customer service

Customer Service as a Sales Promotion Device

Selling with Customer Support
Now that is an interesting concept isn't it?
Some companies do use their customer service reputation to make sales, and they are very successful with it. Very few online businesses use their customer care as a method of generating sales and this leaves the door wide open for you to pick up extra sales.

Why Does Good Customer Care Increase Sales?
A recent report showed that 73% of online purchases are aborted at the payment point. Think about that. Imagine a super-market where hundreds of people where shopping and putting their goods into the cart but then when they get to the checkout a whopping 73%, dropped the purchases and walked out!

That would cause a massive investigation, customer surveys, and improvement in customer care to bring that figure down. So what about online businesses, why the high purchase-abort rate?.

The surveys from internet marketing have been done, it is known that there is a problem with consumer trust, that consumer care is lacking, and yet how many online businesses are addressing the problem?
The answer is, very few. But those that are, get the rewards.

This is the reason why using online customer support as a sales promotion tactic has such huge potential to reel in those aborted sales. The increase in sales is going to come from these "easy pickings". These aborted sales represent low handing fruit, easy to harvest. Compared to bringing in new visitors and converting them, this is an easier, more effective area to make sales.

Those customers that dropped the sales still have an unsatisfied demand for the product. the problem is, they did not feel confident enough (about your website) to place the order. They want the product, but you did not provide the reassurance needed. The customere needs to know that value them, that you will look after them. They need to know that if they have a problem with the product, or a comlaint, that you will give them support - even refund the money if necessary.

How and Where to Demonstrate Your Customer Care
Your customer support is no longet something that you should hide away. You need to use it to provide that reassurance right when and where it is needed. That time and place is when the customer has decided to make the purchase. When the customer is on your sales page and is keen to get the product, part of them, the cautious part, is looking for a reason not to buy. The other part of them, though, is wanting to get your product and is looking for answers that over rule that cautious side.

When the buyer side sees your customer support Trust Seal, they have their answer to the cautious side. If they want to, they can click on the image and see that you are a reliable "Approved" and validated member.

The other valuable place to position your Trust Seal is on the front page of your website. This means that whenever a customer visits your website, they are immediately reminded that you place emphasis on customer service.
Now, in their eyes: You can be trusted.