"Well, everyone orders on the internet now, so I only need an online ordering system and an email for customer queries, etc. There's no need for a phone number, is there?"
Not having a phone number could be a costly mistake!
Normally people want to contact you for the following reasons:
- They want to check the prices or stock levels
- They have questions about delivery times, returns policy, etc.
- They want to place an order
- They have an enquiry about their order
You're probably now thinking "All of that information is on the website. Customers can also log into their account to check the status of their order."
But here's the secret:
Many people won't read the site properly;
many that do won't believe what they are reading!
We take hundreds of calls every month for our online retailer clients from people asking exactly the above points; all of which are on our clients' sites.
Two examples:
"How many have you got in stock of..."
We often have prospective customers phoning up about stock levels for a particular product. The telephonist will occasionally ask "Stock levels are normally displayed on the website. Did you look at the product you wanted to order?" The person replies that they have but there was no stock information. The telephonist goes to the site, just as if she was a customer, goes to the relevant product and there, in the usual price, nice and clear it says how many are in stock.
Are the customers lying? Well, that maybe a little harsh; either they had gone to the relevant product and hadn't seen the stock levels; or they thought it would be quicker to ring up and ask.
"Is that REALLY the price for..."
One of our clients has a very good deal on printed flyers. It states clearly on the website how much they are. Yet we take, on average, a call every day asking if that is the correct price!
So, if you are setting up an online shop, (or have one running now) then don't forget just how important the phone can be. We have had many instances where a client has given us feedback saying that the customer ordered from them because of how they were looked after when they phoned!
Now for the salesy bit...
Of course, if you are really busy then you may not have time to take calls. So hire a call answering service. Allowing someone like BananaOffice access to your admin system will allow us to provide your customers will a professional service, ensuring that they keep a good opinion of your company.
What sort of image are you really projecting if someone just gets an answering machine or voicemail every time they ring? Do they think that you are busy? Possibly. That this company obviously doesn't care enough about its customers? Definitely. (Oh, and if you insist on using a voicemail or answering machine, do not use that awful phrase of "Your call is important to us". The caller will only think "If my call was important, there would be someone to answer it!")
At the end of the day it's about giving your customers the best possible service and putting as few barriers as possible in the way of someone buying from you. Having an answering service to look after your calls is a small outlay for the peace of mind of knowing that your customers are being looked after.
At the end of the day it's about giving your customers the best possible service and putting as few barriers as possible in the way of someone buying from you. Having an answering service to look after your calls is a small outlay for the peace of mind of knowing that your customers are being looked after.
If you believe that, because you're an online retailer, everyone will be happy to place orders online, then you could be missing out on a significant amount of money.
ReplyDeleteThe combined total of orders we take OVER THE PHONE for two of our online retailer clients comes to over £10,000 per month!