10 March 2006
Every so often I answer the phone at Semantic only to be met by silence. Then, a few hesitant seconds later a surprised and often elderly voice will say:"... um... is that Semantic?"
... and that's when I know how the conversation is going to go. I know that they are neither a current or potential client... and that in fact that talking to them will have no material benefit to either me or the business. I could either put the phone down or talk over them at that moment but hey, we're good guys, so I let them get the next sentence out before spoiling their day.
"... I have this anti-virus software from Norton..."
And that's when I politely jump in and explain that we are not the Symantec they are looking for. Then I usually spell S-Y-M-A-N-T-E-C out loud and give them the address of the web site they thought they were going to when they typed in our address by mistake. Then I wish them good luck and fairly often side-step their apology with on of my own. "Sorry we couldn't help you out".
And I am sorry because 'Here to Help' has become Semantic's unofficial motto over the past few years, and it doesn't just extend to people who pay us money. We aren't that kind of business.
Tom Peters has a line to the effect that a customer is ANYONE who can affect your business... but finding out each time just seems like too much work for me. It's easier just to be good to everyone.
Posted by Nick Warren at 2:07 PM
