Managing Your Ecommerce Customer Service

Updated July 9, 2008

Differentiating your online company from your competition may come down to one critical factor: customer service. In fact, it's a company's superior customer service features that tip the balance for most customers when they choose one online merchant over another. And e-commerce is universally responding.

Look around the net. Increasingly, online businesses are positioning themselves on the web not in terms of market share, but in terms of 'customer share'. This means that building strong customer loyalty and forming for-life customer relationships is now a priority on the net. To this end, intensive online customer-care strategies are being launched, with services directed toward guaranteeing customer satisfaction and long-term partnerships.

Finding out who your customers are and what they need, and implementing a customer service plan that can meet all their needs is essential.

However, customer service may take many forms in today's expanding e-commerce universe. It may begin with providing reasonable return policies or fast and reliable delivery. A quick response time to customer inquiries and support requests - via e-mail or telephone - is also central to a customer-service platform. Ensuring satisfaction may include implementing a live customer-care telephone service, or at least providing a human face to online troubleshooting and support functions. Also, promote your customer-care package - show shoppers how you can guarantee increased convenience, outstanding customer support, and sincere customer service follow-up.

Another facet of online customer-care involves creating a sense of community between you and your customers. Here, the strategy is: be interactive. Open a dialogue. Use email and private mailing lists to stay in touch with customers; follow up on purchases and ensure satisfaction; ask for suggestions about products and ways to streamline service; offer newsletter subscriptions detailing new products and promotions. Most importantly, solicit advice from your customers and involve them in company decision-making. In this way, customer loyalty is gained and maintained.

But the result of a strong customer-care program is not only longevity: if over 90% of online shoppers view superior customer-service to be an important factor when choosing an online business, then a serious customer-service strategy should be high on your company agenda.