Most eCommerce entrepreneurs channel their efforts into getting sales. But what happens after customers place their orders?
Post-sales communication in eCommerce should be as important as the other parts of the business. Customers may have last-minute requirements (or even change their delivery address!); want to know about missing, damaged, or delayed parcels; ask about last mile delivery solutions; or leave buyer feedback.
Want to perfect your store’s communication techniques? We’ve put together some tips on effectively communicating with your customers, especially during last-mile delivery (a.k.a. where everything that can go wrong will go wrong!).
1. Provide your customers with regular updates and reminders
According to the iPrice Group, the eCommerce delivery process includes an average of 4.6 consumer touchpoints. These touchpoints are golden opportunities for you to interact with your customers and increase your brand’s value to them.
Put in another way, you have about four chances to make the best possible impression during the delivery period. Don’t miss out on these opportunities—take advantage of these touchpoints to show customers that you care about their eCommerce experience.
Remember that for shoppers, convenience is key. They want to know where their purchases are, and unsuccessful deliveries are unacceptable. You can leverage this by providing constant reassurance that their parcels are on the way. Got track and trace delivery? Even better!
J&T Express offers Track & Trace Visibility, a feature that lets you check where your eCommerce parcels are at any point in time via the web-based tracking system. That’ll give your customers peace of mind, which in turn improves customer experience and loyalty.
2. Improve your average response time
These days, shoppers are used to getting what they want quickly, and that includes faster replies.
For example, 48% of the customers surveyed by Aircall for its 2019 eCommerce Customer Service Experience study got in touch with customer service to know about delivery status. Additionally, the majority (94%) expect a response from customer service via email within 24 hours, 35% want a reply via chat in 30-60 seconds, and 31% anticipate a response from a human customer service agent in one to two minutes.
So the rule for customer queries is: faster is better.
As important as it is to fix your customers’ issues when they come to you, it has to be done quickly. Timely and appropriate responses build customer trust and loyalty, bolstering customer satisfaction and boosting sales.
The time frames stated above can be tough to achieve, considering the seemingly endless stream of questions. Here are some tips you can follow to boost your response times:
- Build a robust knowledge base. Compile a centralised database containing relevant product and delivery information. This gives your customers access to information that can already answer their questions (e.g., user guides and how-tos, troubleshooting processes, a FAQ page) or forward them to your customer service staff for unique concerns.
- Set up automated replies. These inform customers that you have received their inquiries, and will respond soon. It’s not the exact and immediate answer they want, but automated acknowledgments offer assurance that their issue is not left unattended.
- Establish procedures. Whether you are working alone or with a team, having goals and guidelines in place is always better than working haphazardly. For example, in what order should customer queries be responded to: recency or importance? And what is an acceptable response time that the team should work toward across all communication channels?
3. Personalise your responses
Each time a customer has an enquiry, it is a sales opportunity—conversion, upselling, or repeat order. For greater customer satisfaction, you’d want to ace each interaction every time. And the most cost-effective way to do so is by personalising your responses.
First, introduce yourself. It’s common in customer service to address the customer by their first name. How about going a step further and using your own first name when responding to them? It builds trust and shows a sense of ownership in handling the customer’s predicament.
Also, use a sincere and friendly tone when talking to them. In every customer interaction, your team should strive to build an emotional connection with the customer.
It also helps to approach customer enquiries, even complaints, with a positive attitude. Even if you are denying their request, doing so in a polite manner will create a far superior customer experience than an automated reply.
4. Adopt tools and communication channels
As your eCommerce business grows, so should the quality of your customer service.
Open up different communication channels so your customers can contact you however they want, and to build omnichannel customer support. Some may prefer making phone calls to voice out their concerns, and others may choose the live chat feature. Being available on various channels lets you capture all customer frustrations and potentially turn these into positive interactions.
For larger eCommerce stores, investing in help desk software will be useful. When you are facing a large volume of customer queries, it can be challenging for your team to provide quality and timely service. Help desk platforms allow your team to handle customer queries more efficiently and shorten your average response time.
For instance, most software assign customer requests to specific staff or organise requests into categories. Another common feature is compiling customer requests from various channels into a shared inbox.
With the right software, your team is better equipped to provide quality customer support and build stronger relationships with your customers.
It’s your move
Managing an eCommerce store can be tough when having to perfect your services on all fronts, from sales and marketing to customer service. As an eCommerce seller, you can better manage customer expectations for delivery with a trusted eCommerce logistics service provider like J&T Express.
Our last mile delivery solutions make life easier for both you and your customers! You can choose between our Express and Economy Delivery Service, and get your parcels to shoppers seven days a week with our massive delivery fleet covering the entirety of Singapore.
You can also enjoy track and trace visibility with each eCommerce delivery, as well as a built-in Returns and Exchanges policy. We know these aspects are the most important to your customers, which means they are important to you, too.
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