At your customer's service: Websites with an advantage
BANDUNG (JP): You have just launched a brilliant marketing campaign, one that is worthy of many awards. You have convinced me that you have a good product. I want to do business with you! But first, being the Internet-empowered consumer that I am, I want to ask a few questions, so I visit the website mentioned in your ad. I quickly locate the feedback section, peck away at my keyboard and sit back to wait for your response. I never hear from you again.
Sadly, this continues to be a typical scenario, as survey after survey shows at least half of all companies, large or small, fail to respond to customer e-mails within a reasonable period of time, if at all.
However, times are changing. Think about the transformation that occurred with the typical customer, who turned into a digital activist. He constantly seeks interaction with you and compares you with your competitors in this regard.
Before you lure customers through the cycle of e-commerce, consider the following.
According to Forrester Research, Inc., (www.forrester.com) only 2 percent of website visitors actually buy anything, compared to 45 percent who visit downtown stores. Forrester further reveals that over 66 percent of online forms are abandoned before they are submitted. Thus, if your website receives 1,000 hits a day, only 20 visitors will buy your goods or service. That is it: 20 buyers representing the 34 percent of online forms processed. There are almost 59 visitors who have a shopping cart ready, but 39, or 66 percent, abandon their cart or leave purchase forms incomplete, the company said.
Customers can switch their allegiance on a whim by finding alternative products and sources of supply with a few mouse clicks. The web is supposed to be revolutionizing customer service. But in the end, there often is not a lot of service for the customer. Why is this? If you walked into a shop wishing to buy a medium to high-priced product and could not find a clerk to answer your questions, what would you do? You would go to another shop where you would get answers and make your purchase there.
This is what is happening on the Internet. You can offer your potential customers the level of service they require by incorporating RealCall (realcall.net) technology to provide fast communication between you and prospective clients.
Essentially, people want to do business with "people", not with passive website customer support. It is the basic human needs they are after. Clearly, your customers have spoken: they like the speed and efficiency of your website but when it comes to buying, they want to talk. Are you ready to listen?
Put a RealCall button on your site and your customers will know you are there for them whenever they need answers. They click. You call. It is that simple. And nobody does it better than RealCall, the leader in digital-to-human response. With Realcall Alert, you capture customers at the precise moment when their interest is at a peak. You got them to your website, they like what they see and now they want to talk. Realcall Alert is free to set up, with no contracts or commitments.
The solution is simple: Webmasters put a button on a web page that potential customers can press, request help on merchandise or place an order, and a live operator calls them within minutes. Shoppers can initiate a service call from a representative by filling out a form, supplying a phone number and describing what type of information they need.
The user can request an immediate call or request to be called after a specified period of time in case they need to finish their online session first. Once a service request is made, RealCall's system routes the request from its servers, which run on development partner Oracle Corp.'s databases and are hosted by Exodus Communications Inc., directly to a merchant's service center. Representatives then call the potential customer directly.
Calls may be invited from about 275 countries or, if you prefer, you can restrict them to your country only. The choice is yours. Your site may also state your office hours so that people will know when your phones are manned and when someone is available to call them back.
Customers who have queries about your goods or services will be able to have them answered immediately rather than wait for you to receive and deal with their e-mail request. If a customer has to wait hours, or days, for a reply to an e-mail, the interest may fade, or your rivals may step in and tie up the lead. You give your customers an additional route of contact to supplement your website. Those people who prefer live contact will be offered an option that other sites do not have. With one stroke, you have doubled the contact opportunities with your customers.
Let's face it, there are no points for e-commerce purity. You either generate the leads, please the customer, make the sale or you do not. Try the demonstration RealCall to call your phone number, or even your cell phone number to see how it works.
--Lim Tri Santosa