smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

Businesses are losing customers by not responding to customer emails.

Nearly one-third of companies have admitted to losing email orders at least once during the last quarter. This is despite over half of consumers saying they spend more with firms that are ‘email-efficient’, finds a study from Fasthosts Internet.

In a separate study from the web hosting company, it found 70 per cent of customers expect just as much attention to be given to an email as physical letter.

Steve Holford, CEO of Fasthosts, says: ‘While most business owners do value the convenience of email, many are failing to heed consumer expectations for how efficiently all email needs to be handled. Consumers today actively seek the use of email as a channel, and firms that neglect or lose email dialogue will lose precious revenue.’

Of the 1,495 businesses surveyed, two-thirds say they have received no training at all in the use of business email.