Not a humble brag. I am not proud of it.
Queuekind is a support inbox for tiny teams, so being fast at support is my marketing. A ticket came in during the recital, I answered it in the dark, and my daughter saw the phone light from the stage.
She is nine. She did not say anything. That was worse.
How do the rest of you with a one-person company and a family draw the line? I have a rule and I keep breaking it.
I missed most of 2001 to 2004. My kids are in their thirties now and they've forgiven me, but I haven't quite.
The business didn't need me at 8pm. I needed to feel needed. Once I saw that, the rule got easier to keep.
Building in nap windows over here. My rule is the phone stays in a different room from the baby. I break it too. No advice, only company.
Practical: tell your customers your hours, in the product, proudly. "We answer 8 to 6 Mountain time, usually within ten minutes." Nobody has ever cancelled Rota because I did not reply at 9pm. Several have told me they respect it.
The autoresponder went on last Friday after Walt said the same thing in Ship or Shame. I think I needed to hear it twice.
I tracked it once. Tickets answered between 8pm and 8am: 6% of volume, 0% of the churn saves. The data says go to the recital.
I took a week off in August with the laptop at home, the first in three years. Two tickets waited four days. Both customers are still customers. I had built a monster in my head that did not exist.
Sending you a big hug Tess!! You noticed and you care and that already makes you a good mum!!
Thank you, all of you. She has another recital in December. The phone is staying in the car.