“Just because your have an eCommerce store doesn’t mean you’re exempt from having a customer service department.”
I don’t know how many times I’ve told online store owners that over the years. Some agree with me while others are steadfast in their belief that customer service shouldn’t exist in the online world.
I got fired up on this topic again after reading a post in one of the forums I frequent. In response to asking if it was acceptable to use voice mail to take messages from customers, someone responded by saying, “Not at all.. with pricing what it is today.. people get a greeting saying we no longer accept orders by phone.”
Bang head here.
You no longer accept orders by phone? Are you kidding me?
The poster went on to say, “Can you call Netflix? Sometimes it makes no sense to take phone calls… sure, I lose out every now and then but it is what it is. That’s the prices you demand to pay, that is the service you get. (sounds bad, I know but welcome to the web).”
Yes, you can call Netflix. The number is right on their website and here it is for future reference – 1-877-742-1480.
And by the way, they answer the phone 24-7.
I can’t come up with one example of when it doesn’t make sense to take phone calls. Customer service departments get calls from customers asking questions about a product, looking for information on how to return an item, asking for their package tracking number and believe it or not – to place an order (aka SPEND MONEY).
If you’re not there to answer a question about a product, the customer is going to move on to your competition. If I were calling in and the auto attendant told me, “sorry, we don’t take orders by phone,” I would be very leery of even placing an order online.
Using the “price you pay equals the service you get” excuse doesn’t cut it with me. Hiring a part-time person or two to answer calls from potential and existing customers can easily be made up by the number of orders those people are going to take versus the ones you’re going to lose. Same can be said for outsourcing calls to a call center.
I have a hard time buying into excuses for providing sub-par or no customer service. If you’re in business, take customer service seriously or get out. Customers who are willing to give you their hard earned money deserve to be able to talk to someone on the phone if they need to.
I would love to be this customer’s competitor, because you can bet that I would promote the hell out of how my store offers superior customer service and would prominently display the phone number on my website.
You work awfully hard to build your business, market it and hope that people will come in and buy. Why would you limit the opportunity to be successful just because you don’t want to deal with phone calls.
Makes no sense to me.