Top 8 common mistakes in ecommerce customer service

May 14, 2019

Table of Contents

  • Item 1

7

min read

In this article we will consider:
✓what are the fatal mistakes when working with customers are made by the owners of online stores?
✓what the consequences of this could be?
✓how to avoid them?

Mistake 1. Neglect of service and its quality in eCommerce customer support

This is the key mistake that a businessman can make. After all, it depends on the quality of service whether the buyer will address to you again or he will never do it. In addition, he is likely to share his impressions of the service provided with his family and friends. Recommendations and reviews of friends are the best and most effective ads for you. And it depends only on you whether this ad will play for your benefit or it will not.

It is important for you to develop certain standards of eCommerce customer support and service and always follow them in your work. Demand the same from your employees, motivate them to adhere to these standards.

Take care of your customers’ comfort:

  • control the quality of your products and services;
  • provide the opportunity to return the goods and information about the conditions of this process;
  • organize multiple delivery options;
  • provide your clients with the opportunity to pay in a comfortable way for them (in cash, via various types of payment systems, etc.).

Implement these tips in life you deserve the location of your customers and the growth of your business.

Mistake 2. Incomplete information about the company

The trust of customers who have visited your online store for the first time depends largely on the availability of detailed information about your company. It is important for the client to know where he can address in case of additional questions or any problems with the purchase.

So that visitors are not afraid to make purchases on your site, they need to see the following data:

  • your company name;
  • address, telephone, and other contacts;
  • Payment Methods;
  • methods, terms, and prices of shipment;
  • terms and conditions of return (according to research, the information about the ease of return in plain sight on the site increased the sales by 3.5 times!);
  • registration, license documents of the company.

Mistake 3. "Head on" sales  and misunderstanding of your customers’ needs

Most online stores owners keep to the most primitive strategy of product positioning: here is the product, go to our site and purchase. That is, this is a head-on sale, but as we know, selling goods in this way does not justify itself.

You can endlessly tell your clients what a wonderful product you have, how many years you have been on the market, how many customers you have had, what kind of profitable suppliers you have, but the customer is not concerned about your achievements. The buyer is interested in his benefit. And you should focus on his needs.

Remember that the sale of goods in this way entails the loss of a large number of customers. People do not like when someone drums up his goods. They like to make purchasing decisions on their own. Shift your vision to customer’s motivation on purchasing goods. Try to make a list of all possible areas where one can use your product. What your competitors didn't say about it? Or maybe they don’t speak about the obvious things that the buyers should know? Turn on your brainstorming mode.

Mistake 4. You answer the calls only in working hours

Usually, people make purchases in off hours: in the evening, on weekends or even at night. At these moments, potential customers have questions and they call the contact center. It is important that there are operators who can advise and accept the order.

Look at the analytics for the most productive time for receiving calls, messages, and emails, and organize the work of your operators, taking into account this data.

Do not forget that the buyer always needs to stay in touch. The client spends his time calling the company to get a solution to his problem, rather than listening to beeps. He writes a request on the site to get expert advice, and not to check the work of the plugin. Prompt responses 100% increase customers loyalty and their willingness to purchase again and again.

If you have promised your customer that the store manager will call him back within 10 minutes, this must be done. During these 10 minutes, the user will wait for a call from you. If the promise is not kept, he will leave.

Always keep your word or do not give false promises.

Mistake 5. The online store focuses on the chatbot

Chatbots are now in a trend, but not many companies can boast that chatbots brought real benefits. And the reason is not that technology is bad. To successfully implement a chatbot, you should deeply understand and systematize customer requests, provide for their all possible variations, build and automate business processes. It is too big even for the experienced experts.

Most likely, the chatbot will help you in the client service if you have a lot of typical questions from clients or there is no opportunity to provide consultation without breaks and weekends or around the clock. It can be used in case if you need daily emails with the same information i.e. new price lists, updates of goods in a warehouse.

Although the bot can be taught a lot, it will not be able to understand the client in the same way as a human can, but understanding and meeting customer needs are very important. A chatbot can become an assistant in the contact center, but still, it will not replace the operators.

Mistake 6. Human resource savings

This is about the incorrect personnel policy. Everyone wants to have qualified experts, while few are willing to pay them an appropriate salary. However, such additional costs will still be paid off in the long term. Moreover, you will receive a team of professional and competent employees who are motivated to do their job well.

One of the common mistakes in the eCommerce website is saving on a call center. If your staff is not trained to handle calls politely and patiently, then the loss of customers is inevitable, which ultimately results in large losses.

Mistake 7. CRM-system is not used

The main guarantee of a first-class giving customer service is a  personalized giving customer service. That is, the attitude to the client as an individual with specific preferences and needs. But first, you need to know about these preferences.

For these purposes, a CRM system was created. CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is software for storing customer data, automating, controlling and analyzing all processes of interaction. However, CRM is not just software. This is a whole business strategy, a special approach to business management, in which a client is placed at the forefront of the company's activities.

This strategy is aimed at improving eCommerce customer service as well as increasing the value of every consumer. A single customer base and a complete correspondence history with the clients along with the CRM powerful analytical tools allow you to keep your customers and develop business relations with them, as well as attract new customers.

Mistake 8. Intrusive ads

Our brain has learned how to ignore to-buy-offers. Today, the consumer is fenced off from intrusive advertising, excludes ads and banners from his information flows and feeds. Therefore, you should not overdo with the advertising mailing of all your customers whose email addresses are in your database. At best, your ad will be ignored. At worst, an obsessive list will irritate your client, and he will not cooperate further.

If you want your ad to have a positive effect, send it out to those users who have voluntarily agreed to receive such letters.

If you decide to send an e-mail newsletter, think about how often your emails will be sent. They advise sending letters no more than 1-2 per week. The content of these letters is also important. Offer your subscribers only useful content. Ideally, the newsletter should contain 95% of the benefits and only 5% of advertising. Such emails will be interesting to your customers and will certainly draw your clients’ attention.

For example, if you are selling healthy foods, send a description of the nutrients that are part of your product and how they help a body cope with the heat, cold, flu, etc.

Сonclusions

Above we’ve told you about how to avoid mistakes in eCommerce customer service that we’ve personally experienced. The main thing is to see them and fix in time. And it is also very important to understand that making mistakes is okay. We all make mistakes and sometimes we do not notice them. Be attentive to your clients and their behavior on your site. Your customers’ activity analysis is the best characteristic of customers’ satisfaction as well as your service.

If you still have some questions, you can address them to our MakeBeCool team experts. We provide high-level customer service. You can contact us for advice or for helping customers or for organizing an effective business.

Meet Author.
Andrey Gadashevich

In 2010, Andrey founded MakeBeCool initially as a website development agency, but a discovery of the e-commerce world led to a complete retraining. With a newfound passion, he started collecting brand stories and case studies to empower e-commerce success. Beyond work, Andrey is a Lego Technic collector, a passionate snowboarder, runner, and fitness enthusiast. His active lifestyle extends to family time, where he shares his hobbies with his daughters.

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