What's your response time?

Everybody likes to receive a reward, even for the small stuff. Whether stickers, stamps, ribbons or even badges! I must admit Facebook has got me trying to obtain that Fast response badge on my page! I find myself carrying my phone EVERYWHERE! Just in case someone messages me so that I can keep my badge. At the dinner table, in the middle of coffee with a friend, playing with my kids, on the toilet, even pulling over on the side of the road to answer someone quickly. Yes I can have an automated message but I like to be personal. At the end of the day is it really worth it?

When I started writing this blog I thought I was going to be all for quick response time but thinking about all the things that I’ve halted or missed out on because of a badge, it’s got me really thinking is it worth all of this? I have to say no. And here are my three reasons why!

1. Have you ever not contacted a business on Facebook because their response time was an hour or even a day? I personally haven’t. Maybe that’s just me. If I want to find some information, I’m pushy and I’m going to find out one way or another. And I’m happy to wait a little bit. As long as I get my answer eventually.

2. Even when you do respond immediately most time the customer who initiated the conversation doesn’t respond back as fast. I’m just left there sitting and waiting for them to read the message let alone write back. Sometimes I never get a response back, their loss!

3. This last one has really got me thinking. I manage social media so that I can be a stay at home mum and watch my beautiful children grow up. What’s the point in working that hard to spend time with them at home that I ignore them while I’m at home?

As a business owner I think you have to analyse the ‘why’ behind your business. For me it’s my family! They are still only small and they achieve milestones everyday, I’m here at home working for that. Don’t get me wrong, customer questions are extremely important and need to be answered but let’s slow down and smell the roses. I think I’m now going to change my mindset around response time. Yes it’s important but I think it can hang back a little bit and wait 5-10 minutes. Maybe family dinner can come first. Listening to a friend’s story over coffee can come before customer question. Stopping and listening to my kids first word can be a higher priority. However I think I’ll keep doing it while on the toilet like there’s nothing better to do, right?!

Well this has been a very insightful blog for me and I hope it is for you as well. I guess what I’ve learnt is that the response times on Facebook should be a guide for the customer and not some badge you work hard to obtain. In this fast-paced world of technology that we live in we sometimes want everything to be instant but I think we need to keep some perspective and remember our why’s.

Thanks for reading!