ot affiliated with the store answer a customer’s call looks horribly unprofessional. If you can afford it, set up a toll free 1-800 number, but don’t worry too much if you don’t want to invest in that. Just seeing a phone number is often enough to let your customers know you are for real and able to be contacted should something unexpected happen.

There’s a ton of other little things you can do to really turn a potential customer into a lifetime client, you just need to be creative and think about it. Email or call a customer and ask them for a testimonial, it’ll make them feel really special and, if nothing else, it’ll have them come back to your website to check out their name on yo

Almost anyone with a computer and internet access can go through the necessary steps to open an e-commerce enabled website on their own. The real challenge starts when that person wants to draw and, more importantly, retain customers from around the globe like Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom does. Appropriate customer service is a critical element that many aspiring e-commerce shop owners don’t give a second thought to and because of it, they lose out on several potential sales.

Something that all customers want to see on your website is a ‘contact information’ section. First, seeing the physical location of your headquarters gives them a great idea right off the bat as to what type of shipping costs and times they might expect if they order from your site. Secondly and, more importantly, it ‘proves’ you actually exist in the real world and can be contacted if need be. Unfortunately, this small but important step of customer service is often overlooked.

Another thing that you should be sure to set up is an automatic contact form. Many versions of online shopping cart programs come with this option, but, yet again, many store operators fail to set this up. A customer that can directly contact you through a form is one that’s more likely to trust and buy from you. You should always include in this section (no matter how busy you think you’ll be) that you’ll respond to all inquires within at least 24 hours. 12 hours is better, but if you can’t stick to that schedule, don’t advertise it.

A good, informative, meticulously thought out FAQ (frequently asked questions) page should always be on your site and be frequently updated. Think of the things that people might want to ask and answer appropriately. A *lot* of people will read your FAQ, so feel free to use it to ‘sell’ your site’s best customer service features.

For example:

Q: Does ‘free shipping’ really mean free shipping?

A: Of course! Shipping is entirely free. (Your store) never charges you for handling or packaging fees either. Ever.

Other popular questions include:

-What is your return/refund policy?

-Do you ship to _____ (Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, UK, etc.)?

-Do you accept PayPal?

-How long will it take for my order to get to me? (Actually state average delivery times to certain geographic areas ex. Southern US, Canada, International, etc.)

Pack as many questions and answers you can possibly think of in your FAQ, it will save you time you would have had to take replying to e-mails.

One more option you could include is your business' phone number. If you don’t have a dedicated business line where you always answer the phone with “Hello, thank you for calling (your store)” don’t put up a phone number. Having anyone who’s not affiliated with the store answer a customer’s call looks horribly unprofessional. If you can afford it, set up a toll free 1-800 number, but don’t worry too much if you don’t want to invest in that. Just seeing a phone number is often enough to let your customers know you are for real and able to be contacted should something unexpected happen.

There’s a ton of other little things you can do to really turn a potential customer into a lifetime client, you just need to be creative and think about it. Email or call a customer and ask them for a testimonial, it’ll make them feel really special and, if nothing else, it’ll have them come back to your website to check out their name on you

ipping costs and times they might expect if they order from your site. Secondly and, more importantly, it ‘proves’ you actually exist in the real world and can be contacted if need be. Unfortunately, this small but important step of customer service is often overlooked.

Another thing that you should be sure to set up is an automatic contact form. Many versions of online shopping cart programs come with this option, but, yet again, many store operators fail to set this up. A customer that can directly contact you through a form is one that’s more likely to trust and buy from you. You should always include in this section (no matter how busy you think you’ll be) that you’ll respond to all inquires within at least 24 hours. 12 hours is better, but if you can’t stick to that schedule, don’t advertise it.

A good, informative, meticulously thought out FAQ (frequently asked questions) page should always be on your site and be frequently updated. Think of the things that people might want to ask and answer appropriately. A *lot* of people will read your FAQ, so feel free to use it to ‘sell’ your site’s best customer service features.

For example:

Q: Does ‘free shipping’ really mean free shipping?

A: Of course! Shipping is entirely free. (Your store) never charges you for handling or packaging fees either. Ever.

Other popular questions include:

-What is your return/refund policy?

-Do you ship to _____ (Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, UK, etc.)?

-Do you accept PayPal?

-How long will it take for my order to get to me? (Actually state average delivery times to certain geographic areas ex. Southern US, Canada, International, etc.)

Pack as many questions and answers you can possibly think of in your FAQ, it will save you time you would have had to take replying to e-mails.

One more option you could include is your business' phone number. If you don’t have a dedicated business line where you always answer the phone with “Hello, thank you for calling (your store)” don’t put up a phone number. Having anyone who’s not affiliated with the store answer a customer’s call looks horribly unprofessional. If you can afford it, set up a toll free 1-800 number, but don’t worry too much if you don’t want to invest in that. Just seeing a phone number is often enough to let your customers know you are for real and able to be contacted should something unexpected happen.

There’s a ton of other little things you can do to really turn a potential customer into a lifetime client, you just need to be creative and think about it. Email or call a customer and ask them for a testimonial, it’ll make them feel really special and, if nothing else, it’ll have them come back to your website to check out their name on yo

ll inquires within at least 24 hours. 12 hours is better, but if you can’t stick to that schedule, don’t advertise it.

A good, informative, meticulously thought out FAQ (frequently asked questions) page should always be on your site and be frequently updated. Think of the things that people might want to ask and answer appropriately. A *lot* of people will read your FAQ, so feel free to use it to ‘sell’ your site’s best customer service features.

For example:

Q: Does ‘free shipping’ really mean free shipping?

A: Of course! Shipping is entirely free. (Your store) never charges you for handling or packaging fees either. Ever.

Other popular questions include:

-What is your return/refund policy?

-Do you ship to _____ (Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, UK, etc.)?

-Do you accept PayPal?

-How long will it take for my order to get to me? (Actually state average delivery times to certain geographic areas ex. Southern US, Canada, International, etc.)

Pack as many questions and answers you can possibly think of in your FAQ, it will save you time you would have had to take replying to e-mails.

One more option you could include is your business' phone number. If you don’t have a dedicated business line where you always answer the phone with “Hello, thank you for calling (your store)” don’t put up a phone number. Having anyone who’s not affiliated with the store answer a customer’s call looks horribly unprofessional. If you can afford it, set up a toll free 1-800 number, but don’t worry too much if you don’t want to invest in that. Just seeing a phone number is often enough to let your customers know you are for real and able to be contacted should something unexpected happen.

There’s a ton of other little things you can do to really turn a potential customer into a lifetime client, you just need to be creative and think about it. Email or call a customer and ask them for a testimonial, it’ll make them feel really special and, if nothing else, it’ll have them come back to your website to check out their name on yo

p>-What is your return/refund policy?

-Do you ship to _____ (Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, UK, etc.)?

-Do you accept PayPal?

-How long will it take for my order to get to me? (Actually state average delivery times to certain geographic areas ex. Southern US, Canada, International, etc.)

Pack as many questions and answers you can possibly think of in your FAQ, it will save you time you would have had to take replying to e-mails.

One more option you could include is your business' phone number. If you don’t have a dedicated business line where you always answer the phone with “Hello, thank you for calling (your store)” don’t put up a phone number. Having anyone who’s not affiliated with the store answer a customer’s call looks horribly unprofessional. If you can afford it, set up a toll free 1-800 number, but don’t worry too much if you don’t want to invest in that. Just seeing a phone number is often enough to let your customers know you are for real and able to be contacted should something unexpected happen.

There’s a ton of other little things you can do to really turn a potential customer into a lifetime client, you just need to be creative and think about it. Email or call a customer and ask them for a testimonial, it’ll make them feel really special and, if nothing else, it’ll have them come back to your website to check out their name on yo

ot affiliated with the store answer a customer’s call looks horribly unprofessional. If you can afford it, set up a toll free 1-800 number, but don’t worry too much if you don’t want to invest in that. Just seeing a phone number is often enough to let your customers know you are for real and able to be contacted should something unexpected happen.

There’s a ton of other little things you can do to really turn a potential customer into a lifetime client, you just need to be creative and think about it. Email or call a customer and ask them for a testimonial, it’ll make them feel really special and, if nothing else, it’ll have them come back to your website to check out their name on your site. Customer service for online stores is something that’s truly rewarding and can genuinely be a fun service to offer, just as it can be in the magic Kingdom, especially if you actually go as far as interacting with your customers from around the world.