Virtual Customers.

I have said that business is about the people you serve. But what if you sell your product or services over the Internet? After all, don’t your customers come to yor site, order and pay? If it was that simple, we would all be very wealthy.

Consumers will not part with their money, untill they are ceratin that the payment transaction is secure, that they can get their money back, should the produtc be defective and most importantly that they can pick up a phone and speak to a human on the other side of the line.

The design and layout of your site is very important. You have to have a easy to read Terms and Conditions that spells out very clearly your refund policy. Your customer should be allowed to browse your products without have to sign up first. When they are ready to buy, the sign up procedure should not be difficult and long, otherwise they will abandon the site and go elsewhere. But must important, they need to know that their payment is secure. Once they have paid you need to tell them how you are getting their purchase to them and when. Also you have to have proper contact detail on your site.

This is no different than buying from a brick and mortar store. You enter the shop, you browse until you find what you want to buy at a price that suits you. You go an pay. If the shop assistant take your credit card and disappears, you will start to get worried, not so?

So on line you have to make sure your customer is comfortable to go through all the pahses from chooisng a product to buying it.

Technorati

Just joined  Technorati Profile and claimed my blog with this code:- qpj6ac7.

Consumers will vote with their feet.

When you start to think of your customers as consumers, you will realize that they do not have to accept bad service. They have the choice of going next door.! The sign of a successful business is word of mouth advertising and repeat customers. This is the holy grail that you aim for.

The Internet has made the world a smaller place. What we have seen on TV and in movies we are now able to expierance for ourselves. I can buy a book on Amazon.com whilst sitting in my living room here in South Africa, just as easily as I could buy the same book from Kalahari.net locally. Buying from one store and not the other, is my right as a consumer.

It is your job to to tempt me to buy at your store and not elsewhere. Once you get me in to your shop, you have to make the expeirajnce so fantatic that I would not be tempetd to go elsewhere.

It’s a matter of respect!

The first time that you deal with someone, do not, I repeat, do not call them by the first name. It shows a complete lack of respect. It is up to the client to allow you to use their first name.

Business today has in fact become very casual around the use of titles. Whilst people have become less formal and most do not mind you calling them by their first name, you cannot assume that the person you are dealing with would not prefer you  to use their title. After all, most of us would never refer to our teachers, professors or even our perants by their first names. So show you clients the same respect.

Another Lesson Learned

Another thing that was hammered into me, was:- “Cross Referance Everything!”

Don’t Drop Dead!

Never believe that you are not replaceable. Whilst it may be difficult for a company to replace you, no one is irreplaceable.

So another lesson I learned when I started to work was to keep proper records. Make sure that if you are not a work tomorrow, a colleague can pick up the file and carry on from where you left off with little or no difficulty.

After all, if you have to deal with an absent collegues client, would you not expect the same courtesy.

The Business Files – Welcome

Whether you work for an employer or for yourself,  how you conduct yourself in business affects how successful you are.  It is actually that simple.

We are currently in a world wide recession, and yet there are companies that remain successful and have not been forced to retrench.  Why are they able to succeed where others fail? What is the secret?

There are many reasons why some companies succeed where others fail, the quality of their product, their pricing, their service even their location can affect their success. But there is one factor that can make or break a company today – and that is the human factor.

Today, when it is possible to conduct your affairs virtually, using a computer and an Internet connection, why do brick and mortar stores still thrive? Simple man is a social creature and we need to connect with other people. So, no matter how much we use the Internet to connect and do business, we still need to get out and connect with other people.

Welcome to the Business File, where I hope to help you succeed. All I ask is you read what I have written with an open mind. Challenge it, see what works for you.