Why Shoppers Choose to Use Chat Features

why shoppers use chat features onlineLauren Freeman, President of the e-tailing group (a niche e-commerce consultancy), published a white paper to share the findings of consumer rationale for using chat. Studies were undertaken to determine the “who, what, where and why” behind consumers’ choosing to use an online chat feature.

Online retailers have much to be gained by implementing the best of the live chat experience into their business.   It can be concluded that the six core reasons online shoppers choose to use live chat are multi-faceted:

Shoppers feel special and empowered when they use live chat

Strong expressed strong feelings of appreciation for chat’s availability to solve a problem when sought on their own terms.…

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Shaking Hands in Cyberspace

In the good old days, a town’s small businesses (the barbershop, the general store, the soda fountain) served as the hub of a community. Employees and customers were typically on a first name basis, and any sales conversations began with inquiries about family and life events.

Even if you still live in a small town where that sort of community exists, it’s possible that you make your living online, dealing with customers you’ll never meet face-to-face. Although it takes some extra effort through the web, you can create real relationships that make clients feel special and encourage loyalty, repeat business, and word-of-mouth marketing.…

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Is Your Answering Service Helping Your Business?

business virtual answering service

Call answering services can be a great, cost-effective way to enhance your customer service without taking on a full-time staff member. A phone call is likely to be your clients’ first interaction with your company, so it’s important that you choose the right service for your business.

How can you make sure your service will make your business look good? Remember that:

First impressions matter. Are the virtual receptionists answering your calls happy? Do your callers hear ring after ring before they pick up or are they greeted right away by a live person?

Call your perspective answering service several times before you sign up and you’ll see what your callers will go through when you finally forward your line.…

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Creating Happy Customers: 3 High Impact, Low-Cost Techniques That will Make ‘Em Smile

In a world where consumers have an almost unlimited number of places to shop, small businesses must work even harder to stand out from their competition. One way to differentiate your small business from other small businesses (and big brand retailers) is to humanize customer service by ensuring that your website is as customer-friendly as possible.

creating happy customers

Don’t have a lot of time or money, or you simply aren’t sure how to get started?   Here are three low-cost, high impact tips you can use to help improve your site’s customer service capabilities while generating more conversions at the same time.

Create an FAQ Page

An empowered customer is a happy customer-and nothing empowers your customers more than ensuring that they have all they need to make the smart decision to do business with your business!  …

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The 4 Biggest Customer Service Mistakes You Can Easily Avoid

We have all heard it said that a service by a particular business, when it exceeds your expectations, is done from the heart. I do not doubt that but it is also my belief that customer service is the heart of any business, no matter its size.

If money or finance is the lifeblood of a business, we can then assume that there would not be (financial) blockage as long as the heart (customer service) is healthy and strong. If it isn’t, then your business may just as well suffer from cardiac arrest.

4 customer service mistakes

Running a business is tough and the economy does not make it any easier.…

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Top 6 Secrets To Great Customer Service

6 tips to better customer serviceEach of us has different experiences with customer service; some are good while most that we hear about are just horrible. Businesses, no matter how big or small, need to evaluate how well they are serving their customers.

There’s already a new standard and it is not just to have “good” customer service, it’s about being great. In a very competitive market, business owners cannot just ignore the importance of service excellence.

A business book review, by Ivana Taylor, of the book “Your Call Is (Not That) Important to Us”, the primary intention of the author was to make a research on what goes on with call centers.…

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Tips For Dealing With Your Most Difficult Clients

dealing with difficult business clientsSome people you just can’t please. At least, that’s the truism my grandpa used to say to me. Clearly, grandpa didn’t run a small business. While some people are harder to make happy than others, as a CEO of a small business you can’t just write off difficult clients, unless of course you don’t mind taking a hit in your business.

But, after you’ve spent all day running your catering business, for example, cooking, responding to calls, and delivering orders, getting a complaint from someone because their food arrived at 5:03 instead of 5 isn’t going to make them your favorite person.…

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The “Secret” Customer Service Weapon for Small Technology Companies

customer service telephone communicationsTechnology companies are, unfortunately, almost as well known for having poor customer service as they are for their actual products.   Why is that?

Small business expert Anita Campbell cited poor customer service for web apps as one of three key issues that needs to be overcome before cloud apps can become ubiquitous in small businesses.   Shame on us web software companies for allowing an easy-to-fix item like this onto the list!

This truth stings quite sharply, for a couple of reasons:

1.           It’s true

2.           Most cloud app companies are small companies (not large ones)

Crappy customer service is almost expected from large companies – in software, and beyond.  …

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3 Success Strategies for Small Businesses

success strategiesWith the recent financial crisis showing signs of clearing up, many small businesses are now looking to fortify their fortunes and make up for the losses they suffered over the past two years. While some find success an uphill climb, others seem to be able to breeze through the process simply because they know what makes the difference and what counts at the end of the day.

So if you’re a small business, here’s what you need to do to chalk out your strategy for long-term success:

“¢ Make customer service your USP: You may be on the same playing field as the big boys in the business and the rules of the game may remain the same.…

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Effective Sales Question Answered by Dave Kahle

sales question answeredQ. I’ve seen you point out the question “Anything else?” as one of your “really good sales questions”. I see it as a close-ended question. Is “What else can I do?” as effective, or more or less effective?

A. What a great question. Let me applaud you for thinking this deeply about the language in the questions that you use. This “thinking about it before you do it” is one of my key commandments for success in sales. And this kind of thoughtful discussion brings out the best in all of us.

I’m sticking with “Anything else?” as a “Really Good Sales Question.”…

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