Autoresponders
Autoresponders are pretty much what the name implies. They are a system that sends an e-mail response to a properly-formatted request for information. That's a fancy way of describing the following user experience.
I show up on your site, and I'm interested in some more instruments for my daughter, Debbie. It seems that I've purchased just about everything but a bassoon, so I want to know something about bassoons. On your site, I see a little link that tells me to "click here for more information about bassoons.%
When I click on the link, I'm taken to a form where I have to fill in certain information. When I click the "submitä button, I get a "thank-youä message. While I'm still online, your answer is fired across the Net to land in my e-mail box.
This is going to help you get information to me quickly. It's not going to help me deal with finding out what the price of a bassoon is, but that's another issue.
If you're going to use autoresponders, here are my rules for making it work. They are derived from studying the way the Ford Motor Company used autoresponders in dealing with the massive communication issues surrounding the Firestone tire recall.
Rule number one: Make sure that your automated response includes a notice that it's an automated response. Not everybody knows right away, and this helps them keep from getting really ticked at you if they don't feel you've answered their question properly.
Rule number two: Try to answer their question. If you use lots of autoresponders and scatter them about your site, youâll be able to be pretty specific about the places they are asking for information, and, therefore, pretty specific about your answers. But don't get cute.
Answer the question or attempt to solve the problem. Don't shoot off some message that says that you can answer the question if they call in or some other such drivel.
Rule number three: Give them an option if you haven't answered their question satisfactorily. When Ford did it, they gave people two options. One was a telephone number, and the other was an e-mail. Either one would get them to a person trained in the general area that their original question came from. When they use this, folks should get a personal reply, either on the phone or over e-mail.
Autoresponders are great tools for getting information out quickly. They are also relatively inexpensive to set up and virtually no maintenance to use.
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