Anatomy of a Stellar Ecommerce Page: Customer Service

As hard as we try, no company is perfect. At some point, you’ll have to address feedback from customers. If you’re lucky, most of that feedback is great, and you can use their testimonials as part of your social proof. Sometimes, however, your customers have a bone to pick. What do you do?

Don’t Hide Away

As tempting as it is to hide, you can’t avoid negative feedback forever. Some may forego including contact information on their website to cut down on the complaints. Others might include only a contact form, which placates the complainer but might not ever reach the company owner. However these companies avoid confrontation, one thing is clear: customers will be heard. If they can’t reach you to complain, they’ll share their experiences in public where others can see. That’s the last thing you want.

The best way to make sure you’re meeting all your customers’ needs is to create a Customer Service page. We use ModCloth as an example all the time, but dang if they don’t do everything right. Here in this image, you see a link for the Customer Care page located under the Help section. This link is on every page in the footer, where every other link can be found. No hiding here!

Offer Multiple Options

Not everyone is comfy using the phone to make customer service calls. Others won’t be happy with only a contact-form option. By giving buyers several different ways to reach you, you make the customer care process about them instead of you. They’ll love you for it.

This example shows options for email, calling, and engaging in chat. Because ModCloth also knows that some questions can be answered without the need for engagement, they also include some of the more popular FAQs right there where buyers can see them.

The FAQ List

Speaking of FAQs, let’s talk about those Frequently Asked Questions. Providing answers is one big way to impress prospects and possibly even convert casual visitors to customers. By anticipating their needs, identifying their pain points, and giving them the answers they seek, you create powerful brand advocates.

In addition to all of these great benefits, your FAQ page also gives you some valuable SEO. Imagine a consumer begins a search for a particular product but has no knowledge of your company. With their search engine requests, they’ll be led straight to your page because of the questions you answered on your FAQ page. That’s pretty powerful customer care, isn’t it? Answering questions buyers didn’t even know they had.

Helpful Links

You can also stop a problem before it begins by providing helpful links on your Customer Service page. Sometimes your buyers just need to know where to go to get the answers they need. If you don’t address something in your Frequently Asked Questions, it’s probably because you’ve covered that information somewhere else. All your customers need is an arrow pointing them in the right direction.

These links might include tutorials, size guides, how-to blogs, information about how to return or exchange items, and pricing for shipping. The more you share, the less likely your customers will be to encounter ugly surprises.

The Interactive Chat

Absolutely no one looks forward to spending chunks of his or her day on the phone with a customer service agent. In fact, they’re likely to avoid complaining to your company and instead take to a third-party review site, just so they can skip the incessant hold music.

Others may not have the privacy they need to make a phone call and prefer the ability to quietly share their experiences. Email is definitely one way to do this, but chat options let those buyers know someone will respond immediately. Chat also offers the benefit of interaction, which goes a long way toward smoothing ruffled feathers.

With these important features alongside the typical email address and phone number, you’ll show customers that you’re not hiding. They’ll appreciate your willingness to solve the problem and make them happy, and that just might mean fewer gripe sessions on third-party review sites. You’re welcome.

If you’re determined to take your ecommerce website to the next level, we’re here to help. With intensive knowledge about the best and brightest features needed on any ecommerce website, we’re poised to provide you with perfection.