I Don’t Skype “IT”

Phil Wolfe in Skype Journal posted that Skype moved marketing functions from countries back to London in a reorganization announced yesterday.

Meanwhile, Russel Shaw has posted a very good analysis of eBay’s less than clear explanation for how exactly implementing Skype will benefit eBay sellers, stressing the lack of empirical evidence (case histories) of Skype as an effective business tool.

All are good points that essentially boil down to this: Skype is problematic in that requires enrollment of at least one party in the service and steps to explain (and understand) the various functions of Skype (e.g. “SkypeIn, SkypeOut, etc.)…all of this driven by the fact that Skype-to-Skype calls are free within North America…but “free” goes away at the end of ‘06.

As is so typical of the web, the “free” aspect seems to have overridden what the business purpose of the service is, specifically when it comes to doing business and facilitating communication with your customers. Introducing any unrelated step, such as Skype to the uninitiated, is a profound disruption of the sales process. And even though Skype claims millions of users, this doesn’t translate into any practical small business application.
Which brings us to what exactly is Skype all about? Communication.The call is everything, being able to speak to the customer answers not only specifics re the item but also goes along way in humanizing the process and thus addressing the security/scam shadow that is so much better dealt with conversing seller to customer. In addition, it presents the perfect cross-sell, up-sell opportunity.

Certainly whether or not a seller uses or desires phone contact depends a great deal upon the items being sold. Low-end items are arguably ill suited…but to dismiss the call option out of hand is a mistake.

I use Vonage VOIP and under the business plan and as one feature, I pay $4.99 per month for an inbound 800# (100 free minutes per month. 4.9 cents per minute thereafter). Regardless of which service you use, the point is that the 800# is an inexpensive,familiar & seamless extension of the sales process…customers simply call me and I get on with answering their questions and closing the sale. No hesitancy…No Skype-centric issues…I’m not selling Skype and my customers aren’t interested in learning more about Skype. It is irrelevant for both of us. Why then should it interpose itself into our conversation?
One of these days Skype may rule the airwaves and thus earn a natural place in your auction selling but until such time, it is an superfluous intrusion.