That’s right, they need to sink under the waves. Quickly. Obviously, I’ve just had an experience that I consider not only unacceptable, but a classic example of how not to run your online business. You’ve seen it before: decent website, all payment ready, able and willing to take your money.
Then BAM. No follow-up response. No response to a query about the order. No response to a follow-up query. (Sound of crickets chirping in the background.)
If you want to piss off customers and blow your reputation out of the water, this is the best way to do it.
If you’re going to do it , do it right
If you’ve decided to put your business online, or to start a new business online, that’s great!
- You don’t need your site to be fancy—utilitarian will do just fine.
- You don’t need to offer gazillions of payment options.
- You don’t need a slick shopping cart with artificial intelligence built in.
You just need to be able to complete a transaction simply, clearly, safely, and with a reasonable follow-up.
What’s follow-up?
I put a website together in 1998. The host provided a very simple auto-responder. I wrote a simple email and anytime somebody asked for information on my site’s Web form, that auto-responder kicked off and replied to them.
Is this rocket science?
What’s so hard about setting up an auto-responder to send a thank you email to somebody who buys something from your website? If it includes delivery information, all the better! But, there are still sites out there who go radio silent as soon as you send them your hard-earned cash. Give me a break.
Better yet, send a thank you email, then follow-up with an email as soon as you ship your product, letting the customer know when they can expect delivery. Then, send another email asking them if they received the product, if they have been able to use it yet, if they have any questions or concerns.
How can people not get this?
Virtually every successful online retailer follows some form of this process. Why are there still people who refuse to get with the program?
If you’re going to go to the trouble of putting up an e-commerce site, for goodness sake, implement the entire process. If you don’t know what it is, go buy something from Amazon. Or better yet, so you’re not intimidated, try somebody like Walkabout Travel Gear. Theirs is a truly simple site, but it works. Why? Because they communicate with the customer!
If you’re not willing to take the most basic steps to serve the customer, then start reading this.
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