1) On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being the least important and 10 being the most important, how important is customer service when choosing a product?
2) Answer the following question. On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being ?I strongly agree? and 10 being ?I strongly disagree?. When you have a problem with a purchased product it is reasonable to assume you must endure the financial loss associated with the product purchase.
3) Consider the following statement. On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being ?I strongly agree? and 10 being ?I strongly disagree?. I do not believe that businesses should be accountable for issues related to my purchase. I subscribe to the philosophy of buyers beware.
I could include other questions, but I think you get the general idea of what the survey results might indicate. Each answer is typically going to be answered in the vicinity of ten. Consumers want some assurance that the products and services they pay for are going to work and if they don't work the customer wants to be equally assured that the business owner will make things right. But will they make it right?
Since customer service is highly valued virtually anywhere in the world why are there so many businesses that seem to treat customer service as an afterthought?
In defense of business owners let me say that for many businesses it is not that they are disinterested in customer service they simply have not factored that into their time budget. These business owners have so many duties in relation to marketing and management that handling customer service issues simply intrudes on the act of conducting business.
Now in defense of the average consumer let me say that most businesses have learned to make customer service a priority, so even if you have a solid business plan and are working through complicated issues related to your business when you have a failure to deliver on implied promises related to the quality and usability of a product you may find one time customers abandoning your business in favor of another. These individuals will never have anything remotely positive to pass along about your company.
Is it fair?
Maybe not, but it is fact.
Do you have a return policy? Do you have a replacement policy? Do you have a price guarantee policy? How much effort is too much in working to ensure a satisfied customer?
Some businesses will not only refund money or replace the product, but they may also supply a generous discount on the customer's next purchase if there are justifiable issues related to the consumer purchase.
With the Internet, less than satisfied customers may make you aware of problems quickly. For many online business owners 24 hours may be too long to respond to a customer's grievance. When it comes to customer service your quick response can spell the difference between success and failure in your business.
While our economy declines into a recession, online marketers are looking with dread at a potential decline in their revenue. Many internet marketers are wondering how their businesses will survive in the tough times ahead. Listen, if you are one of those worried internet marketers, don't worry! The dreadful clouds of recession are silver-lined with bountiful opportunities! You have doubtless heard about how relationship building is the key to online success. Some Internet marketing experts talk about the process that leads to a closed sale as the ?sales funnel?; I prefer to call it the ?trust funnel? because sales only come where there is trust. Now in a recessionary atmosphere, trust becomes an even bigger issue because the perception that money is tight permeates through the whole economy and people become less willing to splash their money about. But the good news - the silver lining in the billowing clouds of recession - is that online businesses that focus on and respond to the changing needs and perceptions of their target market are the ones that are most likely to build newer or deeper relationships of trust and enjoy a new period of growth in spite of the recession. The great thing about the Internet is that it offers website owners many opportunities to engage in dialogue with customers or potential customers. Examples of this interaction can be found in the blogosphere, on forums, via email exchanges and so on. One other effective way of interacting with visitors to your website is through customer service surveys which can be set up and run for less than a dollar a day via websites such as Onlinesurveywizard.com, Surveypro.com or Surveymonkey.com. Online surveys can be set up to seek feedback about the products or services you offer. On the other hand, you could run a focused survey to find out about the customer's concerns and desires. No matter what your survey theme is, make sure the focus is clear and the theme is consistent throughout. One way to smooth the path through the survey for the survey taker is to ask closed-ended questions that invite clear yes/no answers. Open ended questions can be set within the limits of a multiple choice a-b-c-d format, with four answers to choose from. Assuage any worries the survey takers may have about the security and confidentiality of their private information. When you have collated and analyzed all the data, post a report on your website or blog and invite your visitors to leave feedback. Taking surveys can be considered a trust building exercise between yourself and your visitors. Done well, customer service surveys will reveal a lot of useful information about your target market. Don't let it go to waste, but act on the results by bringing to the market goods and services that answer to the current needs of your target market. That kind of responsive interaction with your market that online customer service surveys provide is much more likely to win the kind of trust and loyalty that you are going to need from your customers if your business is to grow during the recessionary cycle.
Both Scott Lindsay & John Baril are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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