Posted 8 months ago Comments
It may seem obvious to many of you, but after reviewing thousands of museums there are still a considerable number of museums that have very few ways to contact them. I have been so shocked that so many museums do not have basic ways to get ahold of them that I felt it was necessary to make this brief article.
Consumers want choice. Give them many ways to contact you. It will require some effort, but it is a worthwhile effort. Nothing upsets a person more than not being able to reach another human being when they have questions or concerns. Being contactable is an important piece of having good customer service. Do not overlook this!
At a minimum, your museum needs to have:
» a phone number
» an email address
» a physical mailing address
Chances are high that you already have those things. But really, that’s not enough. You should also be contactable via some additional ways:
» a website contact form
» a fax number
» an account on Twitter
» a page or account on Facebook
I know the facsimile has been a dying technology in the USA and UK for a long time now, but it’s still used in so many parts of the world. And really, there’s no excuse not to have one. If you don’t want a dedicated fax device and phone line you can pick up an Internet based fax service that emails you any faxes you receive as image attachments, such as eFax, MyFax, or my favorite, HelloFax. Some of these services even let you receive faxes for free, not requiring a paid subscription.
Setting up Twitter and Facebook accounts are generally pretty straightforward, although I’m sure it can be challenging for people who are unfamiliar with these services. Create an account and then spend some time reading their introductory material. Both of these social networks are free and will not cost you anything but your time.
Getting setup is the easy part. The challenge then becomes how you manage your contact points. This may be obvious to many of you (and I’m sorry for sounding redundant), but you will want to:
» answer the phone when people call
» write back to people who fax or email
» visit Facebook and Twitter on a regular (daily/weekly) basis to answer any customer questions
» write back to people who send you inquiries in the mail
Museums that really care about customer service and treating their visitors with respect are already doing these things. There are thousands of examples of museums doing all of these things. Just look at their websites. If you’re not doing each one of these things yet, that’s OK, I’m not here to shame you. But get on the bandwagon and do it now.
This article is part of a series titled Improving Your Museum’s Marketing Efforts. To learn more about the series and to read the other articles, visit the series introduction article.
