The power of the phone!

[Valik]

I just received my first mail order shipment today. I shopped around and noticed a very important thing that I think would be good to know if you are considering doing a mail order for the first time. Call, call, call; don't email, use the phone. I sent off like 5 or 6 emails and got 2 or 3 back and out of those none really had the information I was looking for. However everything I was looking for was easily optained from a single phone call. I called I think 4 places, all of them came recommended from here and everyone that I talked to was nice and polite. I don't think I can stress this enough, call. I think the reason for this is not that the breeders try to ignore or hate answering emails but rather that they are very very busy and it takes probably 10 minutes to do in a email what they can do in 30 seconds on the phone. Anyways thats it just thought I would share this because I know I was shocked at the difference in quality of information I got from email and phone across the board.
Matt

[kaceyo]

Absolutly.I am still waiting for many of the breeders I e-mailed 2mo.ago to return my e-messages. I waited a week for the person I ended up buying from,and then, within a few hours of posting on Simply that he wasn't responding,he e-'d me(thanks to?) and said "call me".My new Discus will be here sunday. Kaceyo

[mikeos]

If a company has email and cant be bothered to reply I usually send one saying "congratulations you just lost an order and a customer, dont bother to reply, you didnt last time" I certainly wouldnt then phone them, after all your business is obviously not important to them.


bitter & twisted ;)

[Valik]

I wasn't saying that companies don't reply to their emails, all I was saying is that I found it was a lot easier and more informative to pickup the phone and call.
Matt

[kaceyo]

Matt,your point was well stated.I added another good reason why the phone was better than e-mail and got someone with a bitter and twisted attitude!How are your new arrivals doing on day two? Kaceyo

[Valik]

Thanks for asking the new arrivals are doing good, eating and looking like happy little discus!
Matt

[Willie]

We should all understand that, with one exception, everyone who's selling in the US has a day job. Also, we're dealing with discus, not widgets.

Companies spend a lot of time on customer service. They have people devoted to making sure every lead is followed up. They also have people who process orders, e.g. take products out of stock and mail them. We're usually dealing with someone with a full time job and family responsibilities, who is putting 2 - 3 hours minimum after work to change water and quarantine. They're doing this because its fun.

Most importantly, they're selling living things. That means that they have some fish that are better than other fish. It makes absolutely no difference how good their stock is. In the best discus breeder's best tank, there are some fish nicer than others. What are your chances of getting the nicest fish in that tank by sending e-mail? Versus giving the guy a call, asking about his business, talking about what you're looking for, etc...

Willie

[kaceyo]

Willie,I agree.You have to be willing to put some effort into communication if you expect to get the most out of this hobby.I believe my patience with the unreturned e-mail paid off and you couldn't find a nicer guy,he just isn't an e-person I guess.I'm picking up my Discus today at 11:30am. Kaceyo

[Willie]

;)

[mikeos]

If I may ask a question? If the guy isnt an email guy, why does he have an email address? just use a phone number, not replying sends all the wrong messages to a potential customer.