Be personal, not impersonal in 2018!

Why do businesses have to be so impersonal I ask?

I've been out today for coffee with a friend. When we were chatting away she happened to mention what was at present annoying her. We discussed that when she's unsuccessful with job applications she gets practically the same standard letter back from recruiters if she gets a letter at all.

I've been there myself and felt, at times, lucky to even get a reply. When I did though, the letter would be practically the same. They would then add insult to injury by getting my name, or some other personal detail, wrong and then not even sign the letter by hand, but electronically.

This is also a downfall with businesses when they deal with complaint letters. I have often found I get a standard letter about a complaint that again isn't hand signed. This leads me to wonder if the only person who saw my complaint or application was the PA and the application or letter of complaint went no further down the line.

In the year 2018, are we asking too much for businesses (large or small) to remember that their clients and customers are people, and without them, they would not be in business at all...?

All we ask for is some recognition for the time we spent on applications to work for them or to understand that when someone complains, that's when customer service needs to be at its strongest, after all, they need to make us want to go back again.

I do believe that to a degree the cyber world doesn't help as it lets businesses hide behind a website and that isn't always best for customer service. Even on Twitter, when you follow a business they tend to automatically send a standard tweet back thanking you for following, etc. I wonder if I am the only person that looks at my Twitter mentions (and direct messages) and personalises replies back to people who have gone to the effort to follow and listen to me.

You may feel I am having a little rant today but the next time you get a letter saying they are not taking your application any further, you file a complaint or even follow a business on Twitter, see what sort of personal customer service you get and please let me know.

If you need help ensuring that your business always looks professional and keeps on top of communications, be it in letter form, emails or voicemails, please feel free to contact me and see how I can ensure that all of your correspondence is promptly dealt with, ensuring that your reputation shines.