Building an online product store or e-business requires hard work and honesty on all levels and exceptional customer service. Customer service is the one area where you have total control over your business. It's a complete reflection of your commitment to professionalism and willingness to help your customers.
Building Your Reputation Increases Customer Loyalty
Establishing an online presence and solid reputation must be done on a daily basis. Taking the time to answer the phone and e-mails, including the escalated ones is what sets you apart from the other competition just looking to make a quick buck. As a result, in a relatively short period of time you should be able to be a well respected and trusted go to web site owner or off-line business for your particular product. As you review the rest of this article you'll discover some specific ideas on how to provide better customer service.
Customer service is a rather general term and one that gets tossed around like a loaf of bread quite often. Helping your customers with their challenges is just par for the course when it comes to running a business. It will be highly unlikely that you have a business that does not involve dealing with people on a regular basis and most likely at some point you will have to help a person solve a problem, issue a refund, or have to explain certain aspects of your business. The key ingredient in dealing with any issue brought about by a prospect is to handle it quickly and efficiently.
Basics of Dealing With Customer Questions and Problems
In order to best assist a customer or prospect with a question is to first have a complete profile on who they are and where they are located. Getting the persons name and phone number with area code should be the first bit of information you should gather from them.
This has a two part function, first and obviously getting there phone give you a way of contacting them if you get disconnected of need to call them back for some reason. More importantly, get their first and last name. This adds a personal touch and makes the customer feel like an individual rather than just another person with a question or challenge. If possible get additional info like the business name, address, email address and additional contacts and phone numbers.
Additionally, if you have an escalated issue using the persons last name such when addressing them lessens their level of power over the conversation and allows you to remain in control of the conversation. Referring to a person as “Sir” or “Madam” in a customer service setting devalues your authority and in your customers mind makes them feel less important.
Knowing how to effectively deal with an escalated situation will set you apart from you competition and allow you to establish a reputation as a company that handles thing as they come up. The best way to make sure this happens is to handle problems in a timely manor.
The 24 Hour Rule
When customers contact you they generally either have questions about your product or some sort of problem. Sometimes it’s a problem they created themselves or it could be a problem that has arisen due to a shipping error or some other internal situation which has now inconvenienced the parties involved. Reassuring your client that you will do everything in your power to answer their questions or take care of their related issues would be a positive first step. Sometimes it may take additional time to resolve a problem or answer a question.
In that case as mentioned before get all of their pertinent information so that you can reach them later. Usually within 24 hours is reasonable for most people if an issue is somewhat complex. Re-contact should not be any longer than that, and phone calls to let them know you haven’t forgotten about them can do wonders for customer rapport.
Finally, showing your customers and prospective clients that you are emotionally involved in your business will go a long way in providing outstanding customer service for any business. Being connected with the workings of your business lets them know that regardless of their question or related challenges you will go the extra mile to make sure that they remain the most valuable part of your business.
If you want to really improve your knowledge of how to have a Successful Ebay Auction you need to visit http://www.wholesaleanddropshipdirect.com a popular website that focuses on Drop Shipping Sources, Wholesale Products and provides valuable information on Product Sourcing.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alan_Kirchain
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment