Now we move on to just plain good customer service:Quick response when people request information, report trouble:This one pretty much speaks for itself, but it is worth mentioninga couple of things about this. Try, if you can, to check your emailat least 3 times a day. Many people are shut-ins or retired orhomeworkers, and they expect a quick response to their questions orcomplaints. If your Internet Provider can give you access toAuto-Responders, these are fairly successful in giving your websitevisitors a quick response that says you've received their emailand will respond as soon as possible, but sometimes theseauto-responders annoy people more than they put them at ease.
Human beings always prefer to talk to human beings. This isespecially evident in the fact that people still consider voicemail and answering machines a necessary evil. Some may see yourauto-responder as just that. Auto-responders are more effectivelyused when someone wants some detailed information and wants itimmediately. If at all possible, ask for their phone number so youcan call them and give them answers live. I cannot count how manytimes I have answered our corporate line, only to hear a big sighof relief on the other end, followed by the person saying,
"Wow, I got a live voice!"Many people prefer not to be called on the phone, so give them achoice when they write to you. Some are paranoid that you're goingto try to sell them something. If they email and expect email inreturn, make it polite, prompt, and helpful. If you are not surewhat they're asking, don't try to create an answer from incompletefacts from them. Ask them to clarify by return email so that youmay answer their question more effectively. Customer service,customer service, and more customer service will make you standheads above your competition. Try a little experiment with someof your competitors. See how long or in what way they respond toa question about their site. As far as reporting trouble on yourweb page operations, this was mentioned in Element 3 above. Ifthey are reporting trouble about a product or service you soldthem, offer them choices of restitution. Most people will notwant to return something if it can be resolved over the phone.Give them a liberal guarantee, like 90 days or something. They'llappreciate this more than you'll know.
There is nothing worse than going to a website that you expected tofind "content" in, only to discover it is just a bunch of garbagesales talk or just plain trash. This is usually the case when acompany does not understand how to sell on the web or is just plaintoo lazy to plan their content carefully. A website should be usefulto the target market of buyers you are aiming at.
If you are selling widgets, have a section of FREE information juston everything you can find out about the history of widgets and allaspects of using them. If you provide a service, have someinformation that is useful background for the buyers of thatservice. Sit down with a pad of paper before you ever design yourwebsite, and make a hand-written plan of how you want it to look.Include the elements described in this article. Giving somethingfree on your site, like free information that is really worthsomething, will make them feel more at ease about purchasingwhatever it is you are selling. If a website only sells somethingbut gives nothing in return, it's just plain garbage. Many MLMwebsites are like this. (no offense to MLMs!).
In contrast, one couple decided they really loved peacocks, sothey created a website based only on information about peacocks,such as how to raise them. The website started out as just a hobbytype of site, but the end result now is that they sell more peacocksthan they can breed. They are sold out as soon as babies are born.The other end result is that the CEO of the company wrote afull-length book just on peacocks and sells that on his website now,too. Another example was a man who decided he was a prettyknowledgeable government contractor. He wrote articles on his siteabout how to have the upper hand when it comes to being awardedgovernment contracts. His site is now selling a lot of information,as well as providing it free. His company was recently purchased byanother company and sells books, CD-ROMs, and all sorts of otherinformation about this subject.
These websites, in contrast to those websites you see that just looklike sales letters, are useful. They serve a purpose that keepspeople coming back. No one wants to see a whole website dedicated to"I love my company and this is what we do". They only care what youdo if you dedicate one page to "About Us", and the rest of thewebsite keeps their attention with useful information. Plan yourwebsite around your expertise on a given subject. Eat, breathe andsleep that subject. Learn everything you possibly can about thesubject, and write about it. Gone are the days that you can have awebsite that just sells information. You've got to "give away" someof your expertise, too, or your website hits are going to be pitifulat best. You'll be lucky to get 10 people a day to come and look.
Enough said on this little pet peeve of mine!
