Jerking the Trigger

Here is a little free advice from all of us consumers out here – If you don’t plan on replying to emails, don’t post an email address.

I correspond with a ton of gear makers and sellers on a daily basis. Some of this is accomplished on the phone, but most is accomplished via email. Like many people with money to spend, I work a normal work week which happens to take place during normal business hours. My work hours are basically the same as many retailers business hours so I can’t always place a phone call and email is very convenient. I suspect this is true for a lot of people.

There are few things that are a bigger turn off to a potential customer than sending an email to an email address like customerservice@joestacticalwidgets.com or info@billybobsnylongear.net only to find that they never receive a response. This certainly can’t be considered providing customer service or info. It is the very definition of a blown first impression.

I understand what it is like to be buried in email. I understand that it may take a few days to respond. However, if you aren’t going to respond at all, just remove your email address from your website or delete your contact form. You will save us all a lot of time.

The good news is that most gear makers and retailers in the industry are great about returning emails. Everyone of the advertisers you see on the right side of your screen are happy to answer questions and generally respond very quickly. Many of them even answer emails long into the night.

So again, if you won’t respond to emails, don’t publish your email address. I would rather not waste my time and the lack of an email address will be a great clue about your lack of customer service.