Small Business

Why the Best Internet Marketing Strategies Are Flat-out Useless Without This Unsung Hero of the Business World

Even if you master each and every one of the best Internet marketing strategies out there -- sales copywriting, search engine optimization, email marketing, and the rest -- they're not worth a dime if you forget about customer service.

It's a strategy that every truly successful business knows about and pays careful attention to... because the one thing ALL successful businesses have in common is customers. Satisfied customers.

Today, I want to show you how to make every one of your customers a satisfied customer -- so happy that they'll return again and again, AND send new customers your way.

I'll look at several proven ways you can do this, including:

1. Reducing the risk for your customers to get more
2. Going that extra mile to get more repeat business and more referrals from delighted customer
3. Providing great after-sales support to keep customers coming back
4. Personalizing your offers to make your customers remember you
5. Listening to your customers to keep them loyal to your business

So let's take a look at some great examples of customer service from across the spectrum -- online, offline, retail, service, hospitality... anywhere the customer is Number One!

Why good customer service is ESSENTIAL for online success

There's an old saying in business: A happy customer will tell one or two people, an unhappy one will tell 10!

So it pays to keep your customers happy -- and never more so than when doing business online.

In the Internet age, a seriously ticked-off customer might not only tell 10 people, they might also write a lengthy rant on their blog, post comments on other people's blogs, write a negative review of your site on a shopping web site, or criticize you on forums and message boards. Or all of the above!

In extreme cases, some unhappy customers even start web sites or blogs devoted to airing their grievances about a particular company. Microsoft, UPS, and Wal-Mart are all among the -- mostly corporate -- targets of customers with a grudge.

While small businesses are unlikely to be targeted in such a way, the viral nature of the Internet means that a negative comment about your company can spread faster than a fire in a matchbox.

And worse, once something has been written about you online, it's very difficult to get it removed. This means that any prospective customer who decides to "Google" your business name could come across it.

So, while good customer service might cost some time and money, bad customer service costs you prospective customers and their lifetime value. Think how much losing even just 10 sales would cost you, and compare it to the extra sales you'll gain from making your customers happy.

And case study after case study shows that building good customer service into a business also increases efficiency, as well as sales.

The stronger your guarantee, the more sales you'll generate -- guaranteed!

The guarantee offered by mail-order retailer Lands' End, simply says, "Guaranteed. Period." Shoppers can return their items anytime and for any reason.

It's a customer service strategy that serves them well. In fact, they market their company on the back of it, calling it, "The most watertight guarantee in the business."

And just in case you think Lands' End is a big corporation whose strategies don't apply to you, I should mention this has been one of the foundations of their business since they were a three-man operation doing mail order out of their store basement.

Most importantly, Lands' End stands by that guarantee... to the extent that one of their catalogs featured the story of a man who returned an antique car he'd purchased... several years after he bought it!

First of all, the company sells clothes, not cars -- he'd bought the car through a special promotion. And second, he'd been driving around in it for a while. But, by honoring the guarantee in such a way, they turned the story of a returned car into a marketing vehicle for their excellent customer service.

And it worked. Here you are reading about it!

You can be sure that the goodwill and word-of-mouth publicity generated by accepting such an "unusual" return more than offset the cost of refunding the car buyer.

That's the lesson here: A strong, well-written guarantee -- one you stand by unconditionally -- is not only good customer service, but it is proven to actually increase sales by.

• Removing any risk on the part of the buyer and giving them the confidence to buy from you.
• Boosting your credibility as a trustworthy seller who believes in your product, and who's willing to back up your belief in it.

Now, some people worry about being ripped off by unscrupulous buyers who purchase an item, get everything they want from it, and then return it to take advantage of the guarantee. It happens, but not often -- as long as you offer an excellent product!

At IMC, we've been offering a one-year refund on our Insider Secrets course for years -- and only very rarely does anyone take us up on the guarantee.

Our tests show that you'll receive fewer returns with a one year guarantee than with a six-month guarantee, and a six-month guarantee will bring in fewer returns than a 30-day guarantee.

Bottom line... the stronger your guarantee, the more sales you'll generate -- and the fewer returns you'll actually get.

Keep your customers coming back by providing MORE services than they expect

Why not go that extra mile and provide EXTRA services that add value to your offer? These are often known as "loss leaders" because, while they may cost you a little extra up front, the payoff comes in the form of more referrals and more repeat business.

Or you can even use your excellent customer service as part of your offer and charge a little more, knowing that your customers will be willing to pay the extra for all the services you provide. (This is something well worth testing.)

Take the example of a dry cleaner I read about recently who offers the best customer service possible to keep people coming back to him... and it turns out that his customers are more than willing to pay a little more for the many extra services he offers.Instead of just taking dirty clothes from customers and returning them spick-and-span, this dry cleaner decided to offer his customers much more, including:

• Free pick-up and delivery

• Folding or hanging cleaned clothes according to preference

• Wrapping shirts in plastic with a piece of cardboard to help maintain their shape

• Providing a sturdy laundry bag (with his logo on it, of course!)

This guy understands that his customers are busy, and anything he can do to make their lives easier will be appreciated -- and be worth paying more for.

So he not only cleans clothes, he provides convenience and turns a tedious chore into a pleasant and painless experience.

And does providing great, value-added customer service like this work in terms of retaining customers and attracting new ones? You bet... I found this story through a happy customer's blog!

The other interesting thing about this story is that the dry cleaner advertises some of his extra services, but not others, meaning that his new customers are often very pleasantly surprised by the extra services they receive.

And ALL customers love to be surprised with a little extra bonus they didn't expect!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Internet marketing expert Derek Gehl specializes in teaching real people how to successfully start, build, and grow their own profitable online businesses on small budgets. To get instant access to the step-by-step strategies, tools, and resources he's used to grow just $25 into over $60 Million in online sales, visit:

http://www.marketingtips.com/t.cgi/4012