RE: Prompt Responses

RE: Prompt Responses

November 21st, 2011 @ 1:21 pm by Miss Dalmatian
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A few weeks ago I emailed our photographer with a quick question about our engagement photos. This was not an urgent question (we are not taking our engagement pictures until March, mind you). I purposely sent the email in October, however, because I knew that our super adorable preggo photographer was due to have her twins in November, and I figured I would get my question out of the way before her life became exponentially more crazy (and cute!).

So, I sent my email at 3:13 p.m. She wrote me back at 11:04 the next morning. I read the first line of her response, which read “I’m so sorry for the delay in response.” I thought that this was very nice, although not necessary (read: it had literally not even been 24 hours). Then I continued to read her explanation and learned that she had had her babies and was still in the hospital! I immediately wrote back, expressing my congratulations and telling her not to worry about responding back to me.

This made me think about a few things.

First, I appreciate prompt responses from vendors. As a bride, I pour so much time, money, and effort into planning my wedding and I want to feel like the people who will be a part of it care as much as I do. Okay fine, not as much as I do, but I want them to care a respectable amount. To me, a quick response is a little sign of that caring, and I really appreciate it.

That being said, I recognize that vendors are not wedding robots and they do in fact have things going on in their lives other than anxiously awaiting their role in our wedding (shocking, I know). So while I loved hearing back from our photographer so quickly, I certainly would have been okay with a response that was actually delayed because of some little event such as, let’s say, giving birth to twins.

We live in a society where everyone seems to have near constant access to their phone, their email, their Facebook, etc.

RE: Prompt Responses : wedding etiquette guest list nashville Respons03 respons03

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Given this, it becomes easy to lose sight of reality and consider 20 hours later to be a “delayed response.” I think we need to find a balance. If you are able to respond to my inquiry within 5 minutes, please do! I am very impatient and would love to know as much as possible as soon as possible! But if you need to take a moment (or a day, or two days—gasp!) to respond, then my world will continue turning, I will not assume that you don’t care about me or my wedding, and everything will be okay.

What are your expectations when it comes to vendor communication? What’s a reasonable amount of turnaround time for a return email or call, to you?

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14 Responses to “RE: Prompt Responses”

Bee

Miss Unicycle (message) 292 posts, Helper bee

My pet peeve is vendors who say they’ll get back to you by a certain time and then don’t. I’m not even making them pick a deadline! They fail at self-imposed deadlines. It makes me crazy.

11/21/11 @ 1:34 pm (reply)

Member

jamithebride (message) 179 posts, Blushing bee

I think up to a week is reasonable. All my vendors have been great, except for one. My decorator neglects to respond and when I inquire AGAIN she says she’s busy and will get back to me next week… maybe. So frustrating. I’ve decided to go with a different company alltogether now.

11/21/11 @ 1:54 pm (reply)

Member

jslb (message) 37 posts, Newbee

I use the rule of thumb that I expect them to take as long as getting back to me as I do to others. I’m not the most prompt responder, taking a couple of days to sometimes a week, to get back to others.
I’m with @Miss Unicycle though, if they say they’re calling you back by a certain time, then they should meet their own deadline.

11/21/11 @ 3:14 pm (reply)

Bee

Mrs. Pony (message) 4,171 posts, Honey bee

Ideally, I would like a response within 3 days, but after a week I start to get angry or worried.

11/21/11 @ 3:14 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Mink (message) 1,510 posts, Bumble bee

I think a day is preferred, especially with early communication. Many (definitely not all) photogs around here seem to have interns or admins that do a lot of the day-to-day administrative work, which frees them up for client communication.

11/21/11 @ 3:41 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Dalmatian (message) 480 posts, Helper bee

I agree with you guys that a few days (even up to a week depending) is reasonable. I would definitely be annoyed (and confused) if they did not meet their own deadline!
@jamithebride: That does sound frustrating! I hope the new company has been more on their game.

11/21/11 @ 5:40 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Sunhat (message) 865 posts, Busy bee

I promise my clients a response within 24 hours so I prefer the same from my vendors (don’t expect responses on weekends). I don’t freak out if that doesn’t happen but anything after 3 days is just too long in my opinion. The speed of business is ridiculous these days but you have to find a way to keep up!

11/21/11 @ 5:44 pm (reply)

Member

miss.sarah (message) 38 posts, Newbee

I tend to run with the notion of:

- 24 hours for first contact if they were unavailable on the phone or contacted by email (just an acknowledgment is fine).

- up to 3 days for an answer to a question, unless they specify a different response time (one vendor took 3 weeks but that was totally fine because they let me know at the outset and kept me updated in the meantime).

I absolutely despise vendors who say they will call back within a certain timeframe and never call back. I’ve gotten to the point that unless I thought there was something *really* special about their work/company and I desperately want to follow them up, I just look elsewhere. I know it’s a bit mean but if a vendor is going to be half-assed about communication I’d hate to think what their actual paid services are like.

11/21/11 @ 10:18 pm (reply)

Member

szaerpoor (message) 215 posts, Helper bee

I think it depends on the service, and the type of question. Failing a self-imposed deadline is a deal breaker for me. If you don’t take your own words seriously, you certainly can’t expect me to. I try to specify when I ask my vendors a question - “I’d really like an answer to this as soon as you’re able”, or “this isn’t urgent, please take your time”.

11/21/11 @ 10:30 pm (reply)

10.

Bee

Miss Mole (message) 985 posts, Busy bee

I tend to think that a response in 48 hours during the week is reasonable; anything longer than that — without even a “hey, really busy but got your email” type response — makes me super nervous.

11/22/11 @ 12:31 am (reply)

11.

Member

TinyTina (message) 3,312 posts, Sugar bee

Wow that is some photog you got yourself there!! Haha, I would never in a million years respond to an email while I was in the hospital with twins!! But… that is why I am not a wedding vendor. Depending on the situation I try not to panic until about a week after (unless it’s a more time sensitive issue).

11/22/11 @ 7:33 am (reply)

12.

Member

Soon to be Mrs. C (message) 35 posts, Newbee

I am very impatient and think that anything longer than 24 hours is too long :/! I know I’m not your only client - but being in a service industry myself I feel it’s only right to respond in a timely manner and know that my clients appreciate it when I do.

11/22/11 @ 7:40 am (reply)

13.

Member

SportsGal (message) 408 posts, Helper bee

I think for the initial contact when you’re first talking to vendors a response within 48 hours I thought was fine. Most of the vendors I picked are really good communicators, usually contact me back somehow within 24 hours usually.

However, I do kinda judge the first contact to see how eager they are for my business. Like when I was first looking for photographers, I emailed around 5 different companies just to get pricing/details.. Most of them got back to me within the first three days.. And one got back to me a week later without an apology or explanation.. That kind of rubbed me the wrong way since the others were able to get back to me quicker than they were. Plus if their responses were half assed or not helpful then I was a bit cautious too.

11/22/11 @ 2:59 pm (reply)

14.

Member

Future Army Wife (message) 1,101 posts, Bumble bee

I prefer a response, and, hopefully, a prompt one. I’ve had to contact several vendors three or four times before I even heard back from them.

11/26/11 @ 6:26 pm (reply)