Can you teach an old dog new tricks?
I LOVE my customers, and really don't think of them as "old dogs". Although some of them have such great spirit that they would wear that definition with honor. They are full of fun, great to chat with, but God love 'em, many don't really trust the online order experience. Keeping in mind that my customers are women 50+, I am considering a "how to use this website" page. I have been wondering about this for a while, but I really don't see it done anywhere. This sounds simple and unnecessary, certainly not in this day and age, however, it just might be the ticket. Let me explain...
Yesterday, Lee Ann had a field trip with her daughter, so she wasn't home to answer the 1-800 phone. All day long I waited for orders to be placed, and nothing...until Lee Ann came home. Once she did, she checked the phone, returned calls and all of a sudden the orders started coming in...placed by Lee Ann. Now, let me be clear, we are not complaining about the orders on the phone, but how can I close the gap with this learning curve, and how can I make my customers more at ease about placing that order online vs. picking up the phone! You have to understand also, that our frustration is compounded by the fact that for every message, there are two or more hangups, because no one wants to leave a message on a 1-800 phone voicemail. I get that, it's just not very professional to not answer it if you have it.
Since we both are stay at home moms, we are in and out all day running errands, dropping kids and picking them up from school, soccer, swimming, etc. However, with summer around the corner that changes substantially, and our work day swings more to the evening hours than the daytime. So this is a pretty pressing issue for me, and it takes many forms.
First of all, I need to ease these women into placing their order online. I need to make them trust the online experience. I have already posted my better busines bureau certificate. Do I add online incentives? Can I give them peace of mind by giving them an instruction page? I'm not so sure. Secondly, we have to set up an answering service, which Lee Ann is doing today. That's not such a big deal for the amount of time we are talking about. We have a local small company that will do it for less than $100/month, with a small startup fee.
Once my bases are covered, I'd like to think that we'll lose less orders. I've said this before, and I believe it. Orders online are 'reactive'. When our salemail goes out, our customers click in to the product, and they order it immediately. It's not like a catalog, where you may ponder it, and put it aside. If I lose that momentum of that reactive sale because she doesn't dare place the order, or the call goes to voicemail, I just simply lost the sale.
I've seen companies encourage online orders. I know this isn't exclusive to me. I'd love to hear from you on this. Let me know what you've done to put your customers at ease. Do you have a program with your site to offer incentives for the online order. Thanks in advance for the input. I learn a lot from it.
Michelle
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