Posts Tagged ‘customer loyalty’
Using Your Website to Increase Customer Loyalty
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008
One of the best ways for any business to maximize their profits is to keep their customers happy - after all, happy customers usually mean loyal customers, and loyal customers mean sales. For small businesses in particular, though, keeping your customers happy can often mean the difference between your business surviving, or falling prey to the larger companies in your niche. There are many ways to keep your customers happy and coming back to you, but one of the most useful and cost-effective methods is by using your company website.
Think about it - in today’s business environment, most sales now take place online. And if someone is looking for a particular supplier or provider of a product or service that they’re after, then that person will probably look for a business using an online search engine like Google, as opposed to looking in a phone book or calling directory inquiries. So it makes sense for your website to be the ideal tool to not only get your customers in the first place, but keep them coming back afterward.
Make Your Site Interactive
So how can you use your website to its maximum effect to keep your customers happy? There are many ways, yet one of the best and most proven is to make your website as interactive as possible. This doesn’t mean that you have to have dedicated sections where visitors can pretty much have carte blanche to change the look of your site. However, there are a lot of options available to you to make your site interactive for both new visitors and existing customers.
The best method of interaction is offering your customers something that makes them feel involved - this could be a newsletter that they can sign up for, with special early offers on new product launches, for example. Or it could be a newsletter offering advice on how they can best use your products in either their everyday personal or business lives.
Another way to entertain customers while they’re on your website is to make it engaging. One of the best ways to do this is to have something like a talking character that responds to their query - there are numerous pieces of software and technical companies that can arrange this for you. The more advanced the software, the more responsive and interactive the experience, leading to more fun for your customers.
Ask Their Opinions
Almost everyone likes to think that their opinion matters, no matter how much or little expertise they might have on a given subject. Therefore, it stands to reason that they will be more receptive to a company if they feel that business is really listening to their needs. One of the ways you can do this via your website is to have a forum. Here visitors can log in and post comments on anything from your products to items they would like to see. By having a forum moderator from your company, you can ensure that customers know their ideas and suggestions are being taken seriously.
These are just some of the options available to you to make your website more interactive and fun for your customers. Even just having one of two of them will make a world of difference, and should see your client retention rates increase dramatically.
Tags: customer loyalty, customer retention, danny brown, E-Commerce and E-Business, Interactive Sites, Web Design
Posted in News & Articles | No Comments »
What’s SSL and Why Your Website Needs It
Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008
SSL simply means secure sockets layer. It is the security that eCommerce businesses use when gathering credit card information. The SSL uses port 443 to connect to your computer ensuring a secure connection on the server. In essence, SSL is the most often used for transmitting credit card, banking, tax or personal information on the internet.
Ensuring that your customers feel safe when purchasing from your site will help to ensure that you will first, have customers, and second that you will keep and continue to receive customers. With the threat of identity theft so real in today’s world, consumers try to take as much care in the information that they give out and are appreciative when businesses take the extra precaution to ensure that their information is not jeopardized.
There are a variety of SSL providers to choose from-it is wise to evaluate the needs of your business before you start looking so you know exactly what you need and want. Different providers offer different options. SSL Certificate Wizard will guide you to help make a decision. Below are providers that are the most popular at this time.
First, the SSL provider GoDaddy has been successful in branding their product and is a very popular provider and a name that people trust. Some of their options are also more affordable to the smaller businesses.
Verisign is also a well-known and probably one of the most trusted providers in the business, which is what both businesses and consumers rely on. However, Verisign can also be a little bit more expensive.
Comodo is another provider and provides less expensive support with some free offers. One thing that they do offer that is enticing is that there are not any renewal or update fees.
Digicert is well-known for its customer service and support, which can be very important to a business owner. Subsequently, the popularity for Digicert is growing and provides a money back guarantee to ensure satisfaction for their services.
Thawte is not a cheap SSL certification site, but prides itself on being a trustworthy provider, hence their company slogan boats “It’s a trust thing.” Thawte is becoming more popular and is seen by their customers as security for their sites.
As with any of the products, ensure that you have thoroughly reviewed each of them, choosing the provider that gives you the products you need to ensure your customers can safely process their transactions.
Tags: customer loyalty, E-Commerce and E-Business, larry Slusser, security, ssl
Posted in News & Articles | No Comments »
Do Visitors Feel Safe Buying From Your Website? If sales are down, it may just be that your website needs a revamp!
Thursday, March 27th, 2008
If you have a website, the best thing you can do for business is to make it look professional and safe for your customers. We’ve all stumbled upon websites that look like they were created years ago and have never been updated since- leaving potential customers to wonder if the company is even in business anymore. It’s doubtful anyone would feel comfortable placing an order and giving their personal credit card information to a website that looks shady. Here are some tips for making visitors feel safe and secure when they’re on your website.
Be sure your website looks up to date - Think of your homepage as the front door to your store. It should be professional, inviting and modern-looking. If your website looks old and outdated, then visitors will assume your products and services are too. Be sure to check your website often and remove out of date products or listings.
Set up a merchant account - While accepting Paypal may be easier and cheaper for you, it’s not exactly professional. It may leave visitors thinking twice about purchasing from your website and give them the incentive to go back on Google for another search. Having the ability to accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover doesn’t take much effort and there are plenty of companies that offer merchant account services.
Set up a “Contact Us” page - Many visitors want to know that there’s a real company behind a website before they order. So, offering as much information as possible will leave visitors feeling better about the reliability of your company. Email addresses should always have the address of the website and not @hotmail, or yahoo, gmail, etc. A phone number should never be your home phone number - having someone answer “hello” or having someone on a second line pickup and start dialing is a certain recipe for disaster. Stick with a call center, dedicated business line or even a cell phone. If you can, list the street address of your company. Remember, the more information you can give out, the more your potential customers will feel ready to become actual customers.
Make checkout easy - A true-tale sign of a new or small business is an archaic checkout process. Ideally, the your store’s checkout should be four or less steps. Keep it as simple and as short as possible, without asking customers to first sign up to be a member or requiring that they answer a set of unnecessary questions. Also, make sure that it’s easy for customers to look at their shopping cart and then continue to shop - otherwise, you’ll end up with frustrated customers who may leave your site for good.
It doesn’t take much effort to give your website a professional look that makes visitors feel at ease, never even questioning the reliability of your company or the safety of the website. You’ll be amazed at how just the look of a website can increase customers and decrease shopping cart abandonment rates.
Tags: Carrie Hinkel, customer loyalty, E-Commerce and E-Business, merchant accounts, Web Design
Posted in News & Articles | No Comments »
How to Use Incentives to Retain Customers
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
When small business owners think of giving away something to their customers, they merely think of the cost of giving something away. Instead, they should be thinking about the profit potential.
The bottom line is that the business world is very competitive. There are very few one-of-a-kind businesses. Even those that are unique now will have competition tomorrow. Therefore, it is imperative that once you get customers you learn how to retain them.
Retaining customers revolves around making them think there is nowhere else they can get the products and services that they will get from your company.
While it may be impossible to be the only business that sells a product, you could be the only business with a particular selling method - as well as the only one that offers special incentives.
Let’s take a look at some common incentives:
Benefits
Membership cards for regular customers are a common way to get into the benefits category. Let your customers know that by signing up for your membership card they will be eligible for discounts, exclusive offers to try out new items and invitations to special events.
If customers know that they always get a discount, they will think of coming to your business first so they can save money. They will also love the special treatment of being the first to try a new product, and everyone likes to be on a special-events VIP list.
The Personal Touch
If you have a customer list, take a note of birthdays, anniversaries or special occasions and send cards or other appropriate greetings to your customers. This makes it seem you are personally in touch with them. You could even send your customers discount coupons, or invite them to pick up a gift to commemorate their special day.
If your business has a physical location, offer drinks and snacks during operating hours. Many stores offer coffee, tea and cookies or biscuits. It will cost you pennies, but customers love the gesture, as it makes them feel you care.
Convenience
It is a busy world, and many people want nothing more than convenience. Give it to them.
Offer your customers time-saving gifts such as free gift-wrapping around the holidays. By doing this, you are taking one more item off their to-do list, something that most people will be very grateful for.
Online Extras
If you have an online business, there are many freebies that you can offer, even though your customers are not coming into a brick-and-mortar business.
Offer articles and tips on items that are commonly ordered online. From free e-books to project guides, there are lots of ways to give your customers something they see as valuable.
Keeping customers coming back translates to profit. Statistics show that getting one new customer will take five times the resources and time that it takes to keep a customer who already likes your company. Save time and money by using incentives to keep your happy customers coming back.
Tags: advice, customer loyalty, Generating More Sales, Growing Your Business, happy customers, Leeia Ladipoh, Sales, tips
Posted in News & Articles | No Comments »
What’s On The Back Of Your eBay Packing Slips?
Monday, March 24th, 2008
If you’re anything like we used to be, it’ll be nothing more than an expanse of white paper.
And if it is, you’re missing out on a golden opportunity to advertise to people who have already trusted you with their purchase.
You can either design a flyer to print on the reverse, thanking them for their purchase and showing a few examples of general items you currently have for sale, or (if you don’t have too many items to send out) you could personalize the flyer to each customer, showing a number of products related broadly to the item they have just bought from you.
The most important thing is to thank them for their purchase. Quite a few sellers don’t even bother to include the packing slip with items; and fewer still write anything on it, or take advantage of this golden opportunity to promote their business.
If you have an eBay shop, take the chance to encourage your customer to visit it, and sign up for your free newsletter. Take every opportunity to use these packing slips to build up your customer base and your mailing list, because this will lead to increased profits in the future.
Tags: customer loyalty, E-Commerce and E-Business, ebay business, Marketing, shipping
Posted in News & Articles | No Comments »
Building Your Business: The Benefits of Customer Service Training
Tuesday, March 11th, 2008
A successful and capable business owner, operator or manager perfectly understands that the ultimate key to business success is customer satisfaction. There are two primary factors that play major roles in ensuring customer satisfaction both in the immediate and long term future.
First, a business that is committed to customer satisfaction makes very certain that products or services offered to consumers are top quality. Second, a business that strives to maintain customer satisfaction understands the key role that customer service plays in that process. Therefore, a successful, capable business owner, operator or manager understands the vital role that customer service training plays in the overall scheme of business operations. Indeed, in so many ways, thorough customer service training, including in depth call center customer service training, is the keystone or the glue that actually holds all of the other elements of a thriving business enterprise together.
When it comes to developing a thriving business enterprise, quality customer service has always been the foundation upon which business success is founded. More often than not, customers have the most direct experiences with a business enterprise when seeking customer service or assistance. As a result, establishing a solid customer service training program, complete with call center customer service training, benefits a business by ensuring that a customer’s direct interaction with the business enterprise is positive and professional.
Many businesses spend little time in the development of phone customer service training. This scant attention to phone customer service training is evident in many businesses despite the ultimate reality that most men and women in today’s world access a business’s customer service operation via a telephone call center. Thus, by implementing a call center customer service training program as part of an overall scheme and regimen, a business is able to work to ensure that in every situation a customer’s interaction with customer service staffers is positive, professional, and pleasant.
A phone customer service training scheme cannot downplay the importance of making certain that customer service staffers engage with customers in a pleasant and respectful manner … no matter how upset a calling customer may be in a given situation. One of the benefits of call center customer service training is the development of a call center team that is able to diffuse even the most bombastic of situations.
Achieving long term and broad based customer satisfaction requires work and long term dedication. By embarking on a thorough course of customer service training, which includes call center training in its mix, a business enterprise will be laying a solid foundation upon which business success will be evident today — and well into the future. Satisfied customers draw even more satisfied customers to a business, ensuring future success.
Tags: advice, customer loyalty, customer service, Growing Your Business, PR, tips
Posted in News & Articles | No Comments »
Increase Customer Loyalty Through Communication
Thursday, February 28th, 2008
When you receive a comment or feedback, ask yourself how would you want someone to respond to you if it was you giving the feedback or comment? Moreover, how does it make you feel when the restaurant you always go to remembers you and what you usually order? Or maybe you buy a lot on eBay from one seller in particular -how does it make you feel when the seller remembers your name and the products you’re interested in? By placing yourself into your customers’ shoes and remembering their buying habits or feedback, your customers will be more loyal to you because you care about them and their business.
Effective customer communication is important for both attaining and maintaining customer loyalty. Here are a few things to remember in order to create and maintain customer loyalty.
Building a customer knowledge base. It is important to first look at what you know about your customers. For instance, if you have had a long-time customer, do you and your employees remember how long they have been a customer? Have you obtained some personal information, such as their birthday or anniversary? This information is very helpful in a sales-oriented business. Regardless, knowing how long they have been a customer and remembering some key information, such as their buying patterns, will go a long way in helping to maintain customer loyalty.
Responding to feedback, and in a timely manner. You value customer feedback. In order to obtain customer feedback in a timely manner, you have established a means for customers to submit feedback on your website, or even at your physical location. It is imperative to ensure that someone gets back to the customer, even if it is an acknowledgment of receipt. If there is a serious concern, your first priority should be to investigate and deal with the situation. Even if it’s a suggestion for improving a service provided or business idea, getting back to the customer will affirm their loyalty and give you a good reputation. You want the word of mouth referrals to be positive, not negative.
Improving communication through emails. Obtaining customer emails for marketing your products or services is a great way to illicit more business; but how are you communicating through those emails? Are they relevant and interesting to your customers? Are you emailing them enough, or too much? Evaluate your email marketing program to ensure it’s cultivating customer loyalty, not scaring customers away.
On the other side of the coin, some people may be opting out of receiving emails because there is too much being sent out, the email content isn’t interesting to them, etc. This will happen, and whatever the reason, ensure that the unsubscribe process is easy for the customer. Having an unsubscribe process that takes a long time will only frustrate the customer and potentially prompt them to send a nasty gram. Again, make it as easy as possible for the customer to both sign up and to unsubscribe.
In essence, when you own a business where you provide a service or product, practicing effective communication by remembering them, listening to their feedback and what information they provide you, as well as responding to your customers will illicit better customer loyalty.
Tags: advice, customer loyalty, customer service, Generating More Sales, Growing Your Business, larry Slusser, tips
Posted in News & Articles | No Comments »
5 Simple Steps to Keep Your eBay Customers Happy
Thursday, February 7th, 2008
If you are selling on eBay, your reputation is out there for everyone to see. The eBay feedback system is on every item you sell - and potential customers can click at any time to see whether other customers have had positive experiences with you.
It is important to keep a high positive rating on eBay to keep customers’ trust.
Let’s take a look at how to do this.
Keeping Customers Happy
The best way to do this is to do exactly what you promise. When it comes to selling on eBay, there are many levels of customer relations.
1. Honesty In Listings - There is nothing more frustrating to a customer than to find what they think is the perfect collectible in mint condition, and then get the product to find out there is a chip in it, or a crack where it has been glued back together.
When writing your description for an item, make sure it is completely accurate. While many people like to make things sound better than they are, in the hopes of getting a higher sale price, you may end up losing when the person insists on a refund for false advertising.
Not only will they give you negative feedback on the deal, but also you will be out the shipping price and listing and selling fees from eBay. Always read over your descriptions twice and make sure they are descriptions that would fairly match the item, if you were the one buying it.
2. Accurate Pictures - If you are posting pictures of an item, they should be of the specific item you are selling. Many people use stock photos of a brand new version of the item they are selling. If yours doesn’t look like the one that is brand new, customers may feel like they were lied to in your photographs.
If you must use stock photos, make sure it is very clear in your description that these are stock photos of a new item, and that yours is not new or that it does not look the same.
3. Proper Shipping - While it’s acceptable to do, don’t overcharge for shipping unless you make it very clear in your description that your shipping costs are intentionally high. Many sellers try to get around the eBay listing and selling fees by charging much less for the item and very high shipping rates.
While this is legal to do, many buyers don’t pay as close of attention to the shipping price and may be frustrated when their total is much higher than they thought it should be. While it is a "buyer beware" world, sellers should also beware that an unhappy buyer can have a negative impact on their feedback.
Additionally, make sure that your shipping times and costs are very clear. Some shippers only send items out a few times a week. While this is an acceptable practice, you need to assure that your buyers know this.
4. Communication - Even the best thought-out eBay sale may not go as well as you would like. But if you are able to work out the problem with the customer, you will likely get their appreciation and some positive feedback out of the deal.
Whether an item is broken in shipping, running late, or there is some other problem with the transaction, always be available to communicate with the customer.
While every situation doesn’t have a happy solution, a little bit of attention to an unhappy customer will calm them down quite a bit.
5. Feedback - Once you have completed the transaction with the customer and they have gotten their item, ask them to give you positive feedback. You should also do the same for them if the transaction went well.
The more positive feedback, the higher your ranking and the more respectable and professional you appear to be.
Tags: customer loyalty, customer relation management, E-Commerce and E-Business, ebay, feedback, Leeia Ladpoh
Posted in News & Articles | No Comments »
Putting Good Business Ethics into Practice
Tuesday, February 5th, 2008
The biggest threat against the survival of any business isn’t the competition…it’s the company’s understanding and practice of good business ethics. It’s hard to turn on the news without hearing about yet another business scandal that drove a company under. But it’s not just the big mega-corporations that are in danger of falling prey to bad business ethics. Small businesses are just as vulnerable. Think about it - would you give your business to a store you saw overcharging for items at the register? No, and I bet you would tell others about that experience too. Negative word of mouth spreads fast - especially in the age of emails and text messaging!
What does it mean to have good business ethics?
Having good business ethics means that with a choice of right or wrong, you choose right - even if it means lower profits or less productivity. It means putting employees and customers before the company’s bottom line. Having good business ethics isn’t the same thing as following the law. Ethics goes beyond the law - just because a certain business practice is legal doesn’t mean it’s the "morally right" thing to do. Here are some examples of common business ethics issues in several divisions of a company:
Human resources - The way a company treats its employees (and potential employees) is a gray area for many businesses. In human resources, having good business ethics means treating others with the utmost respect. Ethics involving human resources are important issues that could result in a big lawsuit against your company if they are not taken seriously.
* Examples: Discrimination - (based on race, gender, religion, weight, or attractiveness), sexual harassment
Finances - This is the most common form ethics scandal - think Enron and Worldcom. For many companies, profits are always the most important factor - and that means at any cost. That kind of thinking can quickly result in a company’s downfall or even prison time for those who participated in the wrongdoing.
* Examples: Insider trading, misleading financial analysis, hiding finances, trying to avoid paying taxes
Marketing - Good business ethics means always thinking in your customers’ best interests. If you are proud of your company and your products or services, you shouldn’t have to scam or trick your customers into buying from you. Think how you like to be treated as a customer and bring those guidelines into your own business.
* Examples: Bait and switch, price skimming, pyramid schemes
Production - In recent times, following bad business ethics in production (for example, using lead paint in toys) has given many companies bad reputations, early closings and expensive recalls. Trying to save money in production by using products that could potentially be harmful to others (or the environment) is not always against the law, but it is always unethical.
* Examples: Inferior goods, harmful ingredients, product testing procedures (for instance, on animals).
So, how can you ensure that your business is practicing good business ethics?
If your company has employees, it’s important that the owners begin practicing good business ethics right away. If employees see the owners cutting corners, then they will see that as acceptable behavior and will most likely begin to follow the same procedures. The next step is to create a document called a Code of Ethics - this should cover every aspect of your business, and determine what’s acceptable and what’s not acceptable. If you are unsure of where to start, you can Google "code of ethics" and take a look at the documents that other companies have created. Then, distribute your business’ Code of Ethics to every employee and schedule an in-depth staff meeting to talk about it and to let the staff know that the company is serious about practicing good business ethics. You may also want to go as far as creating an Ethics Board within the company. This would consist of a few employees who would regularly meet to discuss the company’s current practices and what could be done better.
Practicing good business ethics means you can feel better about your company; knowing that you are doing the best for your customers and your employees. You might just find that the positive word of mouth results in more customers and higher profits!
Tags: business ethics, Carrie Hinkel, customer loyalty, Growing Your Business, handling competitors
Posted in News & Articles | No Comments »
Four Best Practices for Increasing Customer Loyalty
Monday, January 28th, 2008
The best methods to improve your customer service are practices identified by a national "mystery shopper" company. You can use these tools that were found while performing over 175,000 service, quality, and cleanliness evaluations of businesses all over America.
1.) Solve Small Problems on the Spot: Near my house is a Speedy Stop convenience store, and I stop there a couple times a week for coffee. Last week I was in there, and as I got to the counter and reached for my wallet, I realized that I’d forgotten it! There was a line behind me, I was embarrassed, and all I could think to say was, "I forgot my wallet, I’m here several times a week — can I return with the money?"
The senior-citizen clerk behind the counter picked up my coffee, set it down closer to me, and said, "How about if you just have this one on us?" Instantly I was relieved, thanked her, and went on my way. Two points to make here:
A.) The employee - whose demeanor was that of a kindly aunt - had the presence of mind to see my situation, and help me out of trouble. Business people have become jaded to the word "empowerment", but within sensible limits it is a terrific idea to give employees some authority to solve customers’ problems right on the spot.
B.) It is a smart move to hire seniors for customer contact jobs. While there are always exceptions, seniors who are willing to work in customer service are "people persons" who enjoy customer contact - and the consumer public loves to interact with them. It cost the store pennies to give me that coffee. The results? Well, in addition to solidifying me as a customer, through this tip I’ve just told a lot of people a positive story about the
Everyday convenience store in Oak Hill, Texas. And that "Word-of-Mouth" is the best promotion you can get.
2.) No Robots: When a manager is overly regimented, customer-contact employees can seem "mechanical" in what they say. Give employees two or three options of "scripts" that you want them to use for a given piece of information. This way, they can pick the wording that fits best for them. Also, they can vary what they say, so it’s not so cookie-cutter in delivery.
3.) Suggest Another Helpful Product: The most frequently missed question on the Mystery Shopper reports is whether any suggestive selling was done. Suggesting items helps guests decide on purchases, and is a FREE way to noticeably increase your profits. We believe up-selling should be mandatory, yet - as mentioned above - it is most effective when employees are encouraged to identify their own favorite products, and let them describe them to customers with real enthusiasm.
4.) Smiling: Many front-line employees have trouble with this. Let them know that a smile starts with the eyes. Have them practice raising their eyebrows as a lead-in to a smile. It sounds stupid, but it works. Let them have some goofy fun by watching you do it, and let them tease you (and each other) about it. Laughing about it together will remove any of the "un-cool" negative aspects of smiling.
Implement one of these practices each week for a month. You’ll see the results start to appear before you flip the next page on your calendar.
Tags: best practices, customer loyalty, customer service, Growing Your Business, John Connor, PR
Posted in News & Articles | No Comments »