Customers – Keep them away from me!

One of the big challenges for Businesses trying to improve performance online is to find out what visitors are thinking when they are on your website.   Funnily enough, there is a very simple cost effective method to learn what is happening on your site that very few properly utilise:  Answer the phone and ask some questions!! 

No one is arguing the value of an established feedback loop (define) both in the on and offline worlds.  The ability to set up a feedback loop is not difficult; it’s what is done with the information that makes the difference. 

Everyone talks about Analytics and how valuable it can be when used properly.  However, today, I am talking about visitors online, not finding what they are looking for, and instead of hitting the “back” button and moving on to your competitor, they are compelled to use up some of their precious time to pick up the phone and give you a call.  You are so lucky!!  Management defines this as a burden on the call centre, an inconvenience, a cost, or crazy people who want to chat for hours about the weird growth on their big toe.

Why do customers call?

Think about it, you have not provided the visitor the information required to take the appropriate actions to become a customer.  As a result, the visitor has lost his/her way on a poorly laid out scent path (define) you created for them.  It’s your fault!  Some credibility has been established, but not enough for the visitor to forward his/her details through via email or filling out your form.  There is not enough trust at this stage for the visitor to hand the control of the relationship over to you. 

By making a phone call, the visitor remains anonymous and can still retain control.  A reassuring voice answering key questions is all the visitor is looking for to hand over their details with the hopes they can soon become a customer. 

A good example:

We have recently completed a redesign project for a large corporate website focussed on online bookings.  One of the many changes we made was putting the 0800 number in a prominent position at the top of the banner.  The call centre has been inundated with calls ever since.  Senior Management has immediately requested the phone number be taken off the website.  I, of course, disagree, and provided our client with another option!  It is important to note, this Corporate has aggressive online goals.

Turning a positive into a positive:

When providing the recommendation to our client, I reiterated the primary focus of putting the phone number on the home page in the first place:  to ensure customer needs are met both on and offline.  It is obvious, the preference is to meet customer needs online, however, you will never meet all customer needs.  Once again, I refer back to the Pareto Principle (or the “80/20” rule) (define) to define the scope of customer needs. For example, just because one customer wants to see a picture of a Pink Starfish on the home page, does not make it a core customer need. It is very easy to get carried away.

Once this has been re-established, the following steps are recommended:

Step 1:  Create a “web only” phone number, so staff recognise incoming calls are coming from the website.

Step 2:  Log the nature of the call.  Review the results, and define trends.  The important part of this step is to take enough calls to make the proper conclusions.  Basing decisions on a small percentage of incoming calls will not add value.  The number of calls to record will depend on the quality of logged information, the clarity of trends exhibited, and the frequency of calls.

Step 3:  If the customer is calling to make a booking, ask why they did not complete the booking online?

Step 4:  Ask the customer what other information they would like to see on the website which would help them make bookings in the future?

 Step 5:  Get the feedback to our team so we can decipher the comments and develop an online strategy to meet missed customer expectations.  At this stage there needs to be a discussion as to whether the needs reflect the target market. 

Step 6:  Sign off on the strategy and the necessary changes and/or additions to the website, and implement the changes.

The result will be a reduction in phone calls, happier customers, and increased bookings/sales. 

Don’t forget:

It is a blessing when you have customers going out of their way to call you, never take it for granted.  Agencies charge a lot of money for this privilege.  To get this voluntarily should be approached as an opportunity, not a burden. 

Businesses can stick their head in the sand, and/or hibernate only to wake up and realise their customers have changed and moved on.  Management fear feedback because it is the catalyst for change.  The fact is, Businesses fail simply because they do not have established feedback loops which establish the changing needs of their customers.  Once a gap is created between your offer, and your customers’ needs, it is all over.