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Casual Articles - The ABC's of Online Customer Support
Social Capital and Your Business . For you, email is one of the cheapest and easiest forms of support. You probably already have email, and you can respond to inquiries on your time.Profit and social capital are made for each other. When they are united, it’s as if they’ve fallen in love. Social capital is the value inherent in interpersonal networks. Its amalgamation with profit signals a radical redefinition of the customer as the key to unveiling new facets of business success. And as with a genuine romance, the result is a dynamic shift, a shedding of the old and a reaching out to the new — in this case, to inclusion of intangible economies and experience.The rise of the PC in businesses during the 1980s ushered in a new vision for organizations. The center of attention shifted to managing Live chat software: Most effective channel of online customer support for the customer. Their questions can be answered immediately on the website by a real person. For you, the key is finding quality and affordable live chat software, and it is available. Also, live chat requires that you, or an employee, are available to handle incoming chat requests as much as possible. Knowledge Database/FAQ/Self-Help: This can be a quick and easy way to get answers for your more savvy customers. However, it can also be burdensome for customers if they aren’t quickly and easily able to find answers to their questions. This is probably the easiest channel of customer support for you. Aft High Tech Management & Leadership Want to provide great online customer support? Want to provide the kind of customer support that will grow your business, by building customer loyalty and satisfaction? It’s not as hard as it sounds! Just remember your ABC’s.What makes a great manager or leader in a High Tech company? Is it great technical knowledge or skill? Or is it the ability to be affable and convince people to do what you want by the strength of likeability and personal relationships? Getting people to perform by fear of and grudging respect that comes from being in a position of power? People might answer this question in almost as many ways as there are people to ask.I’ve had many influences in my career that have shaped my attitude toward management and leadership. I started my career in old-line, traditional, top-down industrial companies in the Midwest. Not A-Add value Don’t just do the bare minimum when it comes to providing customer support on your website. Go above and beyond to provide the customer with an exceptional experience. Remember, there are probably several sites out there right now trying to sell the same products or services that you are. Differentiate yourself by the high level of customer service you provide. Don’t simply answer questions. Provide solutions. Don’t just give a suggestion. Be an expert! If your customers or potential customers come to your site with a question or problem, help them as if you’re the foremost expert in your field. For example, let’s assume you run a website that sells bird houses. A potential customer visits your site and has a question about a specific model. How do you help them? First and foremost, I hope that you answer their question. But you have a great opportunity to go above and beyond. Ask the potential customer what types of birds she’s hoping to attract, where she is going to be putting the bird house, and where she’s located. With this information, as the world’s foremost expert in bird houses, you can recommend the right model in size, style, and material for her desired result. Now, you’re more than just a bird house salesman to this customer, you’re a bird house expert! You’ve added value through your online customer support. B-Be There A customer is on your site looking at your information and they have a big question. Where are you? The idea of ‘being there’ is twofold. First, it means making customer support channels easily accessible via your website. Regardless of what channels you use, you want them to be easily accessible from any page on your site. Either put your customer support channels on each page, or provide a clear and easy-to-find link to your support page from every page. As soon as your customer has a question, you don’t want them to have to look far to find a way to get in touch with you. Second, ‘being there’ means being available when your customers contact you. Be ready to answer the phone when they call, respond to all emails within a couple hours, or be prepared to handle incoming chats or support tickets. What good is customer support when a customer finds no one on the other end to assist them immediately? ‘Be there’ for your customers and you will be rewarded with better relationships and stronger loyalty. C-Count the Cost Let’s face it, your time and money are valuable. So, how do you provide great customer support on a budget? Come up with a plan. Determine what options are available to you, weigh the advantages vs. the costs, and implement your decisions. Here are some considerations regarding different online customer support options: Phone support: Convenient for your customers, but potentially costly and time consuming for you. If you have an 800#, that is a large expense, and you can only talk to one person at a time. Email support: Less effective for the customer than phone support. It is quick and easy to send their questions to you, but uncertainty over the length of time for responses is a concern. For you, email is one of the cheapest and easiest forms of support. You probably already have email, and you can respond to inquiries on your time. Live chat software: Most effective channel of online customer support for the customer. Their questions can be answered immediately on the website by a real person. For you, the key is finding quality and affordable live chat software, and it is available. Also, live chat requires that you, or an employee, are available to handle incoming chat requests as much as possible. Knowledge Database/FAQ/Self-Help: This can be a quick and easy way to get answers for your more savvy customers. However, it can also be burdensome for customers if they aren’t quickly and easily able to find answers to their questions. This is probably the easiest channel of customer support for you. Afte Online Income Opportunites your field. For example, let’s assume you run a website that sells bird houses. A potential customer visits your site and has a question about a specific model. How do you help them? First and foremost, I hope that you answer their question. But you have a great opportunity to go above and beyond. Ask the potential customer what types of birds she’s hoping to attract, where she is going to be putting the bird house, and where she’s located. With this information, as the world’s foremost expert in bird houses, you can recommend the right model in size, style, and material for her desired result. Now, you’re more than just a bird house salesman to this customer, you’re a bird house expert! You’ve added value through your online customer support.Many people love the idea of having some extra part time income and are able to enjoy time with my family and friends. Some work part time and are involved in a variety of loose-ended jobs: delivering newspapers, selling encyclopedias door to door and even selling a little insurance. Although these experiences teach the basics of sales techniques and perseverance, they rarely offer any significant amount of income. Some even try the infamous MLM opportunities and, as many, are thoroughly disappointed.Some of these so-called “home based businesses” promise a lot of people of achieving great wealth. They prey on unsu B-Be There A customer is on your site looking at your information and they have a big question. Where are you? The idea of ‘being there’ is twofold. First, it means making customer support channels easily accessible via your website. Regardless of what channels you use, you want them to be easily accessible from any page on your site. Either put your customer support channels on each page, or provide a clear and easy-to-find link to your support page from every page. As soon as your customer has a question, you don’t want them to have to look far to find a way to get in touch with you. Second, ‘being there’ means being available when your customers contact you. Be ready to answer the phone when they call, respond to all emails within a couple hours, or be prepared to handle incoming chats or support tickets. What good is customer support when a customer finds no one on the other end to assist them immediately? ‘Be there’ for your customers and you will be rewarded with better relationships and stronger loyalty. C-Count the Cost Let’s face it, your time and money are valuable. So, how do you provide great customer support on a budget? Come up with a plan. Determine what options are available to you, weigh the advantages vs. the costs, and implement your decisions. Here are some considerations regarding different online customer support options: Phone support: Convenient for your customers, but potentially costly and time consuming for you. If you have an 800#, that is a large expense, and you can only talk to one person at a time. Email support: Less effective for the customer than phone support. It is quick and easy to send their questions to you, but uncertainty over the length of time for responses is a concern. For you, email is one of the cheapest and easiest forms of support. You probably already have email, and you can respond to inquiries on your time. Live chat software: Most effective channel of online customer support for the customer. Their questions can be answered immediately on the website by a real person. For you, the key is finding quality and affordable live chat software, and it is available. Also, live chat requires that you, or an employee, are available to handle incoming chat requests as much as possible. Knowledge Database/FAQ/Self-Help: This can be a quick and easy way to get answers for your more savvy customers. However, it can also be burdensome for customers if they aren’t quickly and easily able to find answers to their questions. This is probably the easiest channel of customer support for you. Aft Tips for your 1st Interview ve a big question. Where are you? The idea of ‘being there’ is twofold. First, it means making customer support channels easily accessible via your website. Regardless of what channels you use, you want them to be easily accessible from any page on your site. Either put your customer support channels on each page, or provide a clear and easy-to-find link to your support page from every page. As soon as your customer has a question, you don’t want them to have to look far to find a way to get in touch with you. Second, ‘being there’ means being available when your customers contact you. Be ready to answer the phone when they call, respond to all emails within a couple hours, or be prepared to handle incoming chats or support tickets. What good is customer support when a customer finds no one on the other end to assist them immediately? ‘Be there’ for your customers and you will be rewarded with better relationships and stronger loyalty.You’ve handed in your resume and now the wait by the phone begins. Will it ring? Will you finally land your first interview? If you presented a qualified resume and made a great first impression, the chances are fairly good you’ll at least get called.So now what do you do? You’re probably a little scared and that’s okay. It shows you’re taking the interview seriously. After all you’re one step closer to getting your first job and on the road to increased independence. Isn’t that what it’s all about? So nail the interview! Here are a few tips to help: • Don’t be late! Whatever you do, DO NOT be late. C-Count the Cost Let’s face it, your time and money are valuable. So, how do you provide great customer support on a budget? Come up with a plan. Determine what options are available to you, weigh the advantages vs. the costs, and implement your decisions. Here are some considerations regarding different online customer support options: Phone support: Convenient for your customers, but potentially costly and time consuming for you. If you have an 800#, that is a large expense, and you can only talk to one person at a time. Email support: Less effective for the customer than phone support. It is quick and easy to send their questions to you, but uncertainty over the length of time for responses is a concern. For you, email is one of the cheapest and easiest forms of support. You probably already have email, and you can respond to inquiries on your time. Live chat software: Most effective channel of online customer support for the customer. Their questions can be answered immediately on the website by a real person. For you, the key is finding quality and affordable live chat software, and it is available. Also, live chat requires that you, or an employee, are available to handle incoming chat requests as much as possible. Knowledge Database/FAQ/Self-Help: This can be a quick and easy way to get answers for your more savvy customers. However, it can also be burdensome for customers if they aren’t quickly and easily able to find answers to their questions. This is probably the easiest channel of customer support for you. Aft I Always Play by the Rules and It Stinks! y? ‘Be there’ for your customers and you will be rewarded with better relationships and stronger loyalty.This week I coached a wonderfully lovely woman I’ll call Jill. She’s a bright woman, very compassionate and sweet. She’s at one of the corporations where I am an outside consultant/coach. This was our first meeting but within seconds I could tell she had a lot on her mind.. and her plate.She basically has to work 12 hour days 6 days a week to be able to keep up with her job. She’s highly in demand and is spread a LOT too thin. She’s in management and so her opinion counts, but she often does the work of three people because she doesn’t want to appear to be a complainer, so she doesn’t say anything.She’s got C-Count the Cost Let’s face it, your time and money are valuable. So, how do you provide great customer support on a budget? Come up with a plan. Determine what options are available to you, weigh the advantages vs. the costs, and implement your decisions. Here are some considerations regarding different online customer support options: Phone support: Convenient for your customers, but potentially costly and time consuming for you. If you have an 800#, that is a large expense, and you can only talk to one person at a time. Email support: Less effective for the customer than phone support. It is quick and easy to send their questions to you, but uncertainty over the length of time for responses is a concern. For you, email is one of the cheapest and easiest forms of support. You probably already have email, and you can respond to inquiries on your time. Live chat software: Most effective channel of online customer support for the customer. Their questions can be answered immediately on the website by a real person. For you, the key is finding quality and affordable live chat software, and it is available. Also, live chat requires that you, or an employee, are available to handle incoming chat requests as much as possible. Knowledge Database/FAQ/Self-Help: This can be a quick and easy way to get answers for your more savvy customers. However, it can also be burdensome for customers if they aren’t quickly and easily able to find answers to their questions. This is probably the easiest channel of customer support for you. Aft Client Management and Striving for Perfection - A Message to My Friendly Competitor Consultants . For you, email is one of the cheapest and easiest forms of support. You probably already have email, and you can respond to inquiries on your time.As a consulting firm, your company should strive for perfection on every project that you engage in. Your purpose and intent should be to provide real value to your clients. Your position on providing value should never be compromised. However, striving for perfection does have its limitations and can be directly proportional to cost effectiveness on both sides of the equation. Cost effectiveness in relationship to your client’s price point and cost effectiveness in relationship to your time investment individually compared to the time actually billed. Think of the fill rate scenario. It is easy to go from a 97% fill rate Live chat software: Most effective channel of online customer support for the customer. Their questions can be answered immediately on the website by a real person. For you, the key is finding quality and affordable live chat software, and it is available. Also, live chat requires that you, or an employee, are available to handle incoming chat requests as much as possible. Knowledge Database/FAQ/Self-Help: This can be a quick and easy way to get answers for your more savvy customers. However, it can also be burdensome for customers if they aren’t quickly and easily able to find answers to their questions. This is probably the easiest channel of customer support for you. After the initial time investment required to dump all of your information to the site, it is there and available for customers from then on. These are just 4 of the channels for online customer support. You may also consider support tickets, forums, and others. As you can see, each channel has its advantages and disadvantages, both for you as the business owner, and for your customers. The best websites for online customer support usually offer a blend of several of these channels. Providing great customer support on your website is not difficult, and it will have tremendous advantages for you. To provide excellent support for both you and your customers, simply remember the ABC’s of online customer support: Add value, Be there, and Count the cost.
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