Online Customer Service for Dummies

by LeLand, Karen

• ISBN13: 9780764553165
• ISBN10: 076455316X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-01-01
• Publisher: HUNGRY MINDS INC

Summary

Who would wait two to three days for a response when you could go to anther site offering the same product and get an answer instantaneously? A strong foundation of customer service, therefore, is essential for online survival. Online Customer Service For Dummies explains how to survive.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(1)
How to Use This Book	2	(1)
How This Book Is Organized	2	(2)
Part I: The Heart of Online Customer Service	2	(1)
Part II: Turning the Theory into Practice	2	(1)
Part III: Web Wise and Customer Friendly	3	(1)
Part IV: Essential E-Mail: Building Online Relationships	3	(1)
Part V: The Part of Tens	3	(1)
Appendix	3	(1)
Icons Used in This Book	4	(1)
Part 1: The Heart of Online Customer Service	5	(28)
Keeping the Human Connection	7	(4)
Standing for Real Values in the Virtual World	8	(1)
Valuing Customer Loyalty	8	(1)
Building Relationships	9	(1)
Staying Close to Your Customers	9	(1)
Making It Personal	10	(1)
Jumping the Digital Divide: From Traditional Customer Service to E-Customer Relations	11	(6)
The Digital Age	12	(1)
Service--The First Two Thousand Years	12	(5)
TQM--The First service acronym	13	(1)
MOT--The second service acronym	13	(1)
SOM--The third service acronym	14	(1)
SOW--The fourth service acronym	14	(1)
CRM--The latest service acronym	15	(2)
Creating a Customer Centric Organization	17	(16)
Putting Your Customers First--Always	18	(6)
Take a top-down approach	18	(1)
Ask for feedback and utilize it	19	(1)
Train and educate staff and managers	20	(1)
Establish customer centric processes and technology	21	(1)
Set consistent Service standards	22	(1)
Reward and recognize service excellence	23	(1)
Measuring Your Customer centricity	24	(9)
Before you begin	25	(1)
Ask yourself this!	26	(2)
Scoring your responses and making improvements	28	(5)
Part 11: Turning the Theory into Practice	33	(68)
CRM: Automating the Personal Touch	35	(20)
Defining Customer Relationship Management	35	(2)
Developing Trust and Loyalty Online	37	(7)
CRM in a perfect world	37	(5)
Cyber nightmares--the dark side of CRM	42	(2)
Learning from CRM	44	(11)
Segmenting your customer base	45	(4)
Maintaining consistency across channels	49	(2)
Developing a multi-channel strategy	51	(4)
Help Desks: The AAA of the Cyber Highway	55	(6)
Dealing with an Angry Caller	56	(1)
Letting Frustrated Customers Vent	56	(1)
Controlling Your Talk Time	57	(1)
Helping Your Customers Help Themselves	58	(1)
Creating Reasonable Service Expectations	59	(2)
Call Center Fundamentals	61	(18)
Fulfilling Customer Expectations in a Multi-Channel Environment	63	(5)
Accessibility: Making sure e-mails get to the right department	63	(3)
Courtesy: Training agents to create a positive tone in their e-mail responses	66	(1)
Responsiveness: Ensuring that all e-mails receive a response within a specific time period	67	(1)
Recognizing the Communication Differences between Phone and E-Mail	68	(3)
Taking telephone cues	69	(1)
Flying blind with e-mail	70	(1)
Getting background information	70	(1)
Monitoring quality	70	(1)
Having a Great Call Center Staff	71	(5)
Hiring people with the right attitude	72	(1)
Keeping the work interesting	72	(1)
Defining and communicating service levels	73	(1)
Setting goals, monitoring, and coaching	73	(1)
Providing the right systems and tools	74	(1)
Rewarding and recognizing	74	(2)
Outsourcing Your Call Center	76	(3)
Reinventing Your IT Department	79	(22)
Knowing Where You Are --- Surveying Your Internal Customers	80	(14)
Designing an IT customer questionnaire	80	(10)
Reporting the survey results	90	(4)
Developing a Mission Statement and Creating Service Standards	94	(4)
Developing an IT mission statement	94	(1)
Communicating your IT mission statement	95	(1)
Setting service standards	96	(2)
Creating Internal Partnerships	98	(3)
Establishing a technology advisory group	98	(1)
Setting up project teams	99	(2)
Part III: Web Wise and Customer Friendly	101	(62)
The Domain Race in Cyberspace: Winning the Name Game	103	(18)
Domain Name Basics	104	(1)
What makes a good name?	104	(1)
The rules of the game	104	(1)
Creating Your Domain Name	105	(10)
Starting with the obvious	106	(1)
The namesmithing process	107	(5)
Namesmithing FAQs	112	(2)
Take one last look	114	(1)
If at First You Don't Succeed	115	(2)
Checking for expired domain names	115	(1)
Hiring a name guru	115	(1)
Buying a name	116	(1)
Registering Your Domain Name	117	(4)
The three big guns --- .com, .net, .org	117	(1)
Beyond domain registration to a trademark	118	(3)
Don't Miss the Hits: Search Engines, Links, and PR	121	(18)
Getting Listed with Search Engines	122	(3)
Manual submission	122	(2)
Paid submission services	124	(1)
Search engine consultants	124	(1)
Submission software	125	(1)
Achieving the Highest Possible Ranking and Position	125	(2)
Selecting your words for maximum hits	126	(1)
Monitoring the status of your position	126	(1)
Maximizing Your Hits with Link Exchanges	127	(3)
Step one: Define your audience	128	(1)
Step two: Create a target list	128	(1)
Step three: Customize your contact	128	(1)
Step four: Decide where to place links	129	(1)
Planning a PR Campaign to Announce Your Site	130	(9)
Create an effective press release	130	(1)
Connect your press release to what the media likes to report	131	(1)
Time your press release	131	(1)
Send your press release to the appropriate place	132	(4)
Present perfect interviews --- the three Ps	136	(3)
The Three Cs: Content, Commerce, and Community	139	(10)
Content --- Giving People a Reason to Visit Your Site	139	(3)
White papers	140	(1)
How-to articles	140	(1)
Relevant links and resources	140	(1)
Online tools	141	(1)
Advice	141	(1)
E-mail newsletter	141	(1)
Live interview or Web-cast event	142	(1)
Commerce --- Making Purchasing from Your Site Possible	142	(5)
Make it safe	143	(1)
Make it convenient	143	(1)
Confirm order status	144	(1)
Make suggestions	144	(1)
Offer financial incentives	144	(1)
List recent projects	145	(1)
Post testimonials	146	(1)
Provide customer lists	146	(1)
Show samples of your work	146	(1)
Community --- Encouraging People to Share Ideas about Your Company	147	(2)
Message boards	148	(1)
Chat rooms	148	(1)
Broadcast e-mail lists	148	(1)
Working with a Web Developer	149	(14)
Assessing Where You Are Now to Know What Kind of Help You Need	149	(3)
Stage one: Securing an online identity	150	(1)
Stage two: Establishing a Web presence	150	(1)
Stage three: Engaging in e-commerce	151	(1)
Stage four: Practicing customer relationship management	151	(1)
Stage Five: Functioning as a service application model	151	(1)
Establishing Goals for Your Web Site	152	(4)
Exploring ways to reach your goals	153	(1)
Naming a point person to head the project	154	(2)
Engaging the Right Web Developer	156	(7)
Evaluating potential Web developers	156	(4)
Calculating the cost	160	(3)
Part IV: Essential E-Mail: Building Online Relationships	163	(52)
E-Mail: Making the Most of the Medium	165	(6)
Understanding E-Mail as the Medium of Monologue	166	(2)
Minimizing misunderstandings	166	(1)
Avoiding making a negative impression	167	(1)
Recognizing the Limitations of E-Mail	168	(3)
The Nuts and Bolts of E-Mail Writing	171	(16)
Focusing on Words --- Knowing Your Raw Material	172	(3)
Spelling	172	(1)
Word choice	173	(1)
E-mail acronyms	174	(1)
Adding Some Style to Your E-Mails	175	(4)
Vary your sentence styles	175	(2)
Vary your sentence lengths	177	(1)
Select your voice	178	(1)
Watch your tone	179	(1)
Remembering E-Mail Courtesy	179	(6)
Make invitations, not demands	179	(1)
Use friendly contractions	180	(1)
Focus on the positive	180	(1)
Say hello and goodbye	181	(1)
Use the subject line	182	(1)
Avoid flaming	182	(2)
Provide background information	184	(1)
Understand emoticons	184	(1)
Avoiding Common E-Mail Mistakes	185	(2)
Common e-mail mistakes exercise	185	(1)
Common e-mail mistakes exercise answers	186	(1)
Message Mastery: Saving Time for Yourself and Others	187	(12)
Dealing with Incoming Messages	188	(2)
Replying to e-mail messages	188	(1)
Forwarding messages	189	(1)
Deleting messages	190	(1)
Filing messages	190	(1)
Writing E-Mails that Produce Results	190	(9)
Prioritize your paragraphs	191	(2)
Put your request up-front	193	(1)
Trim the fat	194	(2)
Use open and closed questions appropriately	196	(3)
Problem Solving Online: Teamwork with a Twist	199	(8)
Utilizing Virtual Problem-Solving Teams	200	(1)
Taking Steps to Reach Online Consensus	200	(7)
Step 1: State the problem and request feedback on possible causes	201	(1)
Step 2: Publish possible causes and request cause evaluations	202	(1)
Step 3: Publish root cause and request feedback on possible solutions	203	(1)
Step 4: Publish possible solutions and request solution evaluations	203	(1)
Step 5: Publish consensus solution	204	(3)
E-Rapport: New E-Mail Skills for Customer Closeness	207	(8)
Using Sensory Language	208	(3)
Crafting visual messages	209	(1)
Incorporating auditory language	209	(1)
Using tactile language	210	(1)
Recognizing the Affect of Neutral Language	211	(1)
Backtracking Key Words	212	(3)
Part V: The Part of Tens	215	(38)
Ten Ways to Make Your Online Service Shine	217	(8)
Make Site Navigation Easy	217	(1)
Offer a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Section	218	(1)
Clearly State the Nature of Your Business on Your Home Page	219	(1)
Offer Something for Free	219	(1)
Make Your Downloads Fast	219	(1)
Offer Contact Options	220	(1)
Use Multiple Media	221	(1)
Update Your Site Often	221	(1)
Keep Your Site Design Simple and Clean	222	(1)
Practice E-Mail Excellence	222	(3)
Ten Tips for Dealing with Customer Complaints	225	(8)
Make It Easy for Your Customers to Complain	226	(1)
View Complaints as Gifts	226	(1)
Thank Your Customers for Complaining	227	(1)
Let Your Customers Vent	227	(1)
Sincerely Apologize for All Problems	228	(1)
Identify the Elements of the Complaint	229	(1)
Fix the Problem	229	(1)
Give a Care Token	230	(1)
Follow Up	231	(1)
Practice Prevention	231	(2)
Ten Things to Know about E-Mail Privacy	233	(4)
Personal E-Mails Sent from Work Are the Property of Your Employer	233	(1)
E-Mails Sent from Home Belong to You, But	234	(1)
A Deleted E-Mail Is Not Deleted	234	(1)
Your E-Mail Message, Once Sent, Can Become Anyone's Business	234	(1)
E-Mail Is Admissible as Evidence in a Court of Law	234	(1)
You Can Be Fired for Using the Internet Inappropriately at Work	235	(1)
Copies of Your E-Mails Exist in Places Other Than Your Own Computer	235	(1)
E-Mail Recovery Is Big Business	235	(1)
Privacy Laws Are Being Challenged Every Day	236	(1)
Add a Disclaimer to Confidential E-Mails	236	(1)
Ten Ways to Use Voicemail to Enhance Customer Relations	237	(6)
Don't Hide Behind Your Voicemail	238	(1)
Update Your Greeting Regularly	238	(1)
Respond to Messages Promptly	238	(1)
Encourage Your Callers to Leave Effective Messages	239	(1)
Give Callers the Option of Skipping Your Voicemail Greeting	239	(1)
Plan and Prepare Your Return Calls	240	(1)
Provide a Context for Your Call	240	(1)
Keep Your Outgoing Messages Short and to the Point	241	(1)
Specify the Response You Expect	241	(1)
Take Security Measures	242	(1)
Ten Ways to Evaluate Your Online and Offline Service	243	(10)
Focus Groups (Online or Offline)	243	(1)
Web-based Surveys	244	(1)
Written Surveys	245	(2)
Yes or no questions	245	(1)
Poor -- excellent questions	246	(1)
Degree questions	246	(1)
Customer Panels	247	(1)
Before the panel	247	(1)
During the panel	248	(1)
After the panel	248	(1)
Customer Exit Surveys	248	(1)
Employee Surveys	249	(1)
Lost Account Surveys	249	(1)
Telephone Surveys	250	(1)
Ask-and-answer	250	(1)
Discussion	250	(1)
Mystery Shoppers	251	(1)
Communicate the Results	251	(2)
Appendix: Grammar Reminders for E-Mail Perfection	253	(8)
Turning Words into Plurals	253	(1)
Adding Suffixes to Words	254	(1)
Knowing When to Use ``Me,'' ``Myself,'' or ``I''	254	(1)
Using Punctuation to Add Rhythm	255	(6)
The comma	255	(2)
The semicolon	257	(1)
The apostrophe	257	(1)
The ellipsis	257	(1)
The long dash or short hyphen	258	(1)
The colon	258	(1)
Parentheses (at last)	259	(2)
Index	261