What a Difference a Call Makes

Today, I've been conducting phone follow-ups with various potential Zoe vendors. Two completely opposite examples:

1) Verizon did finally decide to get back to me, and sent me an email saying "Let's talk." So, I called the representative. No answer and what did I get when I reached her voice mail? "The message queue is full for the person you are calling. You will now be disconnected." Ummm...this is the phone company. Don't you think they could figure out how to handle their voice mail a little better?

2) I spoke with what is now Vendor C for my hardware/software. He not only called me as a follow up to my query (he left a voice mail for me this morning) but he was available on a Friday afternoon and spent quite a long time thoughtfully answering my questions. We've scheduled time next week for a demo. But he gave me pricing information (including maintenance costs), training information, disaster recovery information, implementation information, and interface information. Everything I needed, in one phone call.

In addition to my phone fun, I've been reviewing the information for my business plan related to the IBISWorld Industry Risk Rating Report on Women's Clothing Stores in the US. If you ever have any desire to know how many women age 15 - 39 have lived in the US over any period of time, let me know. I've got your numbers for you! Seriously, a great report, that goes through structural risk, growth risk, sensitivity risk, and industry risk.

Finally, I've been doing my homework on the dreaded swipe fees for credit and debit cards. And a question to all of you out there - how important is it to you to be able to use a debit card to pay for clothing purchases? I'm trying to gauge if this is an option I want to offer to my customers. Feel free to post a comment or send me an email with your thoughts.