Most business owners are worried about the way their customers feel. They want to do as much as they can to bring people in by making themselves simple and easy to work with, and a lot of companies go above and beyond in this. It’s why customer service is the core component of many businesses out there – the better your customers are treated, the more goodwill you create, the more loyal they feel, and the longer your relationship will last.
It sounds like quite the straightforward formula, doesn’t it? And all made possible with a website in place! In reality, however, it can be quite a difficult thing to capture. You want to stand out from the crowd on the search engine, but once you’ve got the ball rolling, how do you maintain momentum with the customer base you’re targeting? The balance is difficult, and many companies have fallen prey to mismanaged SEO investment that delivers nothing on the other side.
So, let’s try and ensure your company doesn’t meet the same fate. What guarantees a good customer experience in our modern online market? The short answer is: you can’t guarantee one. The long answer? There are many factors to juggle, but if you can get on top of them, you’re more than likely to impress. To make this easier on you, here are a couple such factors to be aware of.
Respect for Their Concerns
The more a business understands what goes through their customers’ heads, the better they’ll be able to serve their needs. As such, even if it’s not directly related to your own industry or product, consider the concerns that tie into every person’s buying decisions.
There’s a pretty common one to start with. Indeed, even though we’re used to shopping online nowadays, many people still find it difficult to trust the online world. And this can be a healthy sense of caution to apply, what with details being hacked and leaked on a seemingly daily basis.
This will be a concern within your own customer base as well. Doing what you can to ensure respect for this worry will help you to build a stronger sense of satisfaction amongst your website visitors.
To assuage this fear, you’ll want to target the way your website works. Namely, make sure your website has been built with security in mind. Work with a web manager who knows the ins and outs of keeping customer details safe, and never let your site stand without encryption in as many areas as possible.
Whether you’re using WordPress as a CMS, or you’re on Shopify, or you built the website from the ground up, work with a developer friendly payment gateway api to ensure payments can be accepted without worry. There’s no way to remove every element of danger, but designing a custom gateway that has strong backing from a reliable vendor will make a big difference.
A Personal Touch
It’s great to be able to use a chatbot. With one installed on your website, you can have customers in and out within a matter of seconds, their issue resolved, and very little time was required to put everything in the right place.
But many customers won’t find what they’re looking for here. They’re going to need to speak to someone real, and if that isn’t forthcoming from your side, it’s not going to do you any favors.
Make sure your customers have a chance to escalate their needs to a human representative. You don’t have to be available 24/7, but make sure the person on the other side knows when you’ll get back to them. You should also let them know their message has been received, so they can be sure you’ve seen it at the very least.
And remember, it’s OK to apply a personal, friendly, and casual touch to all of your interactions. In fact, it’s preferable to do so. You will come across as a real person who can actually help, and that’s what a lot of people miss when conducting interactions via the virtual world.
Set yourself apart in this one area by putting a bit of personality into the way you communicate; we expect it in the real world, and it still carries a lot of weight when we’re on screens too.
So, while you can’t quite guarantee a good customer experience online, factors like these will help one along. Be respectful and personal, and show that in everything you do.
