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1) Update Often
One
of the best ways to retain online customers is to give
them reason to return to your website (every day, every
week, or every month). Achieve this goal by offering
fresh content on a regular basis.
Some
websites incorporate a daily news section providing
web visitors the opportunity to learn and stay abreast
of industry news and updates. Others offer their visitors
the current weather or a stock ticker. And many successful
websites rotate feature products, or offer weekly or
monthly sales.
Continually
monitor your content to ensure that it has not become
“dated” or incorrect. It is also important to click
through any links within your site and ensure they still
work and direct traffic properly. There is nothing worse
than visiting a site, finding a useful link, then receiving
an error message or a “this page cannot be found” page.
Marketing
experts urge businesses to offer evolution and adaptation
on a regular basis to keep visitors interested. Some
suggestions include:
•
features/specials section that rotates
• daily/weekly/monthly news articles
• company press releases
• entertaining “link of the day” or “link of the week”
to send visitors to a unique site online
• interactive customer poll
• industry editorial contributed by a staff member
• create a “what’s new” page and ensure that it (above
all else) remains up-to-date
2)
Ensure Customer Service
Just
because your customer may be ordering online does not
mean that they do not require or expect the same service
you would provide your bricks-and-mortars customers.
Expiry
Corporation has learned that the one thing that can
set you above and beyond the competition is to provide
clients with excellent service in a timely manner. “It
still surprises us every time it happens. Someone will
phone our toll-free number and will be astonished that
a real person, a live human, has actually answered the
phone within the first few rings,” admits Expiry C.E.O.
Robert Roy. Adds Roy, “It is inherent to our business
model that we retain customers and attract new ones
on the basis of excellent customer service.”
You
must provide your full contact information on your website.
Do not assume that since someone is on your website
they will only contact you by email (therefore only
list an email address). This is the mistake of many
websites that failed in the dot-com crash during 2000.
Experts
give the following tips to help make a website more
customer-friendly:
•
Provide A Phone Number and Make It Easy-To-Find
• Provide an Email Contact Form
• Provide F.A.Qs to answer the “most frequently asked
questions”
• Provide your address so that your visitors will know
where you are located.
Just
seeing a phone number, email address, or street address
helps visitors equate legitimacy with a website and
the underlying business.
Customer
service is more than just making it easy for your customers
to contact you. You have to anticipate their needs and
expectations and meet them beforehand. If your customers
want to pay by check, give them the ability to do so.
If they want reasonable return policies, or fast and
reliable delivery - - do so! Schedule a follow-up service
call (once you’ve anticipated delivery) to ensure the
product met their needs - - they will remember and appreciate
this token of sincerity.
Set
yourself above your online competition by ensuring your
website is fresh and your service is unbeatable. Your
customers will appreciate the thoughtfulness and will
return to your website time and again.
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