Small Office, Home Office Information

Home

Article Index

Personal Service Pays Off For Small Business

Even on the Internet

One of the most attractive aspects of dealing with a small business, from the client’s point of view, is that they get personal service. The person they deal with when the come into the store or contact the business is usually someone who is a personal stake in the success of that business. Clients understand that and they appreciate the extra level of customer service that they get.

Yet so many small businesses who operate on the Internet don’t seem to understand that. The people behind those businesses see the Internet as impersonal and so there is no need to interact with their clients. They don’t understand that even in the seemingly impersonal world of the Internet customers still like to receive that personal touch.

A few months ago I was talking with a guy from England who runs an online jewellery store and we were discussing ways that he could actively encourage repeat customers. I suggested that he install Skype – a free Internet telephone system. Skype would allow any of his customers who were also Skype users to contact him from anywhere in the world for free.

His immediate response was to shudder and reject the idea immediately. He didn’t want to talk to any of his customers, he didn’t want to offer a personalised service, he just wanted them to buy his wares without any interaction on a personal level.

Yet we have always been prepared to pick up the phone and talk with our clients. Much of our work comes to us via email and instant messaging systems and we too could avoid talking to anyone if we chose to but we don’t.

Talking to someone on the phone or face to face adds an extra dimension to our business. We deal with real people and they appreciate it when we treat them like real people. And we’re not the only ones who find that even though our business is based in the impersonal world of the Internet adding a persona aspect to the business pays dividends.

Tom Wyckoff of EquipmentBag.com, a relatively new entrant into the competitive online sports equipment market, says, "We put the phone number at the top of the website so people could talk to us, not just to try to prove we were a real company". Mr. Wyckoff answers questions, personally monitors the online orders and reviews each on before sending it off to the warehouse.

"If I think the computer has screwed up or the customer's order looks unusual, I will pick up the phone and call the customer. Not long ago, an overlooked little bit of code charged a customer over $100 for shipping a dozen small items and I looked at it and decided that was not right. I called the customer, who was shocked to hear from anyone and told him of the mistake. I offered him a refund or $75 worth of free products from our website. He was thrilled and picked out the extra merchandise".

EquipmentBag.com is growing at an excellent rate and it's not due to a huge ad budget. Relying on old-fashioned service, solid value and word of mouth advertising is pulling them to the top of the heap. "It's not the hard way, it's the right way", says Wyckoff.

So don’t be fooled and think that you can hide from your customers just because your business is Net based. Picking up the phone and actually talking to them can make your business stand out from the crowd.

|