Customer service in online selling –an oxymoron?
Some people are sure to frown at this title, because it seems kind of contradiction in terms. Some others are likely to dismiss it, asking if there is such a thing as customer service in ecommerce. Where is the scope forcustomer service in ecommerce? How on earth is customer service imaginable in a business in which the customer is faceless and whom the business never gets to see?
Customer service is indispensable for ecommerce
Anyone asking these questions betrays perhaps the highest ignorance about ecommerce. It is often thought, terribly wrongly, that the ecommerce software does all the work that salesmen are supposed to. There could perhaps be no greater misconception about ecommerce. In fact, if there is one space in which customer service is as critical an aspect of business as say marketing, it is the online space. The logic for this is simple –it is only because of ecommerce that you see the invisible customer who is all the more difficult to please and retain!
Customer service starts much before the sale happens
So, how does an ecommerce business carry out customer service? What are the aspects of business that require customer service? In an offline business, if customer service starts when a product is sold, in the ecommerce industry, it starts much earlier. It starts with tracking a potential customer and answering questions about the product, all of which happen much before the product. Here is how –customer service starts with phone calls to the customer who has shown an interest for a product. The next stages, namely emailing and ensuring that the product is to the exact specifications of the customer request also require customer service. The exact way in which the shipping was requested for has to be fulfilled, which also is another important aspect of customer service.
Post sale customer service
Customer service does not end in ecommerce with selling the product. After this is done, the customer has to be serviced. After the product is shipped, the sales team has to make sure the product consignment was fine and that it reached the right person in the address provided. This is normally never the case with offline selling, because these businesses need not worry where the buyer takes the product! When there are returns, customer service is required. This is how customer service is an extremely crucial aspect of ecommerce.
Some people are sure to frown at this title, because it seems kind of contradiction in terms. Some others are likely to dismiss it, asking if there is such a thing as customer service in ecommerce. Where is the scope forcustomer service in ecommerce? How on earth is customer service imaginable in a business in which the customer is faceless and whom the business never gets to see?
Customer service is indispensable for ecommerce
Anyone asking these questions betrays perhaps the highest ignorance about ecommerce. It is often thought, terribly wrongly, that the ecommerce software does all the work that salesmen are supposed to. There could perhaps be no greater misconception about ecommerce. In fact, if there is one space in which customer service is as critical an aspect of business as say marketing, it is the online space. The logic for this is simple –it is only because of ecommerce that you see the invisible customer who is all the more difficult to please and retain!
Customer service starts much before the sale happens
So, how does an ecommerce business carry out customer service? What are the aspects of business that require customer service? In an offline business, if customer service starts when a product is sold, in the ecommerce industry, it starts much earlier. It starts with tracking a potential customer and answering questions about the product, all of which happen much before the product. Here is how –customer service starts with phone calls to the customer who has shown an interest for a product. The next stages, namely emailing and ensuring that the product is to the exact specifications of the customer request also require customer service. The exact way in which the shipping was requested for has to be fulfilled, which also is another important aspect of customer service.
Post sale customer service
Customer service does not end in ecommerce with selling the product. After this is done, the customer has to be serviced. After the product is shipped, the sales team has to make sure the product consignment was fine and that it reached the right person in the address provided. This is normally never the case with offline selling, because these businesses need not worry where the buyer takes the product! When there are returns, customer service is required. This is how customer service is an extremely crucial aspect of ecommerce.
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