I've discussing customer service before but I have to touch on the subject again because it is such an important subject matter. In fact, getting the shopper service aspect of your online (or offline) business best suited could mean the difference between success and malfunction.... I don't care what we should are selling, who you could be selling it to, what service you offer or who your market you work in is, if you don't take time to provide top quality support services, you will definitely be losing sales somewhere on the line. This subject is fresh in my mind at present because I have had cause for making several online purchases within the last week or so and therefore the levels of service May very well received have varied drastically. At one end of this scale I have found some excellent service and as opposed, some companies have fully ignored my requests for assistance! This is to be likely I guess (though you cannot find any excuse for ignoring paying customers) however, the key businesses that really be different for me are those who made the effort to communicate at a 'personal' level. By that I mean bothering to reply to my emails as an alternative to just ignoring them from the hope that their traditional automatically generated emails would work. These businesses that went the excess mile to make me sense that a valued customer are things that will reap the rewards when you need it because I will settle for them to purchase ever again. It really is so simple so it amazes me when companies/individuals don't bother to take time. So what can you do to assure your online business offers the right level of customer service? Well here are some ideas to get everyone started.... 1. Ensure that your chosen website has a 'Frequently Quizzed Questions' (FAQ) page. This will help your customers to determine the answers to their own questions immediately without necessity to send an email/make a telephone call. As many of you are aware of, I set up some sort of Support Centre earlier this year with a Knowledgebase of commonly asked questions. Not only does this help customers jointly reduced my inbound emails considerably. 2. Make sure your contact details are often located. Online businesses can generally go away with not publishing your telephone number (though should you wish to do so, even better) but it's essential that a working email is available for customers. Note that I say 'working' email - if your ISP is filtering your emails intended for spam and junk, then this doesn't really count as it is somewhat easy for a genuine email for getting sent to the cash bin in error. 3. You'll want to set your sales site up so when a purchase manufactured, a confirmation email is automatically pumped to the buyer. This lets them realise that their order has long been received and confirms that it can be being processed. I dislike it when I spend some money online and don't even get a contact confirmation! 4. Answer all emails/enquiries within at any hour. That said, I actually think that 1 day is too long to hold back for a reply from a web based business. I have always expressed on my sites i always will respond within 1 day but most emails really are answered within 8 periods absolute maximum. If a web based business can't/won't respond to me within one day, then I won't contend with them.
I am afraid i always have little time for anyone in operation that says that they can not answer emails within 24 hours. Even when I received a full-time job, I checked my emails first thing early in the day and then again after dark so that customers wasn't left waiting. I even check my emails daily their am on holiday so merely can do this, why can't most people? Ok, you might wish to have time off over that weekend - that's fair enough but ensure that your website tells customers that your office is only manned Monday to Weekend. Mind you, any website owner that doesn't check their emails along at the weekend is missing a good trick. I make a truthful few sales on Saturday/Sunday and I'm sure that sometimes due to the fact I bothered to reply to an email sent on one such days within a handful of hours. If I acquired left it until Sunday, chances are that an example of my competitors would 've got the sale. I have come across some companies that have gone on holiday for a few weeks and just eventually left their emails to compile. I find it hard to think that anyone that calls for their business seriously would accomplish this but I have noticed it happen. If you should take a holiday and do not want to check ones emails, fine but be certain to get someone else to do it when you're away. Sending an autoresponder meaning that says 'We will probably answer your email in fortnight time... ' just isn't sufficiently good. If you want youngster should be clear off for an opportunity and forget about your career, then you need work not your own business enterprise. 5. Finally, deal by using complaints quickly and reasonably. Whatever type of enterprise you run, you will get complaints sometimes - it just is not really possible to please everyone every time. A lot of the time you'll likely feel that the complaint isn't justified and in some cases, it won't be - people is definitely a strange breed! However, just handle it and advance - it isn't worth getting hung through to. Spending time on support service is time very most certainly spent - it gets sales and even more importantly, it brings customers back as often as needed. To quote an outdated saying, it is much easier/cheaper to retain a pre-existing customer than it is to buy a new one. <! -- google_ad_section_end --><! -- google_ad_section_end -->
