The importance of good accessibility

Unfortunately, when the children are in bed, calling the municipality for the expired permit or incorrect tax assessment is out of the question. Just like making another phone call after placing an order with an average webshop. You get home at 7pm and find that your parcel is not there. Unfortunately, you can only call the next day at 9 o'clock to find out where it is, but then you are back at work yourself.

Few organisations and institutions respond to this situation. Of course, large companies have their accessibility in order but especially in the SME 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!

The 1-to-1 contact with customers is important. Organisations 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, turnover 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. By broadening accessibility, you can be sure you are reachable when your customer wants to contact you.

2. If you can't be reached, your competitor might be.

Organisations 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 reachable, but your competitor is, you have a problem. In that case, he will choose your competitor rather than you - 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 conditions are the same and both have good reviews. The only difference is that 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 also likely to engage with your products or services outside your opening hours

Whatever you sell, your buyer is probably also engaged with your product or service the moment 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 tailor your reachability to the moments of use 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 organisation, take accessibility for your customers seriously, you are allowed to communicate that. Besides all the traditional marketing channels, this is a message that many buyers do like: call us at your convenience, we are happy to help you. 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 in with everything you do as an organisation to optimise the customer experience. So good reachability is very valuable!

5. When you increase your accessibility, you spread traffic over a longer period of time which means you have fewer spikes in traffic during traditional opening hours

Do you know it? A red-hot phone at 9 o'clock in the morning. Or half an hour before you close, your potential customers make a quick call, making the last half hour of every day extremely busy. Dar is probably due to your own opening hours. You get a call because your (potential) customer has no choice. After all, you close at 5 pm and yet he still wants to place that order or question with you before then. The moment you increase your accessibility, those unpleasant peaks in phone traffic will disappear. If you extend 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. Besides, you don't have to be open yourself to still 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 making sure 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 the other six points ultimately ensure that good accessibility increases sales. The moment you are reachable until 10 pm and your competitor is not, you have a clear competitive advantage. In addition, spreading the contacts over a longer part of the day will reduce peaks in supply and 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 may now go to your competitors out of your sight.