When the
Internet craze first started, many companies created Web sites because a lot
of other companies had them. They felt it was important to show they were
keeping up with technology. But when they created their sites, many companies
didn’t ask themselves what they wanted them to do.
Take note! Every month, more
of your customers make the decision to use the Internet for shopping,
gathering information, travel, continuing education and improving their lives.
Is it easy for customers to communicate and do business with you via your Web
site? Is your site an effective marketing tool where customers can establish
service and buy other products and services you offer? Or is it one of those
sites that were created just because?
Here are some ideas that will
turn your Web site into an effective marketing tool and a cyberspace
destination.
Wow customers with online
accounts.
Your CSRs take calls on a regular basis from customers who have questions
about their bills. Give customers access to their accounts 24 hours a day
through your Web site and cut the time your CSRs spend taking these calls.
Empower your customers to answer their own questions.
Wow them again with online payments.
To make it easy for customers to do business with you, set up online bill
paying that accepts credit and debit cards. More and more consumers prefer
this as a payment method. Customers can pay you 24 hours a day without leaving
their home.
Reduce complaint calls for
energy utilities.
During winter and summer, energy utilities receive calls from
customers complaining about the cost of their gas or power usage. Add an area
to your Web site that gives customers ideas on how to reduce energy
consumption. Make it easy for them to do a self-audit of their energy usage.
Educate them on the amount of energy that different appliances consume. Your
Web site should be a source of information to help customers conserve and
reduce their bills.
Reduce complaint calls for
telecos.
Customers complaining about high phone bills may just be lacking information
about their bill or may be misunderstanding their bills. Provide samples of
your bills complete with explanations. Oftentimes prorating for new customers
is a mystery on their first phone bill.
Check your customers’ pulse.
Customers are dying to tell you what they think. Add a button to your site
that gives customers a way to share their opinions. Send a brief e-mail survey
after hookup of new service or after each repair order is completed.
Ask customers to rate their
satisfaction with quality and speed of the service. Let them offer suggestions
on what you could do to improve the customer-service, sales or repair
experience. Don’t forget to provide an immediate response to their feedback.
There are a number of Internet tools that make it easy for utilities to get
feedback from their customers. One of those is at
www.zoomerang.com.
Product promotion. Promote all of
your services and products on your Web site. Put your pricing on your
website. If consumers are using your website for further education, give them
all of the information they need.
Run Web-promotion specials to test how
effectively your site sells products. Your site should be a successful way to
promote products to your customers.
Make searching easy.
Sites with lots of
information can be difficult to navigate as customers look for answers to
questions. Create a search function on your home page where customers
type a word in a box and end up with a number of possible matches. This makes
it easy for them to find what they’re looking for.
Let’s chat.
Online customer service
is a simple way for site visitors to “chat” with someone from your company via
computer. It allows live interaction with customers while they visit your
site. There are a number of companies that provide online customer-service
software. Human Click at www.humanclick.com and Live Helper at
www.liveperson.com are two that can help.
Create a list of frequently
asked questions (FAQs).
Your CSRs answer the same questions countless times. Put the most common
questions on the Web site with the answers. Suddenly, your customers can get
answers to simple questions any time they want. This can also prove to be a
valuable tool for your employees to help in those situations where they may be
unfamiliar.
Make fast response a
priority.
If a customer called your company and left a voice mail message, you wouldn’t
wait 24 hours to call them back. A Web site inquiry from a customer should be
responded to immediately. Customers want quick feedback. Send test e-mails to
continually check your company’s response to inquiries.
Test load time.
How many times
have you gone to a site and had trouble getting it to load? See how fast it
takes your site to load from a 28k modem. Many of your customers have
high-speed Internet access but plenty still use dial-up service. Graphics are
visually pleasing, but if it takes 20 to 30 seconds for a page to load, your
customers may become frustrated.
Forget flash, cool graphics.
Customers
aren’t interested in flash technology or great graphics. They want quick
answers to their questions. From your home page, customers should find the
answer to any question in three clicks or less.
Testimonials rock!
Post those great
customer-service testimonials. People visiting your site for the first time
can read what other satisfied customers have to say about your products and
services.
Track results.
You’ve spent thousands of
dollars building and marketing your Web site. Do you track the results of your
investment? Purchase software to track your Web activity so you will know
where your visitors come from, how much time they spend at your site and if
they come back. Such software can be found at
www.webtrends.com.
Look at your Web site
through the eyes of new or existing customers. Is it rich with information
that answers any question a customer might have about establishing service?
Does it explain the benefits of your other products? It may be time to ask
yourself if your Web site meets your customers’ needs.
MEASURE-X
6227 North 15th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85014
888-644-5499
www.measure-x.com
The Customer Service Training Experts!
