buy now shopping card keyExceptional customer support is the key to succeeding in ecommerce. Enhancing your customer service helps you sell your product or service and retain customers while raising the profile of your brand.

Here are some customer support ideas to put to work at your ecommerce site immediately.

Cover all your Bases with Multi-Channel Customer Service

By taking advantage of different communication "channels", you will be sure to cover all your customer service bases. Put these to work for you today:

  • Email: provide a contact form on your site with a public email address; email is easiest for the initial contact.
  • Social Media: Listen to and communicate with customers via social platforms; managing from one platform is ideal.
  • Live Chat: for instant communication between customers and your team; have someone available to answer questions 24/7; customers can use while at work, without making a call, never have to listen to "hold music."
  • Help Desk: where customers can go to look for answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ); speeds customer support, relieving load elsewhere; less time answering questions is more time for selling; doubles as a contact area. 
  • Phone Support: for incoming calls; faster service; easier to build rapport with customers; helps you sell high-priced items.

Your aim should be to combine the use of these different channels to deliver a peak customer experience through your ecommerce site.

Add Help Resources and a FAQ

Anticipate customer questions with comprehensive documentation and discussion areas. You'll need a thorough FAQ page to support your help desk. Regularly updating your blog with site changes and customer issues being addressed, as well as specials (discounts and coupons), product announcements, and company news serves as an excellent customer-development resource. This is a good place to post how-to product information, too.

Respond Rapidly

The extent to which you provide quick responses to customer queries, complaints, and comments, not to mention orders, is the degree to which you will succeed in the highly-competitive world of ecommerce. When you or a member of your team is at work, keep the customer service inbox live, and when a message comes in, act like you're on fire. When not at work, monitor customer interaction via an app on your smartphone.

Define what rapid response is for your company. You'll want it to be five minutes or less. Track your response times and make improvements if they start to lag. The last thing you want is for a customer to start wondering where your response is.

Treat Your Customers like Kings

Never argue about returns. Upgrade customers to better shipping where possible. Offer other benefits to keep them smiling and coming back for more.

Customers are your lifeline, so keep them on the line.

Stay connected.

Enter your email below to stay up-to-date on Humboldt news and articles