Standing on the Fence
A balanced look at what is happening in the Information Technology world and its effects on businesses large and small.
24 Jun, 2006
Online Customer Service
Posted by bknapik 22:06 |
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E-Commerce
How does a company be their competition with customer service? Easy! Many online giants lack timely e-mail response, product knowledge and friendliness according to a recent consumer group survey. There are several ways to improve customer service including one live chat, e-mail, and telephone. Implementing these three strategies will put your business ahead of most large e-commerce sites.
One recent innovation is live online customer service chat. This allows customers to talk to a customer service representative directly from the company's website. Online live chat is a cost effective way of handling customer service since employees can handle multiple customer requests at one time. According to OSI Codes an online shopper is 20% more likely to buy a product after talking to an online customer service representative and that online live chat will grow to 59% of buyers by 2007.
Not answering e-mail is the biggest pitfall of major online operations. They do not dedicate enough resources to provide quick and effective responses. If a company can overcome this obstacle, a major advantage is gained. E-mail is manageable and does not have to be answered right away like other forms of customer service making this the simplest form of customer support. Setting up the e-mail to auto-respond with a message saying that the customer's question will be answered within forty-eight hours and confirming the receipt of the message helps build confidence with the customer.
Even the largest online giants do not provide telephone customer service. Amazon.com only provides a phone number to order over the phone, Ebay effectively hides their customer phone number and asks that all issues are handled by e-mail. Many people feel more comfortable talking on the phone than sending an e-mail or talking on live chat. Some customers will not order unless there is a phone number listed on the website.
With these three strategies in place, it becomes easy to have a competitive advantage against the online corporate giants.
13 Jun, 2006
Top 10 E-Commerce Mistakes
Posted by bknapik 20:48 |
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E-Commerce
There are some common mistakes that small business e-commerce sites make. If you are not getting the response you are expecting here some possible reasons.
1.Amateur look - One of the largest problems with new e-commerce sites is an unprofessional look. The key to this is consistency including fonts, page colors, and layout and limit to three colors.
2.Trustworthiness - When a customer does not feel they can trust a company with their information, they will not order.
3.Slow page display - The display times are critical. If your website takes more than seven seconds to display fully then it is extremely likely the prospective customer will leave before the page is completely viewable.
4.Lack of contact information Many sites lack having contact information. Having the phone number visible on all pages of the website will not only help establish trust but also give the customer the means to contact you if they have a problem.
5.Poor checkout procedures - The checkout procedure is the most likely location to lose a sale. If the checkout procedure is to complicated or daunting, it is likely that the customer will leave. Making the procedure as simple will go a long way.
6.Website content not updated - When a customer believes that the site is no longer being maintained, the customer will not order.
7.Important information not above the fold - The fold is the content on the page before you have to scroll down to view more information. It is critical that the most important information is displayed in this area since it is the most likely area that the customer will read.
8.No privacy policy - Customers are concerned about their privacy and they should be. With all the talk about spam, and identity theft many customers do read a sites privacy policy. The lack of a privacy policy will drive away a customer in a hurry
9.Poor customer service - It only takes a few customers to damage your reputation forever. The best way to avoid this is to provide timely customer service.
10.Lack of integration with the current business - Many small businesses forget to include their website in common materials such as business cards. catalogs, press releases, and fliers. Be sure to put your website address on all business related promotional materials.
