The importance of good accessibility

When the children are in bed, calling the municipality to ask about the expired permit or incorrect tax assessment is unfortunately not an option. Just like making a follow-up call about an order at an average web shop. You come home at 7 p.m. and find that your package is not there. Unfortunately, you can only call at 9 a.m. the next day to find out where it is, but then you're back at work yourself.

Few organizations and institutions respond to this situation. Of course, large companies have their accessibility in order but especially in the SMEs we see that companies are simply accessible from 9 to 5.

Why is it important to adapt your opening hours to your buyers? There are 7 reasons to take care of your accessibility so that you are available when your buyer expects you to be, or perhaps rather what your buyer would be happy with.

1. Contact with customers is important!

1-on-1 contact with customers is important. Organizations still tend to avoid contact with customers as much as possible. Yet many contacts are valuable, they add value to the company. On the one hand, this can be in the form of sales, revenue or margin. On the other hand, value is added by increasing knowledge. The moment customer contact is taken seriously it provides information. What do customers think of me as a company? What are complaints about? Which processes within our company are not geared to what the customer wants? Encouraging customer contact therefore seems more logical than trying to limit it. Expanding reachability ensures that you are accessible when your customer wants to contact you.

2. If you are not reachable your competitor might be.

Organizations that adapt their reachability to their customers are more successful. The moment your potential customer wants to order something in the evening and you are not available, but your competitor is, you have a problem. He will choose your competitor rather than you in that case. These are opportunities you don't know you are missing. Imagine this: You are planning to order something in the evening. On webshop A and webshop B you find the same product. The price is the same, the terms are the same and both have good reviews. The only difference is webshop A has on its website: Do you have any questions? We are happy to help you from 07:00 to 22:00 and on shop B you will find a contact form and somewhere far away a phone number that is available from 09:30 to 12:30 and from 13:30 to 17:00. Which webshop would you order from in this case?

3. Your buyer is likely to engage with your products or services outside your business hours as well

No matter what you sell, your buyer is probably also engaged with your product or service at the time you close your doors. Of course, this does not mean that you should therefore only be available 24-7. However, it is better for your customer experience to align your reachability with the usage times of your product or service. Good reachability is also being available when your customers need you. Your potential customer can then call with questions when he or she is busy with the product and not when you are open.

4. It is a marketing tool: we are there for you when you want us to be.

The moment you, as an organization, take accessibility for your customers seriously, you are allowed to promote it. In addition to all traditional marketing channels, this is a message that appeals to many buyers: call us when it suits you, we are happy to help. In the example outlined earlier, you probably also chose webshop A. Being accessible to your potential customers is thus an important sales argument. It sets you apart from your competition. It fits within everything you do as an organization to optimize the customer experience. So good reachability is very valuable!

5. When you increase your accessibility, you spread traffic out over a longer period of time, reducing the peaks in traffic during traditional business hours

Do you know it? At 9 a.m., the phone is ringing off the hook. Or half an hour before you close, your potential customers call quickly, making the last half hour of every day extremely busy. Dar is probably due to your own opening hours. You are called because your (potential) customer has no choice. After all, you close at 5 p.m. and still he wants to place that order or question with you before that time. The moment you increase your accessibility, those unpleasant peaks in phone traffic will also disappear. If you increase your reachability and the number of calls increases slightly or stays the same, there will automatically be fewer peaks in the supply of telephone calls. After all, your (potential) customers call you when it suits them and not when it fits within your opening hours. In addition, you do not have to be open yourself in order to offer your customers good quality accessibility.

6. Customers are more satisfied when they can call at their convenience and not at your convenience

Customer satisfaction will increase if your (potential) customers can contact you at their convenience. Increasing accessibility and ensuring that you can be reached when your customers or potential customers want it will ensure that they have a more positive experience.

7. Commercial opportunities

All other 6 points ultimately ensure that good accessibility increases sales. The moment you are available until 10 p.m. and your competitor is not, you have a clear competitive advantage. In addition, by spreading the contacts over a longer part of the day, the reduction of peaks in supply will result in fewer missed calls. Every missed call is a missed opportunity.

If instead of 8 hours a day you are available 12 hours a day, plus weekends, you will have ample more times when you can be reached for all the commercial opportunities that now go out of your sight possibly to your competitors.