Good customer service can make all the difference - especially in ecommerce where there is no face-to-face contact.
By offering excellent service you have the opportunity to turn happy customers into loyal customers. What's more, business studies have shown that happy customers tell 4 people about their positive experience. Unhappy customers on the other hand tell 10 people how unsatisfied they are with your company.
Do the math... If you are able to offer excellent service, your bottom line will thank you for it. But in ecommerce this is easier said then done. Customer support requests can be inundating and highly time-consuming for many growing businesses.
How do you offer excellent customer service that creates growth - without sacrificing your time and sanity? What is Customer Service?
You can't build a good e-business without solid customer service. This means responding to customer enquiries, dealing with lost packages, payment problems and returns - and finally answering questions from customers.
Good customer service is all about bringing customers back to your site and turning them into repeat buyers. You want to send them away happy and impressed enough to tell their friends - who may also become repeat customers - about your business.
The good news is that a customer service system that's fast, efficient and delivers excellent value to the customer can be set up with very minimal cost, technology and time.
You'll notice that few books on ecommerce deal with customer service.
After all - can customer service really boost sales and increase the bottom line? We believe it can and it should.
The key to good customer service is responsiveness. This doesn't just mean responding to your customers demands, try to anticipate them. Good customer service exceeds your customer's expectations.
A website with 100,000 subscribers and turnover of close to $1 million a year only needs ONE customer service rep working 20 hours a week if the proper systems are set up well.
2 Key Concepts of Online Customer Service
As mentioned earlier, the single most important aspect of online customer service is responsiveness. You can increase your responsiveness by focusing on its 2 key components: communication and interactivity.
1. Communication
Communication should be transparent and painless:
· Visibility: clearly display your contact information on your website. Provide easily accessible email links, phone numbers and feedback forms.
· Let your customers know that you'll be happy to help them.
· Email lists: these are powerful tools to provide your customers with relevant information, nurture the relationship and encourage further contact.
· Autoresponders: Autoresponders can automatically send your customers the appropriate information in response to a standard question. If a customer replies to an autoresponder they can receive an automated email with a link to the FAQ section on your website and the contact information of your support team.
2. Interactivity
Interactivity can help significantly in building a relationship with your customers. By showing a personal interest in your customer you will build trust and likeability.
Here are some tools you can use to encourage interactivity.
· Surveys: surveys allow you to not only show your customers that you value their opinion but also gather valuable feedback in the process.
· Incentives: reward your customers for interacting with you. These could be discounts for filled out feedback forms, prizes for creative slogans, bonuses for repeat purchases, you name it.
Good customer service can make all the difference. The trick is to offer the best possible service in the least time-consuming way.
Remember that one happy customer could lead to a lot of additional sales over the years through repeat purchases and referrals. It would be a waste not to use this existing resource to the full extent. But while offering great service - you need to pay attention to automation and efficiency so you can free up time to focus on growing your business.
Got a Question? Ask.
Ask the community a question about this article:
Frequently Asked Questions
Saying no to customers
By: Patty | 04-06-2008
How do I say no to a customer without losing them as a customer? We manufacture frozen specialty foods & make over 1200 varieties & we are asked each day to produce something slightly different. We say yes to the requests that are feasable, but, about 10% of the time must say no. Some are understanding but, many of them are not and make us feel that we have let them down. Please advise. Thanks!!
Automated customer service
By: ManuelGarcia | 17-11-2007
Hi, I am looking for reliable articles that will give me some information about automated customer service. Can someone pls provide me with a website? Thanks Manuel
Customer service
By: rubyc | 21-10-2007
what is customer service
Give an example of when u had to deal with a ...
By: mayreeder | 23-07-2007
give an example of when u had to deal with a customer that was upset
Can you provide an example of when you provied ...
By: aisha80 | 10-07-2007
can you provide an example of when you provied excellent customer?what was the situation?what did you do and what was the outcome?
Q&A Powered by:
Latest Internet Articles
Do You Want to Optimize Your Own Web Site?
By: Jennifer Horowitz | 25/07/2008
Think of the engines like teachers handing out gold stars for everything that you do well. Google currently has about 200 factors in their algorithms that determine how your site will rank. Imagine your teacher with a clipboard and checklist with 200 items on it and she assigns you gold stars for each of the things you do well.
Multi-level Marketing and Potential Income Stream
By: Dock J Murphy | 25/07/2008
MLM is the kind of business that works best for self-starters and those with dedication and initiative. Traditionally good employees might not make the best MLM team members as they might not have the go-to to get the job done without prodding.
Three Steps for a Successful Business Making Money Online
By: Stephen Meyer | 25/07/2008
Many people search for a work at home opportunity because they want a business making money online. With finances up in the air and an unstable economy making money from home seems to be the key. The good news is there are many ways you can have a business at home and make money online. This article will discuss three steps to making money from home in affiliate marketing.
How to Start a Website
By: Paul Guzman | 25/07/2008
How do you start a successful website.
Here is the information you need to get started on making your own professional or hobby website.
1. You need a Domain Name: Gotta have a domain name like...whatismywebsiteabout.com
If you know about real estate in New York City...Maybe "newyork-city-realestate.com."
It's easy and only cost about 10...
How Much Traffic Do You Need to Make Money With Your Online Home Business?
By: Matt Helphrey | 25/07/2008
How much money you make online relies ultimately on the amount of traffic you get to your site. Just how much traffic are we talking about?
Creating a Profitable Blog Starts With a Good Plan
By: Edward Lomax | 25/07/2008
If you want to make money from your blog (and who doesn't?) you need to plan for your success. You are not popular enough to write about whatever you like and think people will read your posts. You need a plan.
Is Domain Name Registering Good For Company Branding?
By: Doug Milton | 25/07/2008
Domain registering, when done wisely, can do wonders for company branding. A well-named domain will bring visitors to your site and make selling your products that much easier. There are a few simple rules to follow when registering domain names, though, and they are essential points to remember.
Before you begin...
3 Super Powered Ways to Drive Traffic to Any Website in Any Niche
By: Mal Keenan | 25/07/2008
The top 3 internet marketing strategies to send traffic to any web business. The methods are basic but powerful and can be applied to any niche market...
More from Bjorn Brands
What You Must Now About Text Vs. HTML Emails !
By: Bjorn Brands | 02/05/2008 | Internet
We offer you some tips and suggestions for creating both Text and HTML emails. Run regular tests to see which format produces better results.
Do You Hesitate to Send Email to Your Subscribers and Customers?
By: Bjorn Brands | 01/05/2008 | Internet
The truth is, when you do your email marketing right, not only is it an excellent source of income for you, but your subscribers and customers will actually appreciate hearing from you!
6 Reasons Why You Need to Have a Blog With Your Website
By: Bjorn Brands | 25/04/2008 | Internet
Blogs are powerful marketing tools that can help you reach more customers, establish credibility, increase sales, and share company news without having a huge advertising budget. Blogs have a number of advantages that make them highly effective in promoting your business.
Maintain Successful Affiliates and the Money Keeps Pooring In!
By: Bjorn Brands | 24/04/2008 | Internet
For your affiliate marketing to truly take off, you want your affiliates to succeed, and keep on succeeding. The secret to maintaining successful affiliates is in helping them succeed, and keeping them happy.
Tap Into Highly Targeted Markets and Let Others Do All the Work
By: Bjorn Brands | 23/04/2008 | Internet
It is through affiliate marketing that you can start to tap into these highly targeted markets and get hundreds of other websites to start promoting your brand, products, and services.
How to Bring Customers Back to Your Shoppingcart and Boost Your Profits
By: Bjorn Brands | 06/04/2008 | Internet
Just because people abandon your shopping cart does not mean that you have lost the sale. With a little bit of extra effort, you can lure them back to complete their purchase and substantially increase your profits.
Why Shopping Carts Get Abandoned
By: Bjorn Brands | 05/04/2008 | Internet
Customers add items to the shopping cart, arrive at the checkout page, but then do not complete the checkout process. Why do so many customers go through the time and trouble to load up their shopping carts, only to leave without the merchandise?
7 Tips on How to Boost Your Pagerank
By: Bjorn Brands | 03/04/2008 | Internet
Search engines want to lead users to the most relevant information that is available online for any given keyword. With these 7 tips we are going to make sure Internet users will find your relevant page for a specific keyword, through the search engines.
Internet 
