Recently, a friend of mine made the leap into his business, full-time. In the last few conversations I've had with him he's complained that no one will return his calls or e-mails. And, if they do, it's always a week later. "In some cases, it's me wanting to give someone business," he says. "And they still won't call me back!"
I call this small business condition, the invisible syndrome. It's something that I thought only I suffered from until I started talking to other like-minded business owners. After years of study, I have several theories in relation to the symptoms of this invisible condition. Below is my hypothesis.
A. Too Small to See or Hear
This one refers to small business owners who seek professional assistance only to be ignored by those they are trying to contract. My background is in sales. To me, on the rare occasions that a call is missed, it should be returned at lightening speed so that the caller doesn't have time to even notice that a call was missed at all. After all, the first one in the door has the best chance of making the sale.
But, from legal counsel to graphic art assistance to creating product, I have been amazed at the fact that I'm the one chasing these people down in an effort to give them money. After numerous unreturned calls, my only explanation is that I'm too small and that they would all rather fry bigger, more established fish rather than the little minnow who's hoping not be eaten by a gold fish in the pond.
I know I'm small. I know that very few new businesses make it. But, what if I'm that one? Imagine if the first attorney that Paul Allen and Bill Gates contacted never returned the call. It's highly likely that there's some attorney sitting in the drizzling rain in Washington saying, "I can't believe I didn't return the call."
B. People are Tired
There's no doubt that things today move at a much swifter pace than even just 10 years ago. It becomes difficult to keep up with the day to day and before long, you're flat out tired.
When I first started, I was determined to return every single solicitor e-mail and phone call. These people are just doing their job and even if I didn't need the service/product they were selling, it would leave them thinking nothing but wonderful thoughts about Peekaboo Design Group. These dreamy thoughts would then be passed on to their friends and family at kid's soccer games and cocktail parties.
This worked until I started getting real customers. Before long, I was getting 10 solicitor calls a day. If I was staying up all night working on my business, what sense did it make to return a solicitor's call only to tell them, 'no thanks?' To this day, I still receive more solicitor e-mails and calls than I do from prospects. It's incredible. There's no person in the World nice enough to return/answer all of the calls. So, to all those on the cold calling trail, it's nothing personal. Trust me.
As a liaison between vendors and clients, I also receive a lot of calls from vendors who want me to present their business to my clients (between 5-10/week). I love this because it keeps me well informed on what's out there but, again, it becomes incredibly difficult to get back with everyone.
I think all of the above leads to incoming 'need something' overload and no one gets answered.
C. Working Harder for Less
As I say all the way through this blog, everything in this blog is just my opinion based on my experience. That said, here's my guess on the last item that I believe leads to the Invisible Syndrome.
A few years ago, when the economy was booming, there was a ton of work to be done and few available employees to fill the need of the extra work load. When I first started, it was almost impossible to hire anyone because very few qualified people needed a job. Unemployment was very low.
Now, companies have trimmed their staffs in order to survive. Even though there's less work in most cases, there are also fewer employees to divide that work among. There's little doubt that people are working harder for the same or less right now which leads to resentment and poor attitude.
Even among the small business owners who are still around, you'd think that they'd be clawing and scratching trying to survive, but instead what I'm seeing is the lack of will to go on. Again, people are tired.
In Conclusion
I truly believe that any business owner or employee that gives 110% in customer service will soar to great heights. People are not used to getting that type of service anymore so when someone gives it, the customer is blown away. I actually think it's so bad right now, that you could give 85% and people would still be singing your praises.
GO GET IT!
Please note the thoughts and opinions expressed in this blog are based on the experiences of the author. The information contained in this blog is in no way meant to take the place of professional advice. It is only meant as insight into the world of a small business owner. As always, thank you for visiting and feel free to share your own experiences or conerns by leaving a comment.