I often give out my work cell number to my customers for the main reason of not getting repeat reports. Our company has a statistic, well they have a lot of statistics, but the one I'm more concerned about is the one where if you fix a trouble, the same phone number shouldn't be called back in on a trouble for at least 5 days, or it's considered a repeat. And this also gives the customer a sense that I care, which I do, but it's more for the repeats. With that said, I have customers that will call a trouble into the company right after I leave, why, I just gave you MY number?! Or you have the other end of the spectrum, where I get a call and the person will say "Marc, is that you? Well you fixed my phone 4 years ago and you said call you if it starts up again. You remember the last time it was down at the corner?" 4 years ago, I'm lucky I remember how to get home. Then you have the customers that like to call you just to tell you they've switched over to your competitors. It was a guy that lives right down the street from me, he kept having a reoccurring trouble that seemed to clear whenever I would get there. Well I hadn't heard from him in awhile and thought we might have finally got it. But he calls me on a sunny day and I asked if it was back and that I was on my way, when he stopped me and explained to me that he was going to the cable company for his phone service. I let him get his little spiel out, then asked him why he called me? He said "Just to let you know"...really, does it make you feel better letting me know that a pain in the ass customer is now going to be the cable companies pain in the ass, I was kind of happy but it was the point that he called to personal tell me he was leaving us. Good bye! Then just the other day another customer who lives in the sticks and expects large city service called me and was explaining about calling the main office and not getting a return postage sticker yet. He told me "Well I had your number from when you dropped off that modem to me, and that now I'm with the cable company and I'm getting 25 megs and it's great..." When I interrupted him and said, "Sorry to stop you in the middle of your cable company commercial, but why did you call me sir?" "Oh, to tell you that you can come by here and pick up this modem." Yeah, I'll be right over?! I've even had someone call me and tell me their neighbor gave them my number. I feel like a hooker, people passing around my work phone number, maybe I should just go put it in the bathroom stalls at the local restaurant. But the main lesson learned is that no matter what level of craziness the customer may be at, they gonna get my number!
Marc
