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Online businesses often struggle to provide good customer service. The main reason for this is because there’s rarely direct contact between customers and employees. Compare a business like Amazon to a retail store – the retail store has employees walking around ready to answer questions instantly, they can also make recommendations, and a smile from an employee can make a customer’s day. You don’t get any of this online, so you have to work harder to improve customer service.
The good news is that customers expect different things from an online company. So, you don’t necessarily have to mimic the one-on-one service you’d give in person. Instead, most of the focus is on your website and how it functions:
According to recent data, 46% of people say that waiting for pages to load is what they hate most about a website. Nobody likes waiting, so if your website takes a few seconds to load every page, you’ll annoy lots of potential costumes. So much so that they will probably leave. Speed up your site, then reap the rewards.
The idea of self-service customer support is very trendy nowadays. It revolves around the concept that customers actively find the answers they need to common queries. This is typically in the form of a FAQ page on your site. If a customer has an issue, they can consult this page and get the answers they need. When paired with a chatbot, it’s a way of providing the instant gratification a customer would get from an employee in a store. Problems are solved, questions are answered, and customers are happy.
Give customers the chance to pay however they like on your website. This includes two main things:
Instead of only allowing card payments, let people use things like Apple Pay or Paypal. It can be more secure and speed up the payment process, leading to a better experience. Likewise, make your website process different currencies so people can buy in whatever currency they like. This could let you display prices in different currencies, opening the door to foreign customers. It’s highly beneficial for anyone in a different country as they know exactly how much things cost and can pay in local currency.
Ideally, you don’t want anyone to return items to your store! However, some people may receive damaged items or things that don’t fit. If your returns policy is longwinded and hard to follow, customers get frustrated. This often leads to negative online reviews, damaging the way your business is perceived by others. Instead, create an easy system for dealing with returns, making the process as simple as possible. It will make the experience far better for all of your customers, dealing with one of the biggest concerns most consumers have with online businesses.
Top-tier customer service will lead to more loyal customers and a greater influx of new ones. It’s easy for an online business to provide awful customer service, but just as easy to flip things around and be the best!
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