At your customer's service: Websites with an advantage

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