Internet Marketing Commerce

In any business Internet or not, customer service is what makes sales. It’s not just customer service that separates the good from the best, but the right customer service. There are several ways you can approach customer service but only a few will come out on top.

If you want to be the best in your field you not only need to have competitive pricing, buy you need to have excellent customer service. One of the best ways to do this is by communication, whether it’s through email or over the phone. You need to give the customer exactly what they’re looking for in a respectable and understanding fashion. If it’s over the phone listen to what they have to say first and then give your advice or best suggestion. Ask them what purpose their purchase will serve and then give them a few options. If their circumstance does not need your best and most expensive product don’t try and sell it to them. The majority of people will respect that and begin to trust you. If you’re not trying to sell them your most expensive product after they thought they needed it they’ll know you’re looking out for what’s best for them and not your bottom line. You will have them coming back time and time again because of the relationship you’ve built.

If you don’t make the sale on the first communication follow up with them. Most likely they didn’t buy the first time because they’re price shopping or looking for the best service. If you follow up with them and ask them what you can do to best serve their needs, they’re way more likely to purchase from you. It shows you care about their business and you want to make sure they receive the best deal and are satisfied. By following up it also shows them that you will be there if they need it long after they make their purchase. So if they need support of replacement parts in the future they have someone who will be willing to help them.

All in all, customer service is one of the most important aspects of any business. If you have good customer service the rest will more than likely follow. Always stay focused on pleasing the customer and listen to what they have to say first. Remember, your business relies on your customers to survive, so make sure they’re happy.

Customer reviews can have a tremendous impact on any business. Reading, listening to or watching a video customer review gives customers a better sense of security in what they’re purchasing. There are some negative aspects to allowing reviews but the positive outweighs the negative. Although customer reviews can have a positive impact on your business it’s hard to get customers to write them without asking or giving them an incentive.

The first thing you should test is to simply just ask your customers for a review after they have received their order. Depending on your niche a good portion of your customers will write a review without asking for anything in return. The customers who are willing to do this should be rewarded even when they don’t ask for it. This shows them that you care about their opinion and them as a customer. It’s also something unexpected and shows that you take pride in your customer service. This will get those customers coming back to purchase again and again.

Once you have tested this method if it doesn’t seem to be working out as well as you thought it’s a good idea to start offering your customers an incentive. There are several things you can offer them it really depends on your niche. You could offer them a t-shirt of your business, money back on their purchase or a coupon for any future purchases. It’s a good to do this after they have purchased by email, mail or even put it in their packing slip. No matter what the case by giving an incentive you will get a much bigger response.

In order to improve your customer experience and increase your conversion rate you need to know the opinion or preference of your customers. A satisfied customer will normally be more than willing to provide you with their opinion, if you approach it correctly.

The first thing you need to make sure you’re doing is providing your customer with the best service you can provide. If you’re doing this the rest will, most of the time, fall into place naturally. One of the biggest mistakes a website can make is asking a customer for their opinion before they have even had a chance to browse and make a purchase. Not only have they not even had a chance make a full opinion, but they may leave your site and not even make a purchase. The best way to ask for a customer’s opinion or feedback is to ask for it once they have completed their order, either by an email or a phone call.

When you’re asking for their feedback you want to make sure you keep it as short as possible, remember they have a life. Ask them if they would be interested in answering a few questions to improve their shopping experience. In return give them something free or send them a coupon for their next purchase. Then after you’ve asked your set of questions ask them if there is anything else, you didn’t ask, that they would like to see.

Always remember that your customers are what makes your business. Their opinion is the most important, if you listen to your customers they will more than likely come back again than not. By listening to them it shows them that you are doing everything you can in order to make their experience the best they’ve ever had.

Customer loyalty can make all the difference for a business. For instance, Zappos.com did $1 billion in sales in 2008 and 75% of it was from repeat customers. If it weren’t for those repeat customers they would have done $250 million. While this is no way a small amount of revenue it just shows how much of a difference customer loyalty can make.

There are several things you need to find out from your customers to create customer loyalty. The first is to identify what your customers expect and want from you. In order to do this you will need to create an exit survey that gives your customers some type of incentive to fill it out. A good way to go about this is to generate a list of drop down menus with different selections. Each drop down menu asking them what they prefer in that particular section of your website and what they prefer from your business. This will allow you to find out what setup the majority of your customers prefer. The reason you need drop down menus with a list is because you will have too many different answers and it won’t really help you improve your overall experience.

The next thing you want to do is to take each of the things that won majority vote with your customers and start implementing them one at a time. The reason you need to do these one at a time is to see if they are actually working. Chances are if your customers are asking for certain things to improve their experience your future customers want the same. If your conversion rate increases you know that that change to your website is working. Not only is this going to improve customer loyalty but it will improve your conversion rate.

This is just a start to improve customer loyalty but one of the most important steps you can take. Knowing what your customers want and applying it to your business will surely send you on your way to success. Always put your customers first and the business side will follow.