This is a guest post from Keith Barrett at Offer UK

If you sell your products and services online then you may feel somewhat distant from your customers. To some extent, that’s a natural by-product of the way in which online selling often works.

It’s not like having your own physical store, where you may see individual customers on a regular basis and will probably find it easier to strike up a good relationship with them.

Despite this, it is perfectly possible to provide your customers with what they want when you are selling online. As ever, the key to running a successful business is to ensure that you maintain a high level of customer service. This is the best way to guarantee that customers will keep returning to your online store.

When it comes to the internet, you need to think about how potential customers will react from the moment that they arrive at your website.

You should be aiming to create a site that is professional, that’s easy to navigate around and where everything is transparent.

In particular, you should obviously provide a secure payment facility and also make sure that you make it clear that you have done so. Ensure that you don’t hide any costs – be up front about how much it will cost for you to deliver items, for example. Customers like honesty – they don’t want to feel that you’re holding back any information.

If you have a great deal to offer then certainly make the most of it. Many people associate internet shopping with cost savings, so there’s no harm in demonstrating that they can save by shopping online at your store. Just make sure that you avoid making any false claims. Again, the key here is to be honest and transparent.

What about when it comes to customer contact? Some internet stores like to deal with all contact by email. Although this is certainly possible, you really need to think carefully about how you deal with such emails.

You should certainly always try to reply as quickly as you possibly can. Make sure that your replies are always professional and informative. You should try to avoid standard, automated responses. It can be absolutely infuriating to receive emails of this nature and you certainly don’t want to annoy your customers.

Keeping your customers happy is all about being professional, efficient, honest and transparent. If you stick to these basic principles then you won’t go far wrong.

Author’s Bio:
Keith Barrett takes a keen interest in consumer issues. He writes about shopping and discount codes for Offer UK, a leading consumer website.

People that have expressed an interest in you in the past may no longer care about you nor want to hear from you.

This may be sad, but it is still true.

What should you do with these prospective customers?

Talk to them.

I recently got an email from TripAdvisor.com where I has signed up to receive notifications about a trip to Chile:

Still thinking about that trip to Santiago, Chile?

We’ve been sending you e-mails about Santiago, Chile for a while. Are you still interested?

Wherever you’re hoping to go, TripWatch can bring you the best deals and reviews. Add new places and drop the places you’re no longer interested in.

This email helped do two things:

1. Made me think if I still wanted to get these emails.

2. Let me know how I could change my preferences if needed.

In this Trip Advisor case, they were sending me regular emails with updates about Chile. If I had changed my mind about that destination, I would have started to ignore their emails or could possibly mark them as spam.

Either of those actions is damaging to the relationship.

By sending an email specifically asking if I was still interested, it reopens the conversation and allows the customer to select the course of action he or she most wants.

If you have prospective customers that haven’t purchased from you or interacted with you in some time, reopen the conversation to see if they are still interested.

I’m looking for some guest bloggers to share their experiences and lessons here on ReturnCustomer.com.

Your post could be about anything business-related, be it marketing, customer service, e-commerce, best practices, etc.

I only ask that your post be unique to ReturnCustomer.com.

You can include a byline with your post with links back to your blog or site if you wish.

For two examples of previous guest posts on Return Customer, see:

5 Ways to Better Treat Your Customers

5 Ways to Win New Customers and 10 Ways to Keep Them

(Yes, those are both lists but you don’t have to write a list post if you don’t want.)

If you are interested in being a guest blogger and writing a post for ReturnCustomer.com, please let me know.

Thanks!

The science fiction movie 2010 had the subtitle “The Year We Make Contact”.

This new year, 2010, needs to be the year your business makes contact with your customers.

Step 1: Observe Your Customers

One of the most eye opening experiences you can have is to observe your customers using your product or doing business with you.

Take some time to watch your customers and see how they interact with you and your products. The simple act of observation will highlight points of confusion, frustration, and wasted time that currently plague your business processes.

Step 2: Ask Your Customers

Ask your customers what they think of you. Find out why they decided to do business with you. Perhaps you can survey them in mass, or interview them individually.

Step 3: Listen to Your Customers

When asking for feedback, you’ll need to listen to understand. Don’t jump to conclusions, interrupt, or start day dreaming.

If you are having a conversation with customers, ask clarifying questions. With one-way communication, like a survey, re-read answers to get a better understanding of the intended meaning.

Step 4: Take Action

Compile the insights you’ve collected and then make an action plan. What needs to change? What do you need to stop doing? What should you start doing?

Acting on customer feedback and suggestions gives you a great springboard to jump ahead in your business. Take advantage of the opportunity!