Technology is a great thing indeed… but it’s not the only thing merchants have got going for them in the wholesale or retail business. Are today’s businesses focused on providing top service to their customers? Or have they forgotten to tailor every part of their company  to be a good experience, from a customer’s point of view? It’s time to take a look at what works – and what definitely  doesn’t – as companies continue building up the online segment of their businesses, and succeed every time they engage with customers. It’s actually not that hard, and a lot of it can be drawn from what has been learned in the business over the last century. However, these days it takes a little creativity to apply those lessons to a world that is getting more wired with each passing day.

1. Since this is a topic that requires no introduction, we’re just going to hit the ground running, and start with the do’s and dont’s of customer service. Many of you may be surprised at how much we’ve allowed ourselves to lose sight of the customer’s experience in today’s race to the finish line, and I am hoping that this little guide will help. After all, those old-fashioned rules of engagement that were learned over the last 100 years in the world of brick and mortar retail sales may not always apply any more, although the concepts behind them remain the same.
2. Greeting someone at the door might be nice when shoppers walk into a shop, but having pop-ups and graphics that rove around the screen as soon as they enter a website… only serve to irritate, not welcome. Crucial landing pages should load quickly (studies show that the average users allow 2 seconds before they feel like clicking to another site) and smoothly, without any unnecessary lags from huge, bandwidth-hungry graphics and complex scripts. Video should be optimized to stream without progress bars. Animations with audio should have clear buttons to turn on the sound at the visitor’s discretion, not the other way around.
3. Don’t over-rely on the FAQ page. It’s a good idea to have one for customers to browse if they have questions, but leaving them with stock answers to stock questions can be pretty off-putting, to say the least. Nothing beats personal contact for getting the answers, and there should always be an option for visitors to reach you directly.
4. Do you know who your customers are? Everyone likes to be recognized, and it’s especially true when you see someone face to face. However, on the Internet it might be misinterpreted as an invasion of privacy, so don’t be too eager to ‘wow’ somebody with their email address, name, and location popping up as soon as they enter your site. Unless you’ve asked me to log in, it’s not welcoming… it’s creepy.
5. If a customer has a special request, do everything you can to say yes, and to quickly inform them of the decision. As long as their request is within reason, you should remember that it’s only one customer who needs something special, and  you don’t need to re-write your company’s mission statement to accommodate them. Or maybe you do. If you see this kind of request coming up often, it’s a clear sign that you could improve the customer experience by making a change to how things are done.
6. Don’t give away the farm when you mess up an order. Most customers just want to get what they originally asked for, without any further fuss. Give it to them, and they will be back for more when they see how easy it was to correct a potentially troublesome situation.
7. Exaggerate your language when doing things on the Internet. The customer can’t see you, so there’s no body language or tone to carry your emotions over to the listener. When you write some marketing copy, or send out emails, read the text a few times before clicking the ‘send’ button.
8. Many retailers are very happy about not having to deal with people all the time in order to make a sale, thanks to the Internet. However, when it comes time to actually make contact with a human being, there should be no doubts about the level of old-fashioned service the caller gets. Make sure your people a re trained to handle calls and personal interaction without making things ugly – especially if the call is brought on by a mistake you made with the order.
9. On a related note from the last point; it’s always good to give customers the benefit of the doubt. You’re not going to win anything when you work harder to prove somebody wrong, than to simply give them what they need. Be helpful and fair in spite of initial appearances, because you don’t know what the guy on the other end has already been through – with your competition – before he called you!
10. Go the extra mile with things that bring your customers value. Mass emails and e-cards are great, but only if they are going to be sent to somebody who really wants them. If you’ve captured some personal data from your customers during the sales process, put it to good use. Try not to make all your messages sound like cookie-cutter products. Give some thought to how the recipient will view your communications. Does it sound like generic spam to you?

I hope this little refresher will be of use to those who are getting their minds into sales mode for the holidays, and if there’s anything I’ve missed here, please let us know! We’re always glad to hear from our readers, and your comments only add to the knowledge pool.