I wrote an article today for another of my blogs, chastising the barter industry for what I feel is some of the laziest customer service in any industry. After doing four video reviews this week, added to what I have done in the past couple of weeks, I have come to a serious conclusion: internet barter sites do a terrible job of suggesting thing I might want. Added to that, barter exchange owners are notorious for being reactive and passive when it comes to getting things you might want. They answer the phone and fill your requests, but rarely do they come up with new ideas for you to try or new suggestions of things to buy. Here’s my basic understanding:
A lot of people in the traditional barter exchange world think that a broker’s job is to ask one question, and then provide the answers. The question they ask is, “What can I get for you?” It’s a good question to ask. It’s a good starting point. It also makes for a really low performing exchange.Asking what I can get for you is only the first step. It’s the job of any exchange owner to fill in the blanks for their clients, and I mean filling in the blanks that their clients don’t even know exist.
There’s something I have been saying for years, but apparently I need to say it louder>>>BARTER FEELS FREE <<< It’s not free, but it feels free. Barter costs you time and money, but it feels free. That’s why a good barter broker will take time to make suggestions to their clients, over and over and over again. Clients are more willing to try new things on barter, because it feels free. Even if the client never asked for those suggestions.
Hopefully someone will read these words and put some new customer service measures in place to make sure that their clients get new info on a weekly or daily basis. Check out the original at http://www.barterexchangetrainers.com/2010/03/25/two-things-the-barter-industry-needs-to-learn-now/
