How A Web Site Can Help Your Customer Service
Article by Phil Donaldson, owner of www.GuerrillaRetail.co.nz.
One of the most important things a web site can help you do, is improve your customer service.
Make your contact details easy to find and you've got a good start. If you're competitor is easier
to get hold of than you, who's more likely to make the sale?
Add forms to your web site to make it easier for your customers to provide information or make enquiries.
A form on a web site is just like a form on paper. And you can ask for information using fields and tick boxes.
Even if prospects don't use the forms on your web site, they can see you've made an effort, and they
make you look approachable.
[Add a form to your web site - ask me nicely for "FormMail" with
this form
and I'll let you try it for free.]
A web site is always available. Your customer doesn't have to wait till you're off the phone, or come back
during business hours.
But 24 x 7 access to your business means you're expected to respond smartly.
The number of businesses losing potential customers because it takes them a couple of days, or even a
week, to respond to enquires made through their web site is staggering.
My experience has been that, because of the low standards, people are often impressed if you respond
within half a day. And if you happen to respond within an hour, well you can't ask for a better first impression
than that.
You have 2 very real opportunities here:
1. You can be the one to respond so quickly your customers tell their friends and colleagues about you.
2. Many a potential customer will send the same enquiry to several web sites that sell similar
products. If you happen to respond first, you may also happen to bank the cheque.
So make an effort to win the race!
If you sell 'off the shelf' products, a shopping cart can make a customers
experience easier.
By calculating totals and delivery costs they can see what they're getting, the exact price, and with
very little effort.
So give a level of customer service that many web site owners fall short of, and be a
shining star among a mass of burnt out web sites.
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