur, it is important to make a well-considered choice when offering contact options and to estimate the required capacity. Although entrepreneurs score well on the findability of contact details, the response time still leaves much to be desired. It is advisable to clearly indicate the expected response time per contact channel. If you want to meet the expectations of the customer as an SME, you will have to respond within 24 hours on at least one of the channels.
Accessibility via website, email and telephone
It is no surprise that SMEs in the business services sector are the most reachable by phone with a good 57%. Healthcare scores the lowest on telephone reachability with 44%. This sector appears to be well reachable by e-mail (56%).
Of the entrepreneurs surveyed, 83% have a website. The findability of the bolivia mobile phone number list contact details on the website scores high (91%), but the accessibility via email still leaves much to be desired. Only 52% of the relations who send an email receive a response within 24 hours. In 42% of the cases, there is no response to emails at all. When it comes to telephone accessibility, half of the entrepreneurs meet the standard. This means that half of the customers get someone on the line within 15 seconds. But here we also see that one in five callers does not get in touch, because the phone is not answered at all.
Both the telephone accessibility and the accessibility by e-mail of SMEs decreased significantly in 2013 compared to 2012.
Illustration: Friso Blankevoort (frisoblankevoort.tumblr.com)
Illustration: Friso Blankevoort (frisoblankevoort.tumblr.com)
Accessibility via social media
Social media are not yet widely used as a contact channel: one in three SMEs offers one or more references to social media via the website. The most important channels used are Twitter (24%) and Facebook (33%). Furthermore, entrepreneurs only respond to few questions via Facebook within the 24-hour standard (25%). For Twitter, this is 23%.
SMEs often use social media as a PR/sales channel, and less as a contact channel. SMEs run the risk that it is not clear to customers that questions via this medium will not be answered (in a timely manner). Setting usage purposes per channel and communicating expectations on the relevant pages can clarify a lot.
Illustration: Friso Blankevoort (frisoblankevoort.tumblr.com)
Illustration: Friso Blankevoort (frisoblankevoort.tumblr.com)
The importance of good accessibility
A customer with a complaint that is handled well (quickly) is usually more satisfied than a customer without a complaint. Being unavailable for questions or complaints can have far-reaching consequences. Not only might customers switch to the competition, but more importantly, their confidence in the entrepreneur decreases and this threatens to damage their image. In addition to 'shaming' at birthday parties about not answering emails, telephone calls and questions via social media (in a timely manner), consumers now use the same social media to openly complain about this inaccessibility.
In addition, good accessibility does not automatically mean that customers are satisfied with the answer they receive. When choosing from the contact channels, it is therefore also important to determine who responds to questions. Drawing up internal guidelines or a Q&A document is advisable. If many of the same questions are received, offering an FAQ page on the website is an option.
Managing expectations
As an entrepreneur, it is important to make a well-considered choice when offering contact options and to estimate the required capacity. Although entrepreneurs score well on the findability of contact details, the response time still leaves much to be desired. It is advisable to clearly indicate the expected response time per contact channel. If you want to meet the expectations of the customer as an SME, you will have to respond within 24 hours on at least one of the channels.