Customer service
By Jerry West
We get a lot of calls from people with existing web sites asking for help. They have a good product or service, lots of visitors to their site, but little or no sales.
"Why?" they ask.
Usually it's an easy deduction and it comes down to customer service.
"I'm a nice person" they say. "I guarantee my product, I have a staff to answer the phone, I ship product the next day ...." Funny, your web site doesn't say those things.
"Oh."
We know that if we met a lot of you face-to-face we'd buy from you - but we can't see you or interface with you on the web. It's a "face-less" marketplace out there. So you have to overcome the barriers whcih are keeping you from selling on-line.
Here are some pointers to help bring up the confidence level of your prospects and turn them from "leads" into "customers".
1. People expect excellent customer service. So provide it.
2. First impressions are just as important, if not more, on-line than in the brick-and-mortar industry. Normally you have 20 seconds or less to make a good impression. Fail and the customer won't be back - ever.
3. Have contact information on every page. Including company name, address, phone, fax, e-mail - every possible mode of reaching you. If you aren't open 7 days a week 24 hours a day, list your business hours and if an issue occurs after hours, what the customer needs to do to make sure they are helped.
4. Do you offer a guarantee on your product or service? If so, state it clearly and openly. Guarantees give an element of trust between you and the consumer. They know if something goes wrong or they are not satisfied, they have a recourse.
5. Do you ship a product? If so, by what method? How long will it take from the time the order is placed until when the order is shipped? Is there a way to track the order after it is shipped? State all of this information clearly.
6. Do you have testimonials? If you do, a great place for one is on the order confirmation page. Reports show that between 62 - 70% of orders are abandoned at the order page. Reduce this rate by giving a great testimonial to ensure additional confidence in your business.
7. Respond Quickly - especially to complaints. We have found that a quick turnaround to e-mail inquiries and phone messages raises customer confidence and often gives us an edge over our competitors. We had one client who sent e-mails to five internet marketing firms asking for assistance. We were the third. Before the customer sent the fifth e-mail, they had received a response from us - not by an autoresponder, but a real person answering their questions and setting up a time and date for a consultation. We got the contract signed before the others had even responded.
By doing the steps above, we believe your business will be able to achieve more sales, fewer abandoned customers and an increase in your repeat business.
..........
© 2000, WebMarketingNow.com
Jerry West is the Director of Internet Marketing for WebMarketingNow. He has been consulting on the web since 1996 and has assisted hundreds of companies gain an upper-hand over their competition. Visit http://www.webmarketingnow.com/ for the latest in marketing tips that are tested and proven.
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