To drive a store towards sustained success is another matter. You must differentiate yourself from your competition and ensure your store stands above the rest.
This article will discuss one of the most overlooked methods to add value to an ecommerce site – customer service.
Selling an experience rather than a product is the way to go
The competition in ecommerce is fierce. There are 7.1 million online retailers worldwide (and 1.8 Million in the United States alone).
There are likely similar merchants who sell the same products as yours, even if you are in a niche market.
Therefore, having a unique proposition is more important than ever.
First-time retailers often use price cuts as a way to differentiate themselves. This approach can be limiting. You can only reduce prices so far before you are undercut by someone else.
Selling an experience rather than a product is one of the best ways to increase your store’s value.
Many successful retailers recognize that product ideas can be easily copied and must differentiate themselves with excellent customer service.
Many of these companies attribute their success to their ability to provide customers with improved shopping experiences, not because they have low prices or unique products. Researchers have also found that consumers will pay more for a better shopping environment.
Here are some tested and proven tactics that have been successful for ecommerce entrepreneurs.
Be there for them 24/7
Suhail Nurmohamed, a successful entrepreneur, differentiates himself from his competition by offering round-the-clock customer support.
He wanted to offer the best Customer Service by responding as quickly as he could to emails.
He would reply to his messages even when he was at school.
I would tell people I was going to the bathroom, but instead, I would make an Instagram post and engage with everyone by replying. – Suhail Nurmohamed
Offer Prompt Refunds
Many things can happen between receiving an order and delivering the product to the customer.
It was especially the case when the coronavirus outbreak occurred, where shipping times were entirely out of sync.
If you promised a refund for delays or damaged goods, make it happen immediately. This is the advice from successful dropshipping couple Namrata & Shishir.
It shows you take customer complaints seriously.
We also promptly issued refunds when there were delays. This gives our clients more confidence. Namrata and Shishir
Please give it a Personal Touch
A personal touch can go a long way. This is true for sales and all other aspects of business (and even life).
In his The 7 Habits of Effective Persons, Stephen Covey talks about IBM going above and beyond during a training session where a participant became ill.
IBM went above and beyond to help him. IBM knew that the participant’s spouse wanted him to be treated by doctors familiar with his medical condition at home. So, they chartered a flight to fly him from New York to California.
When Adrien Taylor made his first sale, it was only a few streets away. Adrien dropped the item off immediately despite being 8 p.m.
She couldn’t believe she brought the hat online and that it was being delivered by hand. – Adrien Taylor
Avoid templates and be genuine
Courtney White, a merchant, is firm in his commitment to authenticity.
Courtney is willing to sacrifice convenience for a genuine, albeit more time-consuming, relationship with her clients.
She is a person who makes an effort to interact with others, and her messages and comments are unique and personalized.
What is the result? The result? A high rate of repeat customers.
It’s just the one-on-one relationships that have helped me build the brand to where it is now. Courtney White
Aligning customer service goals
It takes time and dedication to provide quality customer service. It can be challenging to provide quality customer service when customers are in different time zones. You will receive messages at odd times.
This is when an extra set of hands can come in handy.
Whether you are out-sourcing or hiring someone internally, ensure that all involved in your business are on the same page.
Stephen Covey would say that the lack of alignment of goals between an individual and an organization is the most common problem he faced.
The fundamental problem in families and organizations is that people do not commit to other people’s decisions for their own lives. – Stephen Covey
It is counterproductive to fail to convey the importance of good customer service to other people involved in the business after you have worked hard to establish a good reputation and put in place the necessary systems.
The conclusion of the article is
Customer service can be the key to an ecommerce business’s success. Although it may be frustrating and tedious at times, customer service is worth the investment.