I was interested in buying a product on eBay but needed more information, so I sent a request to the seller. Within minutes of having sent it, he’d replied! In the next few minutes we exchanged a few notes and I bought it.

This is something that retailers have understood for a long time, but that we often forget about when online. The speed & quality of your response to an inquiry, make the difference between a new customer and a window shopper.

This Harvard Business Review article provides a really good overview as to how quickly companies are currently responding.

After putting all that effort into getting people to call you, remember to answer the phone and sell them something! Put a little effort into pre-preparing your responses so that you can respond faster, but don’t send out automated emails or responses that feel too much like a template.