Tuesday, 11 December 2007
Online Customer Service key to Ecommerce Success
Selling things successfully online is the same game as traditional retail sales. At the end of the day it's about customer service and making people feel good about the product or service they are purchasing. My entrepreneurial experience with e-commerce dates back to the start of this century when we added a custom cart to australianboot.com
Since then I have been involved in setting up dozens of e-commerce sites. Sadly over 90% of them have never sold a thing. Why? Technology glitches certainly played a minor role; however, the one thing that crashed the carts every time was a lack of customer service.
This morning I was greeted with this email from my partner in Presso Canada. If you have the time to read it you can feel the smile of a happy customer. All the credit goes to Tilwood, our fulfillment company, who we found online and have never met.
As a closing note Santa Claus will be sending Mary Anne and her mates a Presso for their office. We are also going to add a payment gateway to our shopify check out: a customer has spoken.
Since then I have been involved in setting up dozens of e-commerce sites. Sadly over 90% of them have never sold a thing. Why? Technology glitches certainly played a minor role; however, the one thing that crashed the carts every time was a lack of customer service.
This morning I was greeted with this email from my partner in Presso Canada. If you have the time to read it you can feel the smile of a happy customer. All the credit goes to Tilwood, our fulfillment company, who we found online and have never met.
Dear Mr. Doucette,
Just a short e-mail to tell you of the most excellent assistance I have received from one of your employees, Ms. Mary-Anne Noseworthy.
I tried to order something on-line from Presso Canada on Friday but, not being much of a computer expert or the least bit familiar with PayPal, I was unsuccessful.
I phoned the number listed on the Presso site and spoke with Ms. Noseworthy. I explained to her that I would like to place an order and also asked if she could answer come questions for me about the product. She looked up all information available to her but was not able to answer all my questions so she offered to e-mail the company (in Australia) and ask them to contact me directly . . . which they did.
This morning I received an e-mail from Ms. Noseworthy telling me she had also received a response from Presso and that she would be happy to help me with placing my order. I phoned her, she set me up on PayPal and completed all the work for me . . . all with a ‘smile in her voice’.
I couldn’t ask for better service than that!
My Christmas wish for Tilwood is that all your employees be as friendly and helpful as Ms. Noseworthy!
Thank you!
Usher G. Newstone
As a closing note Santa Claus will be sending Mary Anne and her mates a Presso for their office. We are also going to add a payment gateway to our shopify check out: a customer has spoken.
posted by bbm
