Speed in messaging is paramount…5 tactics to mitigate misinformation for your small business.

In an earlier piece I shared insights on  How to Convert Customers Already Empowered with Information. More specifically what to do if up to 70% of the sale is being run by the customer online.

Consumers regularly receive misinformation on the internet.

They may feel empowered but unknowingly may be misinformed. Understanding the customer’s needs by listening, asking questions and making informed suggestions laser focused on their needs will build a level of trust. Trust is a key component of closing the sale. In many instances it proves more important than price.

Step #1 – Speed of Response

Imagine calling a business today and waiting for the phone to ring twelve times before they answer your call. Or imagine leaving a message after hours and never receiving a response from them. Or imagine walking into a restaurant and not being welcomed for more than sixty seconds before someone greets you.

Would you do business with this company?

“Even 7-Eleven greets you immediately when you walk in the door.”

Articles written in Forbes and the Harvard Business Review suggest that up to 70% of the sales process is being done by the customer before they even communicate with a business. According to JD Powers, up to 92% of customers are going to the internet before contacting a business by phone, in person or on the web.

Knowing all of this, how can business people do a better job of engaging with these better prepared customers? What do you have to do better, or start doing right now?

Obviously the first things businesses invest their time and money is into building and creating websites and social media presences that look spectacular. However, in many cases, they do not have a strategy or process in place to respond and engage with people who contact them over the web.

This is why we are talking about the first step in successful interaction with customers on the web.

We speak to so many clients that first believed they had solved their internet marketing by building a web page or creating a Facebook account, but these advertising mediums are not just for advertising. They are also communication devices that are often ignored or not paid attention to.

The first strategic item that is a critical best practice is the speed of response.

According to JD Powers, even if you respond immediately to a request on your site, the chance of earning is about 40% and almost zero after 24 hours. According to Edison research, 42% of consumers expect a response within one hour, while 9% want a response within 5 minutes.

In order to produce this kind of response speed, you can manage your responses to web-based contacts with these five tactics as follows:

1.   Are you actually being notified of contacts that reach your company’s web based mediums?

For many businesses, a notification system is lacking in order to make sure they know potential customers are reaching out on their website or social media page.

Compare it to having your phone system take messages; but you never receive a notification that the message is there. In working with clients, we have found that there is a black hole where customer contacts go and no one is informed.

You must inspect this part of your web-based customer contacts.

2.   Establish some kind of tracking system that will measure the exact time web contacts are received and the exact time they are responded to.

While using this information, build in systems that will ensure you can get faster. The customer will demand it and will be impressed when you are attentive.

Next- Speed of Response Tactics 3 to 5