• Affiliate Marketing
 • Affiliate Marketing - Basics
 • Affiliate Marketing - Development
 • Affiliate Marketing - Setting Up
 • Archive catalogue
 • Autoresponders
 • Banner Advertising
 • Business Development
 • Checklists
 • Competitors
 • Copy Writing
 • Copy Writing - ad copy
 • Copy Writing - email copy
 • Copy Writing - sales copy
 • Customer Service
 • Database Marketing
 • Direct Mail
 • Domain Names
 • E-books
 • E-commerce
 • E-mail Marketing
 • E-zines
 • E-zines: Advertising
 • E-zines: Promotion
 • E-zines: Subscribers
 • E-zines: Writing
 • Entrepreneurship
 • Free Services
 • Home Based Business
 • Home Based Business - Finance
 • Home Based Business - Getting Started
 • Home Based Business - is it for YOU?
 • Home Based Business - Marketing
 • Internet Tips
 • Market Research
 • Marketing
 • Marketing Strategy
 • Net Business Start ups
 • Networking(MLM)
 • Newsletters/Newsgroups
 • Online Payments
 • Online Promotion
 • PC KNOW HOW
 • Personal Development For Marketeers
 • PR/Publicity and Media
 • Sales Tips
 • Search Engines
 • Search Engines - Keywords
 • Search engines - Optimisation
 • Selling Techniques
 • Surveys and Statistics
 • Telesales
 • Top 10 Tips
 • Traffic and Tracking
 • Viral Marketing
 • Website Design and Development
 • ZeLatest

Customer Is King Even in Cyberspace

Category: Customer Service Date: 2001-10-31
Your website is but a separate outlet of your business - like a new branch, a new store, a new office.

The only difference between on-line and off-line business premises is that, in the first one, you do not see customers face-to-face. This is the only difference, since customers’ reactions, attitude or expectations stay exactly the same. You do not see them, but they see you.

How do you like to be treated when you go to any shop or service outlet? Carefully examine your reaction as a customer. Ask yourself the question: what do I care about? What do I like, or dislike about this service? Afterwards, think how you can achieve the same confidence in your service on-line?

Customer satisfaction is a crucial element of your business. It does not matter whether it is an Internet store or an off-line outlet. You should always focus on your clients and build your website in such a way that not even one aspect of customer care is missed. If you do not consider this point as fundamental, your consumer market will be rather poor - even with the most beautiful website in cyberspace.

The biggest Internet companies owe their success to superb customer care (for example: Amazon.com). They will tell you this: it is not the product, it is not investment - it is the way you treat your clients that is most important.

The list below summarizes basic expectations of an ordinary customer in an ordinary shop on the street. These same expectations should be met with on the Internet as well, so I have presented each point in a way that you can achieve the same positive reaction on-line. Read on and you will believe: you can make your clients as happy in your on-line store as when you see them face-to-face.

(I assume that a client has found your website and enters there for the first time. This article is not about website promotion, eg, it does not elaborate on the ways to find you on the World Wide Web. You should make your utmost to be found easily - it goes without saying. Even if you are well established in your geographical area, it does not mean that potential clients will like your on-line store... . )

1. Parking Facilities?

Sometimes you must spend a long time trying to find a space to park your car near the shop. It is also not good if the shop is remote from a bus stop, an underground station or from your home in general.

If you know that you have two available shops - one easily accessible, the other one not so, (for example: constant lack of parking space and your resulting infuriation while driving around in hot weather) - which one would you choose?

Time required to download your website can be compared to time spent on accessing a shop in your city or town. If your pages’ download for longer than 20 seconds, something must be done about it. Take one second of the downloading as one minute of time looking for parking space. How long would you drive around the shop, before simply driving away? Is 20 minutes your limit?

2. How Quickly Do I Get Attention?

Is there anybody out there to see that I have come? Is anybody interested in me as a person?

Even a simple greeting from a shop assistant, like "Hello! How can I help you?", makes a difference. This standard welcoming phrase has more impact if it comes quickly, immediately as you enter the shop. On a visit to an Orthodontist in Pretoria, South Africa, I was pleasantly "shocked" to be greeted by the Orthodontist herself, immediately as I crossed the threshold! The loud and clear, warm greeting made all eyes turn towards me and made me feel like a celebrity.

It will make even more impression, if you hear something different from the usual "How can I help you?" (it is actually so stereotyped, to the level of a cliché: it sounds banal and most clients think that the phrase is repeated as a formal routine, and not as a true intention to help...).

How can you make it different? For example: "Hello! Thank you for coming". I bet you have never heard this. "Hello. Thank you for coming. If you need me, I am here. My name is John" - with a nice smile. It does not impose on you anything. You know that your visit is noticed, it is appreciated and help is available at any time. When you hear "How can I help you?", your standard answer (I bet) is: "Thank you. I am just looking".

Welcome your website visitors. Create a warm and reassuring phrase: let your potential clients know that their presence is noticed and appreciated, that they will be helped if the need arises. "Welcome to our website!" - this is standard. Try something different: "Thank you for visiting this website. If you need help at any time, please click on the green "Help" button in the right top corner of any page. Enjoy your visit!".

Well? Doesn’t it sound good? So simple, yet gives so much of comfort... .

3. Personal Attention

Do the sales personnel recognize me?

How often have you heard this: "Hello, Mr Brown! Nice to see you again"? You do not have to be addressed by your name. It would be enough to hear: "Hello! Thank you for coming again".

Although it may be difficult to remember all the customers when it comes to a standard shop, it is easy on the Internet. The "magical" facility is called cookies. It works in a simple way: the customer is invited to sign an "account", or a "guest book". This information is stored on your server and on the client’s browser. When he or she visits your website again, some technical "hocus-pocus" thing happens: a welcoming note is personalized.

"Thank you for visiting us again, Mrs Smith. We hope that you will enjoy your visit as much as you did previously. If you need any help, click on the green button at the top right corner of the page". Simple, but so powerful in creating a fantastic, and unforgettable impression.

4. How is the Store Looking?

Isn’t it a nice feeling to enter a shop with all the products neatly arranged on shelves, with clean floors, walls and windows, well-dressed personnel, good lighting, ample space to walk about without bouncing into other shoppers? It is easy to create a cozy atmosphere without spending a fortune.

Are your Internet pages neat? Will the very first glance at your website content result in a negative, or a positive impression on your client? Pay attention to the following:

The font you use: "fancy" fonts are difficult to read on a computer screen (for example italics). The best fonts are Arial or Times New Roman, size 10pt.
The best combination is always a black font on white background - the easiest to read for the human eye. Reserve colours only for hyperlinks. If you want to choose a different colour background, make it very light (not dark red, for example...).
Separate clearly different kinds of information. Put text boxes and separate blocks of text by spaces. Make the headings bold.
Make your images clear (if any - they always make downloading time longer).
Avoid putting too much information in one place - rather make hyperlinks to pages with more details. A website should be "compact", yet contain sufficient data for your clients.
There are thousands of ways on how to make your website look pleasant for visitors. It depends more on commitment than on available funds. It is an investment in customer care - so make this investment to make your clients feel good while browsing your Internet pages.

5. Can I Find what I Want?

How many times has it happened to you: running up and down the shelves looking for the item you want, to no avail? Even the smallest shop should be organized in such a way that products are easy to find. Before the customer walks from one point to another, he or she should know what is on the other side. Searching for needed merchandise can be a nightmare, especially in bigger stores.

It is an art to formulate short and informative instructions for your website visitors Try to contain all the Information you need to convey in one, or maximum two, sentences. Ask yourself this question: does the customer know what kind of information will he or she obtain after clicking on this hyperlink?

Do not expect your clients to be happy after going to a page that contains something that is not needed by them. It is like walking aimlessly into a shop and browsing along the shelves. Your customer can go away in one second, if your information is not clear. It is not your visitors’ job to figure out what is on the other side of your store, eg. on other pages of your website.

6. Can Somebody Help me when I Need Assistance?

Localizing an item of interest is one thing. Getting to know whether it is indeed what you are looking for is a completely different aspect of the buying process.

The following irritating things can happen to you:

You have found the product, but it is localized on the highest shelf and you cannot reach it
You have found the product, but it is is packed in a sealed box and you cannot see it
There is no price displayed
There is nobody around to tell you more about the product
The salesperson cannot answer all your questions regarding the product
There is no expiry date
You are unable to compare it with an identical product that is priced differently.
Specifications/ Ingredients are not listed.
Whatever is offered on your website, must be exhaustively described: size, packing or packaging, colours, price, technical specification, images etc., etc. Your clients should be able to find any information you can possibly imagine when it comes to a description of a product or a service. Additionally, you should offer immediate assistance by providing "Frequently Asked Questions" page, "Help" page, "Contact" page, "Search" engine, "Site Map" page. At any time, customers should be sure that help is within reach.

This tactic saves their time and your time. It makes your business reliable, trustworthy and professional.

7. How do You Deliver?

How and when will you deliver my product? How much will I pay for delivery?

This information is essential in a real-life situation when you buy bigger items. It happens quite often that a delivery service is either not available, delayed or expensive.

In the Internet World, when all transactions are concluded on-line and all products are shipped to the customer’s door, information about delivery is a must. There should be a detailed explanation as to how the product is shipped, when it will arrive, how much it will cost and what different shipping services are available. Make a list of questions regarding delivery you would ask as a customer and answer them all. Your clients will walk away if this information is absent, vague or is incomplete.

8. What Guarantees do You Give?

What is going to happen if the item is faulty, damaged or different from what is initially promised?

Would you buy a product, if the seller did not give you an option to return it (for a full refund or replacement) in case of a malfunction or some deficiency? Wouldn’t you rather go to a shop that offers some kind of guarantee?

Dealing on the Internet does not mean that you are free from this obligation: your customers must be assured that the items advertised by you can be replaced (or returned). If you neglect this aspect of customer care, you lose in the long run.

And do not "hide" your returns and refunds policies - display them in a place easy to find.

9. How Many Options of Payment do I Have?

Which shop would you choose: the one accepting only cash, or the one accepting cash, credit cards, cheques or having EFTPOS facilities available? You would say: "It depends whether I have cash on hand...". Of course: whenever you do not have cash, the first shop is losing a customer.

The Internet store should support both groups of clients: those with and those without credit cards. Do not miss this point, especially when you offer products to the international public. Your items might be demanded, yet impossible to buy because you have not implemented a system of payment for clients without credit cards. In some countries, they form more than 50% of on-line shoppers.

Can you afford to forget about this group?

10. Is there Something Extra for Me in Your Shop?

Imagine a shop where you can see promotional items with discounted prices, free items given away with other products bought, free brochures, an ice cream machine in the corner, an ATM point to draw cash and a clown entertaining children and giving them sweets while you are shopping.

The other shop across the street has only sad salespeople behind counters, no free stuff, no ATM nor ice-cream machine, not to mention the clown.

Which shop is more attractive?

Your visitors should be entertained and encouraged to come back to your website. Giving away on the Internet is easy and... cheap. You have hundreds of options:

Free downloads (articles, E-books, software)
Lists of directories - other useful links
Activities for visitors (surveys, questionnaires, quizzes)
Competitions
Specials (discounts, free items after buying one item)
A subscription to your newsletter
This is a field to show how creative you are.

Are you doing enough to keep your customers active, entertained and happy? Do you offer them anything to make them visit your website often?

11. Will You Follow Up on Me?

There are customers and potential customers. Both groups require attention.

How often has it happened to you that after your visit to a shop (or a service point), when you didn't buy anything, somebody phoned you to ask how you are? Wouldn’t it be a welcome change in a saga of poor customer care?

How often did it happen to you that, after buying something, somebody bothered to contact you to ask how the product is performing? Wouldn’t it be nice to know that they care?

Computers and the Internet give you the tools to keep in touch with your clients at all times. Autoresponders can answer in a second with a reassuring message that the customer’s request has been received. On-line database systems keep track of all visitors, all transactions, all requests. Advanced software programs make it possible for clients to contact you effortlessly and, on the other hand, for you to send messages to all prospective and current customers at once.

Do you follow-up on your visitors, or just promise to follow them up? Do you know that broken promises give you the worst possible reputation all over the Internet? In fact, all over the World?

12. Am I Secure Giving You All My Details?

Imagine that somebody gave your particulars away to a third party and it happened in real-life World. For example:

somebody forwarded your letter to another person
your friend disclosed something about you to another person
your telephone number was given by one shop owner to another one
How would you feel? Isn’t it the truth that we all react with anger after discovering such practices?

Your potential cyber-clients need to be sure that information you gather from them is saved, protected against Internet "hackers", and not available for view by any third party. Your promise to shelter customer data should be contained in a document called "Privacy Policy". A small thing, but so often forgotten.

Oh, yes: do not count on on-line sales if your transaction process is not done via a secure server (SSL: Secure Socket Layer). If you do not offer this facility, 95% of potential buyers will go away... .

Summary

How many of the above aspects of customer care require huge financial investments, and how many require a simple commitment of time?

The answer is easy: in most cases it is your dedication, not the money, which results in high standard service. Your practice to look after clients well is seen by all visitors instantly: just after a few seconds of glancing through your website.

The most sophisticated programs (CGI scripts, real audio/video, fantastic images etc.) will never substitute for timeous follow up, a personalized attitude, warmness and friendliness in communication, clarity and completeness of information, special offers, or care exercised for all possible kinds of clients (for example, those with and without credit cards).

If you think that reaction of the client after entering your business outlet on the street is different from after downloading your home page on the Internet, you are very, very, very wrong. The reaction is exactly the same, and the same aspects of customer care count.

Change your attitude then and do not distinguish between real-life clients and "cyber-clients". They are all customers with a high degree of expectation.

They judge you in the same way.

About the Author

Fabian Krause is the founder of The Internet Clinic. His teaching is based on simplifying seemingly complicated business issues in three steps: (1) in-depth analysis (2) extracting the most practical aspects of a given problem being analysed and (3) presenting results to the public in a form that is easily understandable, educational, entertaining and practical. His publications are usually enhanced with diagrams, tables and pictures since there is no language in this World that can describe a given problem better than a simple graphic.

:To contact see details below.


fabiankrause@internetclinic.org
http://www.internetclinic.org
Ñàéò èçãîòîâëåí â Ñòóäèè Âàëåíòèíà Ïåòðó÷åêà
èçãîòîâëåíèå è ïîääåðæêà âåá-ñàéòîâ, ðàçðàáîòêà ïðîãðàììíîãî îáåñïå÷åíèÿ, ïîèñêîâàÿ îïòèìèçàöèÿ

Copyright © 2005-2006 Powered by Custom PHP Programming

 • Affiliate Marketing
 • Affiliate Marketing - Basics
 • Affiliate Marketing - Development
 • Affiliate Marketing - Setting Up
 • Archive catalogue
 • Autoresponders
 • Banner Advertising
 • Business Development
 • Checklists
 • Competitors
 • Copy Writing
 • Copy Writing - ad copy
 • Copy Writing - email copy
 • Copy Writing - sales copy
 • Customer Service
 • Database Marketing
 • Direct Mail
 • Domain Names
 • E-books
 • E-commerce
 • E-mail Marketing
 • E-zines
 • E-zines: Advertising
 • E-zines: Promotion
 • E-zines: Subscribers
 • E-zines: Writing
 • Entrepreneurship
 • Free Services
 • Home Based Business
 • Home Based Business - Finance
 • Home Based Business - Getting Started
 • Home Based Business - is it for YOU?
 • Home Based Business - Marketing
 • Internet Tips
 • Market Research
 • Marketing
 • Marketing Strategy
 • Net Business Start ups
 • Networking(MLM)
 • Newsletters/Newsgroups
 • Online Payments
 • Online Promotion
 • PC KNOW HOW
 • Personal Development For Marketeers
 • PR/Publicity and Media
 • Sales Tips
 • Search Engines
 • Search Engines - Keywords
 • Search engines - Optimisation
 • Selling Techniques
 • Surveys and Statistics
 • Telesales
 • Top 10 Tips
 • Traffic and Tracking
 • Viral Marketing
 • Website Design and Development
 • ZeLatest