For Immediate Release

Making a Good “First Impression”
in Cyberspace.

To quickly engage new customers—and keep them on the line—you must earn their trust from the first click. A new Dummies book tells you how.

You only have one chance to make a good first impression. If your business has an online component—and these days, whose doesn’t?—that well-worn saying bears repeating one more time! Suppose a customer visits your Web site and has trouble navigating it, or gets slow or rude service, or sends you an email that gets no response. Do you think that person will ever return to your neck of the (virtual) woods again? Not likely! And she could give you some negative “word-of-mouse” by e-mailing her experience to the 27,000 people in her news group!

According to Karen Leland and Keith Bailey, founders of Sterling Consulting Group and authors of the new Online Customer Service For Dummies® (Hungry Minds, Inc., 2001, ISBN: 0-7645-5316-X, $24.99), that first online encounter with your company has to be right. To underscore this point, the authors borrow the title of a book published in the mid-1980s by then-CEO of SAS airlines Jan Carlson: “Moments of Truth” (MOT).

“The MOT approach still lives on because its premise can be applied to any business, large or small, and any medium, such as voicemail, email, etc.,” write Leland and Bailey. “The theory still holds up because, no matter what your service or product, your customers are, more than ever, making quick decisions based on fleeting experiences of your organization. It may not be fair—but it is customer logic.” know:

Online technology can be a wonderful tool for keeping track of your customers’ unique needs and preferences and tailoring your services to them. When implemented effectively, it can add tremendous value to your company by helping you create and retain loyal customers. The first and most important step? Earning your customers’ trust.

Leland and Bailey offer the following tips:

• Make site navigation easy. Here’s how:
  

  	Highlight and/or reinforce your site section names in some way so that the user knows exactly which section of the site they are exploring.
  	Make your site navigation self-explanatory. A good test is to ask yourself “could my or my friend’s ten year old figure out how to navigate this site”?
  	Use a variety of navigation elements: simple links, graphic icons, navigation buttons, fancy graphics and plain old text.
  	Give customers a text description of what the links on your site will provide. A short sentence underneath each link makes it easier for customers to find what they want.

• Include an FAQ section.
  After so many years in business you know the most common questions your customers, or potential customers, are most likely to ask. To this end create a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section on your web site that clearly states and answers these questions.
• Offer a variety of contact options—not just email.
  One of the principles behind excellent service is to ‘Do business with your customers the way they want to do business with you’. Give customers your phone number, street address, fax and email. Providing a variety of contact options makes you look more like an established business and less like a fly by night company.
• Get back to customers quickly.
  The sooner you get back to your customer the better; however a general rule is to return all email inquiries within 24 hours. If you don’t have the information the customer needs within this time, you may want to consider using an automated response system. This will act to fill the gap until you can get back to your customer with the necessary information.
• Consider investing in “real time” technology.
  According to a Jupiter Communications survey, 40% of online customers prefer to speak with a live human being when they have questions about a product or service. Thanks to software from companies such as Speak-2-Talk and Digiphone your customers can use their computers like a phone and speak with a live agent without disconnecting from your Web site. Using technology that provides a “chat room” type interface, products from companies such as LivePerson and HumanClick allow online customers to have an interactive dialogue with a service rep via a small window that pops up on whatever page is being viewed.

Once you’ve hooked customers through that all-important “first impression,” you keep them on the line by always providing excellent service. Your efforts will be rewarded handsomely.

“Customers who feel that they are in a dialogue with and listened to by your organization become highly profitable and lifelong customers who, as the relationship matures, spend more and more of their money with your customer while requiring little or no incentive to continue purchasing,” say Leland and Bailey. “This loyalty is developed through the types of experiences customers have with your company. If you can consistently provide quick, competent service, you increase the likelihood that your customers will stay with you.”

Contact:
Celia Rocks
(412) 820-3004
CeliaRocks@aol.com