A recent study shows that most businesses spend 80% of their marketing
dollars on finding new customers, and do a lousy job of retaining them.
The purpose of your Web site should not be only to make a sale to a new
customer, but also to create a base of returning customers. The ONLY way
to do this is to provide great customer service.
Build Customer Loyalty
Internet customers are a different breed from retail customers. They
have been conditioned to expect immediate gratification. This means the
window of opportunity that you, as the vendor, have to make a sale is very
limited. The good news is that you can use your Web site to meet the
demand. If you create a good relationship with the customer, you'll find
that he or she will be more loyal (read: lucrative) over time.
Lower Product Support Costs
Creating customer-support pages on your site allows customers to find
their own answers at any time on any day without spending a lot of time
waiting on the phone. One such customer-support page should be FAQs
(frequently asked questions), as mentioned in "What Should I Put on My Web
Page." Providing answers to common questions saves your business response
time and the bottom line...money.
Make Yourself Available
If customers do not find the answer to their question on your site,
they should be able to easily submit it to you or your support staff. The
best way to do this is to make a question field available, with an e-mail
address and submit button. Quick and easy. An even simpler approach? Just
provide the e-mail address. Either way, the customer should get a response
within a reasonable amount of time. It's a great way to bridge, without
face-to-face contact, the gap between customer and vendor that exists in
the Internet medium.
Keep Customers in the Know
Offering new products or services? Set up a Web product catalog and
link it to your inventory database, so you can promote overstocks and
special sales. This doesn't have to mean taking orders on the Web. Simply
keeping customers current on your best offers will keep them coming back
for more.
Send E-mail
A terrific marketing tool that can be used in conjunction with your Web
site is e-mail. Consider sending out an e-mail newsletter or announcement
periodically, to let your customers know they should return to your site
for certain promotions or any other reason. Keep traffic coming your way!
However, you do not want to simply "spam" your unsuspecting customers.
Give them the opportunity to sign up on your site for the newsletter. Be
sure to get their name, mailing address, phone number and e-mail address,
as well as any other specific information that would help you target your
marketing initiatives.
Advertise Your Policies
Be sure your customers know that you've got a 100% money-back guarantee
(if you do). Be sure they know about any policy you have that makes
purchasing your products more convenient for them.
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You've Got Questions? We've Got Answers!
A quick and time-efficient way to filter customer inquiries is to create a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) link.
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