Quality customer service is the lifeblood of any business. 
If you understand that it costs more to find a customer than it does to keep one then you will appreciate the importance of good, quality customer care.
Unfortunately, with the rapid rise of so many online businesses it has become apparent that the focus has turned to pleasing the search engines as opposed to pleasing the customer. Consequently, good online customer service has dropped.
I'm not disregarding the importance of good search engine optimization but what good is high search engine ranking if you can't provide your customer with the service and support they need? You may have found a visitor but did you gain a customer?
Your online business goals should be about offering quality information, speed, convenience and customer care. Lose any one of those elements and you will lose potential business. Your visitors want to find up-to-date information fast, they want to immediately understand what your site is offering them, they want fast solutions, easy navigation and they want good service. You must be able to respond quickly to questions, emails and put products in their hands fast.
Here are several customer service tips that will impress any customer and keep them coming back for more.
1. Build your site and services with your customer in mind.
Keep your focus on the customer, not the search engines. Develop an "attitude" of good customer service by creating a site that that has your visitor in mind.
To do this, be clear about what you're offering and what your site is about. Great content doesn't mean much if your visitors if they can't find it, so strive to organize your site with titles and headings that are clear and descriptive with information that is logically organized and structured. If you have a call to action such as a newsletter sign-up or special contest, don't be afraid to instruct your visitor to participate.
2. Keep the ordering process simple and easy to use.
If a customer runs into even the slightest problem when ordering from your site or becomes confused by the process they'll leave and go somewhere else. When setting up your order process consider all possibilities of questions, problems and issues that a customer might encounter. Eliminate all possibilities of confusion.
3. Do appropriate follow-up
Immediately following order placement, send your customer a confirmation email thanking them for their order. When the order has shipped, your customer should receive a second e-mail stating that the product has shipped.
Solicit your services should they have questions or problems. Also keep your customers aware of new offerings via e-mail (but only with their permission). You'll give them additional value without their having to return to your site.
4. Exceed customer expectations
If your policy states that orders are received with in 5-7 business days, try to achieve deliveries in 3-4 business days. It's always pleasurable to receive something sooner than you had anticipated, not to mention, your reputation will have just jumped ten-fold.
5. State your guarantees, shipping and refund policies clearly
Make it easy for your customers to return items. If you sell tangible items that require shipping, include simple things like return labels that make returns or exchanges easy. Always provide shipping costs prior to checkout instead of surprising your buyer with shipping costs upon payment. Make clear your guarantee or money back policies so there are no surprises for your customer.
Always provide addresses and working phone numbers of your business. You never want your customer to place an online order, have a problem, then call a phone number that gets no response or call back. That's a sure way to create customer frustration and give you a bad reputation. Small things like these go a long way with helping reduce customer risk and encourage sales.
6. Utilize live-help capabilities
Not everyone will utilize the services of live help, however just the ability to have a conversation with a live representative makes the shopping experience more satisfying and helps the customer feel more secure. Even though credit card security has much improved over the past few years, many people still feel more comfortable providing credit card information to a live person instead of an online form.
It's also a good idea to keep in mind that human interaction can increase profits as well because a live person can effectively cross-sell and up-sell to your customer.
7. Provide a FAQ's section on your website
Did you know that more than 80% of all customer questions are usually answered by just 20% of a support knowledge base? A frequently asked questions page on your website will answer their questions before they ask them by allowing your customers to be self-serving while saving you time and money.
8. Provide a simple search engine on your site
Most internet users prefer using a site search engine as opposed to browsing through pages and links to find what they need. A convenience web surfers always appreciate.
9. Let your customers rate you and your site
Ask your customers to complete a simple customer service survey. Keep the survey quick and simple and allow for comments. Take careful note of what your customers say and work to make improvements accordingly. This is also good customer satisfaction information that you will want to provide your new visitors with.
In case you haven't heard this before, "Customers Make Paydays Possible". So keeping that in mind, strive to provide them with what they're looking for, work hard to keep them happy and most importantly, get their input and make changes accordingly
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