Relationship Marketing : Managing Customer Services Online

With many firms now operating solely online, managing customer services has become ever more challenging. However this does not mean it has become impossible. The needs of the online users are still the same. In fact online there are more ways for the customer to communicate with the firm. There are number of ways an online firm can try to manage customer services online. These include:

Responding to complaints by email. A firm should respond to written customer complaints within a reasonable time. If complaints are about a common issue then the online firm will know that this issue needs to be dealt with quickly before it has an impact on their reputation.

Web chat. To make the buying process over the internet feel more human, some firms are using webcam chat so customers can talk to sales persons online, to reassure the customer of their online purchase.

Delivery. Firms need to be able to deliver the product quickly at low cost or at no cost. Service levels by the customer will be judges on the basis of how quickly the product is delivered and whether the product has been secured well during postage.

Returns. One of the greatest apprehension of buying online, is worrying about what will happen if the product you purchase goes faulty, will it be easy to return it? Some firms allow users to manage their returns online by issuing a returns number and then picking up the damaged product free of charge. If this is done quickly and swiftly then the customers will feel more reassured about buying from the company.

Contact. Even thought the purchase is online the customer must feel that they can contact the firm. There should be a telephone number the customer can ring, if it is a small online firm and staffing is limited customers should be able to leave messages so they can be contacted back at a later stage.

Overall managing customers online does requires the firm to develop different strategies, however the outcome if done correctly as with an offline business, is loyalty, increased spend on the website and recommendation to friends.