Create More Customers

We all have our own ideas of what constitutes great customer service. But I think we can each agree that it means taking that extra step, doing something unexpected that makes us feel like a valued person.

 
A Personal Story
A few months ago, my wife and I celebrated our wedding anniversary. I called this very highly rated restaurant in Beverly Hills to make a reservation. The gentleman answered the phone with, "Thank you for calling Mastro's. How may we be of the greatest service to you?" When I told him that I was making reservations for our anniversary, he said, "What a tremendous compliment that you've chosen our restaurant to celebrate this special occasion." My first thought was, "That's nice, but come on, let's get real."

To make a long story short, one of the items we ordered was the "Seafood Tower." You can add lobster tail, shrimp, crab, oysters, etc. to it. Well, they left out one of the items and I pointed it out to the waitress. I didn't think that much about it. I just figured they would bring it out on a separate plate. Well, not only did she apologize, the maitre d' apologized, and the chef came over to apologize.  They brought the missing item (I don't even remember what it was), and deducted it from the final bill. Needless to say, I was impressed and did in fact feel like a very valued person.

How can we translate this attitude, this feeling, to our own website, where we probably have very little personal interaction with our visitor?

 
Look at your website from your client's perspective.
What are their worries, their anxieties? At what point do these concerns present themselves along the purchase path?

 
To a new visitor, your business is a big unknown

• Are you reliable?
• Are there any hidden costs?
• Do you have multiple methods of payment?
• Are my transactions secure?
• Can I contact you?
• How quickly will you respond to my inquiries?
• What are your refund policies?
• What are your shipping policies?
• Can I track my shipment?
• What do other customers think of you?
• Can I purchase without registering first?
• Have you given me enough information to make a decision?
• Is your product description accurate?
• Will your autoresponder confirm my order and let me know when it has shipped?
• Is there an FAQ page that will answer most of questions?
• I s there a picture of you, so I know I'm dealing with a real person?

I'm going to stop here for right now, but I think you get the idea. Put yourself in your customer's shoes.

Your website needs to anticipate as many of their questions as possible, in advance, and then answer them in advance, on your webpages. If you're not sure what those questions might be, do a quick usability test. Pay 3 or 4 people from outside $40 or $50 each to spend a half hour on your website. Give them tasks to do. Ask them to purchase something and record their comments.

I guarantee that you'll be surprised at how many of your visitor's questions and concerns have been overlooked. And if you have answered everything in advance, more power to you.

Tags: customer service, hidden costs, improve, methods of payment, product description, refund policies, shipping policies

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 5th, 2008 at 11:15 am and is filed under Uncategorized, internet marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.