Service Starts Before the Sale


A well-designed storefront that sells instead of entertains is the first step in providing customer service before the sale. Here, we consider some of the most important elements of your site that are geared to lead a shopper to a buying decision.

First, there should be no more than two to three clicks from the product offering to checkout. Don't give a long song and dance about a product without having a Buy button prominently displayed. This is important to keep in mind when you customize your Yahoo! store because you might get carried away with the freedom of customizing your page design.

Second, give some thought to your Order Confirmation page, which usually ends the checkout process. Most storefronts lead buyers through the purchase processand then push them out the door! Amazon's Order Confirmation page is a good example of one that is useful: It is also a recycling page of sorts that gives buyers some additional cross-selling offers, a chance to comment, a way to review their account, and a history of current and past orders. In effect, Amazon's page actually pulls buyers back into the storefront to entice them to buy some more. Have more than just an Exit button on your Order Confirmation page. Be creative. What other choices can you give the shopperwho is in a buying moodto purchase again, right then and there?

Third, have a comprehensive set of Customer Care FAQs (frequently asked questions) on your storefront. As explained before, this is your chance to remove as many objections to buying your product, or buying from you, as you can. Customer Care FAQs list the most common answers to customer service questions. They not only list customer service policies, but they also delve into the most common customer service problems and how to solve them. Link to your FAQs from your home page: A well-written FAQ will be one of your most popular pages, so make it easy to find. Link the answers to your questions to other pages on your site, where appropriate, such as a map to your offices or links to the products mentioned in your answers.

Finally, offer a First-Time Visitor orientation. Picture this: A first-time visitor comes to your website. This visitor came with a shopping list in hand and wants to make a purchase. What can you do to make this shopper feel comfortable enough to buy from you?

Here's how:

Create a First-Time Visitor icon and place it very visibly on your home page. This is a great way to welcome new visitors and give them a feeling that help is just a mouse click away. The icon brings them to a First-Time Visitor page that contains a brief description of the customer service they can expect when they buy from your web store. RM Carspares (www.rmcarspares.co.uk/docs/first.html) has a good example of a First-Time Visitor page (see Figure 19.1). For instance, you might provide your customer service email address, toll-free customer service phone number, fax number, and customer service hours. Include your customer satisfaction guarantees and return policies. Tell shoppers how their order will be handledhow fast their order will ship, how you will confirm their order, when the order will be shipped, and how to track the order after it has shipped. Also provide a link to your FAQs about your products and services, and tell shoppers that you have a secure site where they can use their credit card without fear.

Figure 19.1. RM Carspares invites the first-time visitor with a User's Guide to the site.


Finally, direct shoppers to the fastest way to place an order on your site, such as a list of specials and popular items for first-time customers, or the product or service directory page of your Web store. If executed properly, your first-time visitors will get a nice warm and fuzzy feeling about your Web store and will feel secure enough to make that first purchase.




Succeeding At Your Yahoo! Business
Succeeding At Your Yahoo! Business
ISBN: 0789735342
EAN: 2147483647
Year: N/A
Pages: 208

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