Improving Your ecommerce Customers’ Experiences Tips for providing your customers with excellent customer service Customer Service: It’s a Big Deal 89% of consumers have quit doing business with a company after a bad customer service experience according to a 2011 RightNow Customer Experience Impact Report. This statistics shows just how important customer service can be. Your company’s customer service can greatly alter your company’s sales and reputation. In fact, customers are twice as likely to tell others about their bad customer service experiences instead of their good experiences, according to the 2012 Global Customer Service Barometer. It is easy to see why your company needs to make customer service one of its top priorities, especially when doing business online. Customer Service Challenges that ecommerce Faces While ecommerce does have many advantages over brick-and-mortar shopping, one area that can be a challenge is customer service. Being able to interact with a salesperson and ask questions can be very helpful to the customer. Unfortunately, that in-person interaction can be lost when selling items online. However with the right tools, your ecommerce business can provide excellent customer service for your online shoppers. Customer Service and Support Channels While ecommerce shopping may take away the need for a cashier, 83% of online shoppers still need some kind of support to complete an online purchase, according to a LivePerson's Connecting with Consumers report. That same report found that the top three customer service resources that customers want are phone, email and live chat assistance. Customers also expect to receive help quickly. According to the same LivePerson report, 71% of consumers expect help within five minutes and 82% say having their issue fixed quickly is the main factor in a good customer service experience. These statistics show that it’s best to provide your customers with multiple customer support channels and to provide assistance as quickly as possible. Social Media: The New Customer Service Tool Another set of important channels not to be overlooked are social media sites. According to a survey done by Oracle in 2011, 46% of customers online expect companies to provide customer service via Facebook. Consumers also expect to be tweeted back on Twitter. One of the worst things a company can do, besides being rude, is not responding on social media at all. 88% of consumers said they are less likely to buy from a company that leaves complaints unanswered on their social media sites according to a survey by Conversocial. It is wise to have a customer service agent assigned to handle any issues or complaints that are posted on your company’s Facebook page or tweeted to your company. CRM: All Your Customer Interactions in One Place No matter what channel or combination of channels a customer chooses to use, they expect to have an excellent customer service experience. According to a survey by Synthetix, 9 out of 10 people expect consistent customer service across multiple channels. This means that the information about the customer, their purchases, and interactions need to be easily available to your employees. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software makes that possible. Most CRM software allows your customer service team to access and add information about your customers, enabling everyone to be on the same page. The software allows you to track interactions with customers allowing your team to effectively answer any questions the customer may have and help them fix any problems that they are experiencing. CRM software is one of the best ways to give your customer support team the assistance they need to turn any customer’s experience into a great one. Clarity Can Help Our team at Clarity understands how important an effective CRM solution is for great customer service. For years, we have helped integrate CRM software for companies. Our ecommerce platform integrates seamlessly with your CRM. To find out more about Clarity CRM can take your customer service to the next level, call or click to contact us today!