[January 24th, 2001]

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It doesn't matter if you're an online mom'n'pop store or the glitterati of the e-commerce digerati: excellent customer service is central to online success. Pricing is important, but it isn't everything. Getting the edge on non-price forms of competition is vital and superior customer care comprises a large part of that edge. Often, customer service is the deciding factor in closing a sale - or motivating a customer to choose one online merchant over another.

Indeed, personalized service has always been central to forging customer relationships, to building consumer loyalty. Offline you can work face-to-face with your customers, directly and flexibly. You can answer questions, solve problems, demonstrate your expertise, give advice, and though it may seem quaint somehow offer that personal touch of eye contact. Communication is what sells and communication is what brings your clientele back. And lets face it: there's no substitute for a good old-fashioned human conversation.

Therefore, the goal of online businesses should be to emulate the more interactive customer service of offline businesses. And what's the first thing that happens when you enter a brick and mortar store? Human contact. Communication. A question: How may I help you? Initiating dialogue with your customer is the first step in establishing a lasting relationship. Of course, the problem with the Internet is that the human interface is removed. Customized service, hands-on help, spontaneous and immediate response times all of these important features are attenuated online and, for some shortsighted e-businesses, neglected altogether.

Refine Your Communications and Customer Care Platforms

Personalized interaction is key and a website that boasts well-structured communication pathways maintains a sharp advantage over those that do not. By even opening the possibility of dialogue, you immediately show your customers that your e-business is willing to answer individual questions and provide responsive, personalized customer care.

Here, there's no better way to forge a customer relationship than buy placing a toll-free number on your website to your sales or customer care departments. Better yet, situate the number conspicuously and, if feasible, make it a goal to answer all incoming calls in-person - sans robot. A telephone number reveals that you value customer interaction and, perhaps more fundamentally, it indicates that your online business is a legitimate, reliable one.

Next, look at how your websites content and design interact with your online shoppers. What kind of communicative interface is provided? Does your site initiate or encourage dialogue between you and your potential customers? Is there a cordial email link for customer queries or a contact page to a sales representative? Take a look at your storefront and figure out ways to make it interactive, to offer clear service or communications touch points.

Also, be proactive. Ask your visitors what they need or what they'd like to see. Solicit customer opinions or involve them in a regular site poll. This will personalize the experience for them, give you direct intelligence from your site visitors, and build a sense of community around your brand. As we know, community creates loyalty, so consider a broad range of interactive tools: telephone, e-mail, newsletters, and opinion forums for your e-business.

And because e-email will be a primary pathway for your customer care platform, think about all the ways you can streamline communications on this channel. Above all, your e-mail should strive to emulate brick-and-mortar customer service by being both responsive and personalized. Lightning-fast turn around time on an e-mail inquiry and using your customers name shows that you take each and every one of your customers seriously.

Test yourself: How long does it take for you to respond to a help query, customer concern, or information request? Do you have an email auto-responder that confirms (in un-robotic language) that you will respond within a defined time period? And can you follow up on that promise? A big part of online customer care is approximating real-time service with comprehensive, professional assistance.

Then, once you have established dialogue use it to your advantage. Information distilled from interactive dialogue is far more useful than information gleaned from statistics or quiet e-metric observation. Besides providing superior customer care, dialogue will yield acute insight into your target demographic and show you the routes to optimizing your marketing mix, your storefront design, and future customer care strategies.

Sure, superior customer service is one of the most difficult business objectives to realize on the Internet. But in the final analysis, it may be your customer service touch points that differentiate you from your competition - and give you that needed e-commerce edge. A rapid e-mail response to customer support requests, implementing a live customer-care telephone service, or providing a human face to online troubleshooting functions these are the keys to making your interface interactive. And don't forget to promote your customer-care package: show shoppers how you can guarantee unmatched customer support and sincere customer service follow-up.

Next: Top Tools to Help You Boost Customer Service Levels