It’s old news by now that shoppers go online for the convenience. Making information difficult or time-consuming to find is a sure way to lose customers quickly; shopper uncertainty kills conversion because shoppers want information to be readily and easily accessible.
This is especially true for customer support. If a customer needs help and can’t find an answer easily and quickly on your website, they will take their questions – and their business – elsewhere. Here are five ways you can make it easy for customers to get the help they need when shopping your site.
1. Be upfront about shoppers’ biggest concerns
The best way to help your customers is to answer their questions before they even have to ask. Using our infographic, you can identify the biggest shopper objections for your industry, and make sure you address them openly for customers. For example, don’t make customers search for your shipping costs when they’re shopping, and definitely make sure they can see their shipping costs before they have to check out – nobody likes surprise fees!
Future Shop provides links to information about shipping, pick-up options, and their Price Beat Promise right near the top of their homepage (outlined in green below):
If customers don’t even have to ask, they’ll be that much happier.
2. Email
You might include an email link for customers to send you their questions and concerns, or you could opt to have a contact form instead. Either choice is fine, although some customers are adamant about preferring one over the other. For that reason, it might be best to have both as an option.
Contact forms do have the benefit of allowing customers to opt in to join your mailing list, and they aren’t susceptible to spam the way a live email link is. Vie Digital has a convincing take on the perks of contact forms over email.
3. Live Chat
One of the best ways to answer shoppers’ questions is with a live chat option. Live chat is set to take over as the top channel for customer service because of its ease and efficiency, so if you don’t have it set up on your website yet, now is the time to start.
Olark and Velaro are popular options, and they both let you see analytics and reports that can help you improve your business.
4. Social media
Many customers today are opting to address their questions for a company directly on social media – it’s convenient and gives them a public voice that can’t be ignored. As this is a public platform, make sure you deal with customers’ concerns and questions politely and with the sincere assurance that you are working to fix their problem.
5. Phone number
Just because your business is online doesn’t mean you should abandon other methods of communication – namely the good ol’ telephone. Sometimes, a customer just wants a conversation with a real, live customer service agent who can help them out. That’s why having a customer hotline can be invaluable to your business.
And don’t try to hide your phone number at the bottom of your contact page. You want to make sure a customer isn’t stuck searching for the most convenient way to get in touch with you – because if they have to work for it, they likely just won’t bother.
