Customer Service Internet Style - 10 Tips to Improve Your
Service
Quality customer service is the lifeblood of any business.
If you understand that it costs more to find a customer than it
does to keep one then you will appreciate the importance of
good, quality customer service.
Unfortunately, with the rapid rise of online businesses it has
become apparent that the focus has turned to pleasing the search
engines as opposed to pleasing the customer. I'm not
disregarding the importance of good search engine optimization
but what good is it if you can't provide good customer service?
You may gave gained a visitor but did you find a customer? Your
online business goals should be about out offering quality
information, speed, convenience and customer service. Lose any
one of those elements and you will lose potential business. Your
visitors want to find up-to-date information fast, they want to
immediately understand what your site is offering them, they
want fast solutions, easy navigation and they want good service.
You must be able to respond quickly to questions, emails and put
products in their hands fast. Here are ten customer service tips
that will impress any customer and keep them coming back for
more.
1. Build your site and services with your customer in mind.
Develop an "attitude" of good customer service by creating a
site that that has your visitor in mind.
To do this, be clear about what you're offering and what your
site is about. Great content doesn't mean much if your visitors
can't find it, so strive to organize your site with titles and
headings that are clear and descriptive with information that is
logically organized and structured. If you have a call to action
such as a newsletter sign-up or special contest, don't be afraid
to instruct your visitor to participate. 2. Keep the ordering
process simple and straight forward. Consider all possibilities
of questions, problems and issues that a customer might
encounter. Eliminate all possibilities of confusion.
3. Immediately following order placement, your customer should
receive a confirmation email thanking them for their order. When
the order has shipped, your customer should receive a second
e-mail stating that the product has shipped.
4. Exceed customer expectations. If your policy states that
orders are received with in 5-7 business days, try to achieve
deliveries in 3-4 business days. It's always pleasurable to
receive something sooner than you had anticipated, not to
mention your reputation will have just jumped ten-fold. 5. State
your guarantees, shipping and refund policies clearly. If you
work in a retail business make it easy for your customers to
return items. Simple things like including return labels within
the packaging helps tremendously. Provide shipping costs prior
to checkout instead of surprising them with shipping costs upon
payment.
Always provide addresses and working phone numbers of your
business on every page of your site. The worst thing a customer
can experience is to place an online order, have a problem, then
call a phone number and get no response or call back. A sure way
to create frustration and develop a bad reputation.
6. Utilize live-help capabilities. Not everyone will utilize the
services of live help, however just the ability to have a
conversation with a live representative goes a long way to make
the shopping experience more satisfying and help the customer
feel more secure.
Even though credit card security has come a long way over the
past few years, many people still feel more comfortable
providing credit card information to a live person instead of an
online form. Also, human interaction can increase profits as
well because a live person can effectively cross-sell and
up-sell to your customer.
7. Check on your customers after placing an order. Thank them a
second time for ordering. Solicit your services should they have
questions or problems. Also keep your customers aware of new
offerings via e-mail (but only with their permission). You'll
give them additional value without their having to return to
your site.
8. Provide a FAQ's section on your website. Did you know that
more than 80% of all customer questions are usually answered by
just 20% of a support knowledge base. A frequently asked
questions page on your website will answer their questions
before they ask them by allowing your customers to be
self-serving while saving you time and money.
9. Provide a simple search engine on your site. Most internet
users prefer using a site search engine as opposed to browsing
through pages and links to find what they need. A convenience
web surfers always appreciate. 10. Let your customers rate you
and your site. Ask your customers to complete a simple customer
service survey. Keep the survey quick and simple and allow for
comments. Take careful note of what your customers say and work
to make improvements accordingly.
In case you haven't heard it before, "Customers Make Paydays
Possible". Provide what they're looking for, keep them happy and
most importantly, learn from them.