lackluster middle market online customer experience

Losing Out Due To A Lackluster Middle Market Online Customer Experience?

In Customer Resources by Brandt A. HandleyLeave a Comment

With almost $395 billion in online sales completed in 2016 and the number predicted to rise to $523 billion by 2020, having a good online sales process for customers certainly should be a priority for most organizations.  However, customers aren’t just buying products online – they access accounts, interact with customer service, provide reviews, ask for support, enter claims, do research, and any other number of things daily.  If your online customer experience is hampering these processes or leaving your customers wanting a lot more, is your Middle Market company missing out on some big payoffs?

Measuring Your Middle Market Online Customer Experience Is Holistic

If you’ve built a world-class customer service tool for online interactions, fantastic!  However, what is your online sales process like?  How do customers feel about what it takes to talk with a technical support person or get help returning a product?  Do they love your FAQ section?  Do you have a training program sitting unused?

If you want customers to enjoy and rave about your online presence, it can’t be piecemeal.  You need to put the same focus and attention into every area of the online experience.

Design Your Middle Market Online Experiences For Who Matters Most

Something we all are guilty of is having an idea of how something would work best…for or to us and then implementing those ideas.  While you may have a fantastic plan, possibly it only truly makes sense to you.  Or, potentially your design isn’t customer friendly to more than a small segment of the population.

Look at the different areas of your online experience with fresh eyes.  Does the sales process work for customers or make sense only if you understand your internal sales workings?  If you were a frustrated customer, would the self-service, training, and FAQ sections be helpful or make you more upset?  Is it easy to find information and navigate on your website?

How Your Middle Market Organization Can Evaluate The Efficacy Of Your Online Customer Experience

As we’ve said before, start by asking.  Put up a short survey on your website and ask customers what they think.  Make sure you specify what the survey is for, why you need their help, and what you’ll be doing with the information.  If you choose to gather customer identifying data, you may want to reward participants.

Also, do you have customers who use your online services repeatedly?  It might be worthwhile to contact them directly and ask for their opinions.  Your trusted repeat customers have skin in the game to help you get it right.

Next, ask people from other departments to test out areas of your website and online presence.  It’s more helpful if they know nothing about the area you ask them to check.  Ask for brutal honesty. Does it look good and is it easy to navigate?  Is it functional or do some areas just “die”?  Were they able to resolve their issue or complete the mission in what feels like an appropriate timeframe?  What improvements do they suggest?

If your Middle Market online customer experience isn’t winning over customers, it probably is losing you some.  At the very least, it isn’t wowing anyone.  Spend some time to ensure it’s designed for the people who use it, it works correctly and efficiently and your customers enjoy using your online services.  Your Middle Market company will benefit from any investment you put into it!

So, what’s in the Mighty Middle Market for me? – get it right now at www.Go4ROI.com

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