Planning for Optimum Client Service for Your Online Clients

Service is all important. That has to be a given. The level by which a service company understands their clients and their marketplace, is a deciding factor that can make a company great, or not.

In the online world the criteria by which we assess companies can be as simply as by their follow up response. Does your company place a level of importance on answering requests quickly and personally? And by the person best suited to answer? Or are answers being supplied by people that are under-qualified? Or simply because he is the only person available at that time?

Follow-up in a defined time

If someone comes to your website with a question because he could not find the answer on your website, is there a process in place to answer that question quickly enough to leverage that person's interest? Or will the sense of urgency decline until it vanishes due to a lack of attention?

Does your website lead to a point where people actually say "Wow, I didn't expect to hear from you"? It should. Generally people don't expect a call or an immediate contact from a website with a competent company representative.

Follow-up Personally

If you follow up in a short and pre-defined time, say during the next working day, and you have the best skilled person respond or respond yourself as the business owner, then you will stand out as a true professional.

Imagine how impressed one client was his email to Bill Gates was answered 2 days after it was sent by the person that ran tech support in the foreign country he was living.

Give the Client What They Need - this may not be what they ask for

There is one aspect of client support many people are not aware of. You need to first determine what the client says they want, and then make sure the solution you propose is what they actually need.

If your client calls and tells you that they want your $5000 solution, but while listening to them they describe a problem that can be solved with the $2000 solution, do you tell them the less expensive solution exists? In today's information age, you must provide the best service you can to all of your clients.

Plan for Problems

Things go wrong, screws fall out, telephone systems fail and email from your best client can be captured by your spam filter because they used a word or phrase that appears to be spam.

There is no reason that you should expect everything to work perfectly and you should have a plan that lessens the chances of imperfection impacting your clients. Your employees should look in their spam folders twice a day, listen to voice mail hourly, and the company should have a spare phone line that does not pass through the switchboard. What else can you think of that will limit the chance of not responding to someone on time?

Follow-up with a Call

One good way to begin a good relationship with your client is for you to start a good relationship over the phone with him.

If your website has an email address for all first customers you should use an automatic reply that is well worded, this is just one point on your sales cycle. Don't make a mistake in your client relationship in the very beginning.

Acknowledge every mail, supply a phone number they can call in case the client feels that they need a response immediately, and in this automatic reply ask for the full contact details - name, address and phone number - so you can call back.

Then call back.

Follow-up and Make Their Day

Did you ever reward someone for doing something right? There are companies that realize that announcing that a person had been caught doing something wrong did not have the same impact as rewarding someone for doing something right. The idea is to give rewards, not for something spectacular, but for consistently doing a very good job.

You can consistently do a very good job by calling each new client and telling them that their order has been processed. They will get your email, but really appreciate a friendly voice saying "This is Cindy from King Business Tools and I just called to tell you your Blue Gizmo has been mailed."

This is a job that can be done by a person with free time because this is not the time for selling, just generating a bit of good faith. It can also help the client remember you just a little bit better.

Follow-up with extras

You can make a mark in your clients mind by including something with each order. If nothing else include a reduction for a future purchase. But plan ahead and include an electronic product that is useful to them, or a video on how to get the most out of the product or service that they just bought. An ebook giving related information or how previous clients did something slightly different to get the most out of their purchase.

Sales can be lost because of poor follow-up. Put a mindset of good follow-up in place in your company.

Improve Your Client Service With A Little Planning

A little planning in how you treat your online visitors will be noticed. The visitors to your website, your online prospects and clients will appreciate the extra service you provide.

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