Dealers Who Don't Reply

Over the past ten days I've emailed four dealers sent a wantlist to one and now wonder why no replies as yet.

Is there some unwritten guide as to where to go here? Seems sort of thoughtless to me.

I found this also, emailing Brit dealers specialising in Machins.
"send want lists" was in one advert.
Never heard back from several, gave up.

There are not many British dealers specialising in Machins left. A few retired and Mike Holt died, a couple call themselves specialist but even have trouble identifying stamps by SG Specialised numbers.

Same experience here. I am not going to chase anybody in order to give them my money either. It seems as if a lot of these so-called dealers are poor businessmen. You never, ever know what a small purchase could lead to.

The hardest thing in business, harder than getting inventory, hiring the right employees, and obtaining funding, is getting people's attention. Nothing else compares.

Once you get someone's attention, the absolutely easiest thing in business is to maintain that attention. You just have to answer the phone, email, text and do what you promise.

If I contact a business (dealer or not) and they don't respond, they never hear from me again.

Gentlemen, there may be some that dont respond quickly if at all. But without knowing what is happening in that individuals location at this time, please consider the time you are in. We are living through a pandemic. It is quite possible that the local government in the individuals area may have shut their buisness down as being nonessential.

So they cannot receive or reply to email?

Pick up the phone and call. There can be no assurance that the emails even were received. Mail transfer agents or hosting servers or addresses can be marked as spammy in local reputation servers. Unknown senders' messages may go into a quarantine that people forget to check. The first cold email to any commercial vendor always is a shot in the dark. If their website offers a Contact Us form, use that instead. There's no point in getting dismayed or criticizing them until you know they received your message.

But there is also the possibility if it is not a cell they have in their possession they can readily answer, it may be a buisness landline [voip] in the office and the buisness is closed. Leave a message and hopefully they will respond in time.

If you sent your want list as an attachment there's a high probability that it was stopped by either your ISP or more likely the dealer's ISP. I never open an attachment from an unknown sender - too risky for malware, viruses, etc.

Even if there was no attachment and you imbedded the wants list in your email, that too could raise a red flag before it gets to the dealer, ending up in their Spam or Junk folders or deleted in transit.

Just today, half of the emails I received overnight from known clients ended up in my Spam folder, possibly due to words they used in the subject line or the content of the message.

I agree with Chris, a quick phone call to confirm receipt is best, or better yet a letter with stamps.

Steve Taylor

The non-responsiveness of some dealers is not something from the last year. This was a problem even before COVID-19.

I agree with Steve, throwing an unsolicited email over the fence with an attachment is a bit dicey. But if online want lists are solicited, then for me the situation changes and a dealer should be attentive. I would avoid relying upon email as the sole mechanism, as Steve mentions there are some potential limitations (spam filters, file size limitations) on certain email servers.

So if I were a dealer who solicited want lists I would configure my website to allow the uploading of want list files directly to me. The site would automatically send a confirmation email that the file was received but I would also try to personally reply within one business day. The same mechanism would work well for the uploading on images for appraisals. I would also go a step further and try to emulate the traditional brick and mortar stamp store experience. I think a part of this would be to support video meetings (by appointment) for the purpose of answering customer sales inquiries and customer support. I might even consider doing some video conference education classes, these are easily recorded and saved for the purpose of building an online video help library.
Don

Edit: Also note that a dealer could setup a separate email address exclusively for want lists which would automatically reply to the submission. I realize that automated messages are not a substitute for a personal response but it is better than the customer hearing nothing back.

One of the more fascinating histories for me is how technology has impacted our measurement of time. We experienced a significant changed in how we perceive time back in the day when pocket watches became commonplace. No longer did folks have to look to the sun or town railroad clock to know what time it was, they knew exactly what time it was and more emphasis was placed on timely deliveries, meetings, etc. Before pocket watches, telling someone that you would come over to their house 'after lunch' meant anywhere from noon until around 3PM. Pocket watches compressed time. The internet did the same thing, compressing time even more. Now if you tell someone that you will contact them after lunch, you are considered later if you have not done so by 12:15PM!

I must add that lately there were two dealers that I sent emails to using their website email contact function. No response. Yes, I could call them but in these types of budding relationships I like to think of myself as the one being chased after the initial flirt.

If emailing doesn't work then you should phone, especially if it is about something that needs their attention.

I do agree with first calling instead of email, especially with new contacts. Technology (and current events) have decreased interpersonal relationships, which diminishes the ability to judge the quality of business and customer alike. My first contact with any company (not just dealers) is always in person or by phone. If they don't answer the phone, then I leave a voicemail. If they don't respond within two days, they've lost the chance for business.

Exceptions certainly must be made. If the answering service indicates that the business was closed for the duration, or the owner is on vacation or otherwise indisposed, then I wait until four days or so after they return (must give them more time to respond to all messages). I may even call again.

But if I don't know *why* they're not responding, then I can't make the exception. Whenever I go on vacation, I change my phone and email responses to indicate that. It's courteous and just good business.

I greatly prefer email to phone. If someone running a business doesn't respond promptly to emails - unless there are extenuating circumstances such as vacation, ill health, etc. - then I'll try once again after a week and then take my business elsewhere. Crazy to chase after someone to give them my business.