Many times, online business owners spend so much time focusing on getting the sale that they often forget about providing After Sales Service to their purchasing customers.
This could ultimately become the death knell for an online company. It takes far less money to nurture a current client than to find a new one, and dissatisfied customers are often quick to spread negative reviews.
Indifference – Easy To Find
Consumers have a multitude of choices when looking for a company that offers a particular product or service. The number one factor that influences a purchase is not price – it is service. Especially when it comes to e-commerce, indifference or apathy is easy to find; a business that truly cares about its customers is much rarer.
The best way to stand out from the crowd of internet companies is to offer exceptional customer service… not only with pre-sales service, but also with After Sales Service. Consider these tactics for making your online business extraordinary.
Personal Touches
Customers love to feel that they are being personally singled out by the business owner. Refrain from sending out mass, impersonal communications. Favour, instead, short and frequent communications that show you are personally reaching out to a particular person instead of a large target market.
This can be accomplished in several ways. Include a short, handwritten thank you note with the shipped package. Send out an email immediately after delivery of the product or service purchased and inquire of the customer’s satisfaction. Take a tip from online giant Amazon and follow up with an emailed list of suggested items related to the customer’s previous purchase.
Respond To Dissatisfaction
If you receive any form of negative customer feedback, be sure you personally respond to it and do so promptly. You can often turn a bad experience around easily and create a customer for life by going out of your way to make up for it.
Ensure that your return and exchange policy is favourable to customers. Don’t make it hard for them by demanding proof of defects or charging a restocking fee.
After Sales Service – Reward Loyal Customers
Quite often companies are too concerned with attracting new clients. Special deals limited to first-time customers are rampant. But what about those loyal customers who helped your business grow in the first place? Don’t they deserve something special, too?
The best offers are those that a customer doesn’t expect. Consider offering a freebie to mark a client’s six-month anniversary. Include a coupon for a discount on a future order with each shipment. Perhaps you could institute a virtual punch card system – after a certain number of orders the customer receives something free. If you gather data such as birth dates, send a card marking the occasion.
All of these little, unexpected touches create an incentive for a current client to keep doing business with your company.
Providing your valued customers with After Sales Service is well worth a business owner’s time and expense. Remember that it costs far less to keep the current client base than it does to find new prospects and move them down the sales funnel to become buyers.
Have a most outstanding day.
Sean RasmussenAussie Internet Marketing
www.AussieSEO.com 2010
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Sean,
This is a really timely post for me. Just the other day I went to the hairdressers and it’s the same one I normally go to but they have a new manager. The next day, the manager called me to ask if I was happy with what I had done.
It was so out of the ordinary for me that it’s made a huge impression. This lady really knows her customer service and these guys were great to begin with. You can bet I’m really not going to change my hairdresser now.
I think I’m pretty good at customer service but I’ll make sure I follow your tips.
Jazz Salinger´s last blog ..Learn and Earn – It’s a Marathon Not a Sprint
Hi Sean
Yes, I am a stickler for staying with a business that nurtures me, there aren’t that many but the companies that have looked after me all these years, still continue to do so which I think is very positive.
I used to run courses for women’s groups and I would always over deliver as I once had a mentor who did that for me and I used to feel very grateful and nurtured.
Our customers/clients are gold and we need to be genuinely showing our appreciation to them.
The other side to this is at times I have been served in a store by a ‘dream’ shop assistant who allows the phone to ring when they have been serving me, and is really helpful and resourceful and I somtimes end up with a little ‘gift’ or bonus to take away.
I always take the time to go and fill in one of those customer feedback forms or make a special mention by phone to their manager when I get home to praise that staff member and let them know what a valuable asset he/she is to their business because I feel they deserve it.
Many blessings
Elly
Elly´s last blog ..
After sales service and made to feel special definately work for me when I have purchased something, especially a big ticketed item. When we bought our SS Commodore, the salesman had a beautiful bouquet of flowers to give to me when we picked it up. That made the experience even more enjoyable and memorable and we always go back there for servicing etc.
Jackie Stenhouse´s last blog ..Anxiety Separation in Children