I read an article this morning that really sparked my interest. This article, published in AdAgeDigital, revealed that of the Fortune 50 companies, only THREE of the 50 had phone numbers listed on their homepage. Seems kind of ironic that these companies spend millions on marketing and advertising, yet they don’t focus efforts around customer service. Nothing is more frustrating to me than when I visit a company’s website in search of a phone number to contact a live human being, only to find no number. I don’t get it. They don’t want to hear from their customers? Or better yet, they don’t want a potential sale?

It seems in today’s business world, this is a regular occurrence. I thumbed through the Fortune 50 companies myself and to my surprise, AT&T and Verizon (which I am a customer of) are both phone companies, yet no phone numbers listed on their homepages! Seriously? I ventured to the “Contact Us” page of AT&T’s website and was prompted through a series of dropdown menus. Once complete, I was then prompted to a page to “Get help in three steps- 1, 2, 3” by clicking the type of support I was in search for. The problem is what if the question I have doesn’t fall into the bucket of topics listed? I just want a phone number! The funny thing is, 82% of Americans say they have stopped doing business with companies due to poor customer service. Customer service does make a difference.

The three companies that are “doing it right” when it comes to customer service are Dell, Home Depot and Lowe’s. These companies have a phone number present, and easy to find, on their homepage for customers to call. I applaud these companies for realizing the value in their customers. You see, happy customers can be a company’s #1 fan. Unhappy customers can be the #1 enemy- especially with easy access to share opinions through social sites like Twitter and Facebook.

This issue really sparked my interest because here at ShareFile we take customer service very seriously. In fact, one of our core values is to be customer centric in everything we do. Our phone number is actually listed twice on our home page, along with an easy-to-access live chat service. Customers receive a dedicated account manager, their one point of contact to help with set up and support for the life of their account. And unlike lots of technology companies these days, our telephone and email support is from US-based staff- virtually unheard of!

If you have a question, give us a call at 1-800-441-3453 or shoot us an email. We’d love to chat, it’s what we do!