Customer Service: Key to Online Business Success ? Articles ...

Having clear objectives is very important for a business. One of the key objectives on which businesses should focus, is providing quality customer service. Regardless of your type of business, achieving success is everyone?s desire. More the visibility you have, more the chances of you attracting customers. So, in order to make your online store successful, what you need to do is, provide effective customer service. The question which now arises is how to provide customer service which is exceptional and result oriented?

Customer service is the assistance that a buyer receives prior, during or after making a purchase from a particular store. Good customer service is the process of satisfactorily resolving customers complaints, providing them assistance regarding the products and services offered to them. In another words, it is simply means being present to look after your customers. By sustaining strong relationship, customers are more likely to become loyal and make frequent purchases from your store. Goo2o store owners can use their Goo2o powered stores to build a strong relationship between them and customers. Using Goo2o Merchant Solution (GMS), store owners can interact and provide quality service to customers through features like live chat, notification system etc.

Ways to Communicate with Customers

Incorporating effective communication tools is important for successful businesses. Using different modes of communication, online store owners can easily interact with their customers. Let?s start by taking a look on some of the widely used methods of communication used by sellers to communicate with buyers.

• E-mail- Customers can send their queries via e-mail to the support team to get answers for the same. Store owners can use this mode of communication for sending notifications, providing support or any type of assistance related to their stores.
• Live chat- Live chat is one of the latest means of communication adopted by sellers to create long-term relationships with their customers. Store owners can use the Goo2o live chat feature to converse with customers in real time and provide them a personalized shopping experience.
• Telephone- This is one of the oldest modes of communication through which buyers and sellers have been in touch with each other. Sellers can send out promotional information to buyers through text messages or phone calls. Discounts or deals like ?Deal of the day- 30% off on hand bags? can be directly sent on customer?s phone via text messages.
• Webcam- Webcam communication lets the online buyer and seller interact live with each other. It not only allows them to see each other, but offer an actual real life shopping experience to customers. Through webcam, store owners can also provide training and support to customers without being physically present at the customers end. Thus, this is one of the most time saving and cost effective means of communication.

Using Customer Service as a Key to Online Business Success

Let me now highlight the key aspects which Goo2o store owners can incorporate to provide quality customer service.

Ensure 24?7 customer service

We all like to be pampered and it is no different when it comes to online customers. When a product is bought, customers expect an uninterrupted and easily accessible customer service that is always available to them. In events, where they do not find options that offer them quality service, it leads to customer dissatisfaction and an unpleasant customer experience. Providing a never failing customer service is a wise decision where business growth is concerned. Some of the ways you can do this is by having your dedicated support like, Email addresses or toll free numbers. Through this, you can always be available to offer quality service to your customers. Such an approach is surely going to build a strong foundation of trust among you and your customers.
For e.g. As a store owner, you can set customized auto generated responses for times when you are not able to respond to customers queries. Such responses assure customers that there is always someone to look after them.

Listen to your customers

Every customer needs support and want their queries to be dealt with care. It becomes frustrating for customers, if they are not able to find the right person to whom they can share their queries. When customers express their concerns, it is important to let them speak first, without any interruptions. This helps them to vent out their anger through which you can have a better understanding of the entire scenario. Listening to customers is the key for any business. Customers speak through different mediums, like feedback forms, e-mails, surveys, phone conversations, social media etc. So, keeping your eyes and ears open will help you capture the right information. Once you have listened carefully to them and understood their requirements, it will be very easy for you to provide quality customer service. This approach will make them feel valued and strengthen your business relationship with them.
For e.g. If a customer is not able to understand how the CD player works and finds difficulty in using it. Listen to them carefully, make notes while they are speaking, address the key points & resolve their query.

Provide instant response

Customers want fast solutions for their problems. For which, providing immediate responses has become a necessity. Keeping in mind the large volume of business and customers that store owners have to handle, it is not easy for them to provide instant solutions to every problem. In order to be known for providing effective customer service, it is important to provide quick responses with the right information to customer concerns. No matter through which means you are communicating with them, you need to be proactive. Providing quick response to customers makes them believe that their queries are taken seriously and will be resolved to their utmost satisfaction.
For e.g. If you receive customer query regarding product delivery, then you can proactively give them all the details regarding the product?s delivery date, tracking details, name of the courier service etc.

Reward your loyal customers

Who doesn?t want special treatment? Most customers desire this, as it makes them feel valued and important. It is important for store owners to identify & target their loyal customers as they are the ones who act as their advocates. This group of people has a significant role in making your business grow. Thus, by encouraging them to continue shop from your store is the right strategy. So, store owners can make use of reward programs, special discounts etc. This is one of the ways to provide quality service to these loyal customers and offer them a privileged shopping experience. Loyal customers can promote your products by recommending about it to other visitors through their ratings or feedback. This can bring more potential visitors to your store and helps in enlarging your business worldwide. So, it is important for store owners to reward their devoted customers in order to make them feel valued. It makes customers to trust the store owners & builds healthy relation with them.
For e.g. Goo2o store owners can offer special discounts to the loyal consumers on different occasions like Diwali, Christmas etc so as to surprise them.

Promise what you can deliver

Commitment is one of the keys to maintain a long lasting relationship. The same rule applies to sellers & buyers. If store owners promise buyers to deliver products on a particular day, then they should make sure that the same is fulfilled. Nothing disappoints customers more than a broken & false commitment. They believe that whatever is promised by store owners would be accomplished the way it was told. If you do so, then you gain your customers confidence & meets their expectations. They would be loyal to you and can recommend your store to other people as well. So in customer service, promising what you can deliver is very important as it leads to customer satisfaction and enhance the growth of your business.
For e.g. If you say, ?Your new order will be delivered by Wednesday?. Make sure it is delivered on Wednesday. Otherwise, don?t say it.

Put yourself in customers shoes

This is the most important thing sellers can do. It?s crucial to constantly evaluate the way they communicate with their consumers. In a business, store owners need to think from sellers as well as from buyer?s perspective. How you are providing customer service to them? Are you providing solution to their queries? If you think this way, you will meet your customers expectations and they will likely to retain on your store as loyal customers. You should understand buyer?s queries and relate to it, this can help you in finding & removing the troubles, consumers are facing. Try and make their experience delightful with your quality customer service.
For e.g. If you were at consumer?s place and were being treated the way you generally treat them, would you qualify it as a good customer experience? If so, you?re doing a good job. If not, you probably need to make your service better.

Conclusion

In today?s scenario, more and more businesses are adapting excellent customer service to differentiate themselves from their competitors. An exceptional customer service is beneficial to the business and helps in increasing buyer?s loyalty towards the store.
Thus, interact with your buyers frequently and decide what is most important to them. Analyze their feedback and accept their criticism and work upon them. Then only you can provide outstanding customer service to your customers.

Resources

Further readings

Sonam Sharma is working as a content analyst with Goo2o Technologies Pvt Ltd. Likes listening to soft music and always open to learn new things. Follow me on twitter.

Sonam

Source: http://goingo2o.com/goo2o-blog/customer-service-key-to-online-business-success

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