My family took me to dinner for my birthday the other night.  Everybody in my circle knows we’ve opened a new office so most of my presents were kinda work related.

My son thought otherwise. He got me a new CD that he thought was “daddy-ish” – new age piano. Very zen. Clearly my boy thinks I need to take a chill pill.

After dinner I thought I’d break out the new CD and listen with my coffee and leftover cake.  I’m not going to go into details – but the 10 minute fight I had with the CD packaging did not leave me feeling very zen. If the music industry wants to know why CD sales have dropped so precipitously, they can add terror packaging to music downloads.

They made it impossible for me to enjoy the gift of my new CD.

Many businesses are packaged like that CD. They make it nearly impossible to enjoy the experience of doing business with them. A couple of months ago I wrote about Microsoft’s insanely ineffective inbound call center that turns off prospects even before they can get information about their products.

Companies who have a virtual monopoly are notoriously hard to do business with. Just mention the names of Time Warner, Verizon, or National Grid here in Albany and people will instantly shoot you dirty looks.

Open you door – wide

The ease of doing business is one of the key drivers of winning new customers and keeping you existing customers satisfied and loyal. I’m old enough to remember the first bank ATMs.  Before ATMs, everyone stood in line for all of their banking business. ATMs and credit cards are the reason no one seems to carry cash anymore – you can grab 50 bucks almost anywhere.

A Self service checkout at the local supermarket gives you a sense of empowerment because you perceive a greater sense of control over the transaction.  Even some offices of the Department of Motor Vehicles – long the poster child for poor customer service – allow you to make an appointment to take care of your needs without standing in line for hours.

Don’t make the mistake of forcing customers and prospects into a single path to accessing your products and services.

Take a look in the mirror and act accordingly

Does your website provide clear contact and customer service information?

Does your phone system let people easily talk to the person they want to reach?

Do prospects have to get company or product information ONLY from a salesperson?

In this 24 x 7 world, customers will do business when they want, where they want, and with whom they want.  Your job is to be sure to make your entrance way as wide as possible.

Posted by: Steve Banis