Online Customer Service
Posted on October 6, 2006, 8:18 pm by adi under E-commerceNowadays more and more companies are doing business online. Customer service is no more a concept restricted only to brick-and-mortar world. In fact customer service is the most important issue online, for example if a client feels they've been mistreated by a business, word will get out more quickly than if they had a good experience. On the web, news travels fast and a good customer review is worth its weight in gold. Since the world of e-commerce is largely an impersonal culture, with virtually no face-to-face contact with customers. Web users, especially those who pay money for a service online, often require tech support and they want it fast. Consider following elements that every online customer service plan should include:
- Customer friendly website and navigation or direct instructions on how to use your Website.
- Professional website design, fast image download times, and fast access to information.
- Give sales transactions a personal touch, even when you may never speak to your customers.
- Clearly providing Ordering instructions.
- Answer questions and confirm orders.- When answering queries, it is always better sending a personalized e-mail to the consumer rather than sending out an automated e-mail with a web link.
- Provide assurance of security of personal information transmitted over the Web
- Providing after-sales support - It not only helps the customer, it also creates good and often lucrative relationships with customers.
- When selling physical products, providing the customer with a way to track their orders. After the package has shipped, provide the customer a tracking number and a link to the shipping company's tracking system.
- When your Website doesn't provide an actual product, show your customers how to use your service. If you provide service demos, tell clients how to use them, and where to locate them.
- Discussion boards - They can save tech support a lot of work, these boards are public, any customer of your company can answer the questions other customers might have, which frees up you and your employees to perform other work.
Overall, the Internet makes it easier to do business because one can do it all right from their desktop any time of the day or night. While online customer support is certainly different than the traditional method. Customer care can literally make or break any business's online endeavors.
