What happened during the pandemic is that a lot of people installed pools as they couldn’t leave their homes. So, pool companies as a result have gotten very busy.
Being very shortsighted, they figure this will go on forever. But like most things, at some point their business will slow down and they will regret not having been more helpful and responsive. After all, turning away customers and clients is never a good business decision.
Now, I understand how hard it is to hire people these days. But my thought is this: rather than push away and alienate prospective customers, pay your help more as the market requires you to. One pool company told me they couldn’t even come out for two weeks and gave me a price to take care of the pool. But as the pool hadn’t been used in a couple of years, I wanted the guy to look before just charging. It didn’t really matter, as he never got back to me.
So say you were paying an employee of your pool company X dollars a week, pay them more. Maybe you won’t be making huge profits, but you will be building up your business during a very difficult economic time in history. Because you are in demand, you can certainly charge higher prices as the market warrants. But to service all these new customers, you will have to pay employees a good wage, plain and simple.
As someone who does a lot of tasks himself, I learned long ago that you can’t do everything yourself. So, when I have new business opportunities, I don’t turn them away, I hire people, many times on a project-by-project basis. By using good people, I can get more work done and my bottom line is improving all the time. Like the pool companies, sometimes I must pay more than I would like, but I always try to take a long view in business. I realize that by taking on clients who will be with me for the long-haul, in the end I am making a smart business decision.
And isn’t that what running a small business is all about, making the best decision for your company and its employees?
“To earn the respect (and eventually love) of your customers, you first have to respect those customers. That is why Golden Rule behavior is embraced by most of the winning companies.”
~ Colleen Barrett, Southwest Airlines President Emerita
Luckily, the story does have a happy ending. After weeks of trying, I found a company that came right out and gave an estimate, then came back the next day and started work. I will give them a great Google review and help their business. They will also get referrals for me, unlike these other companies were busy and wouldn’t even come out.
Treat other people the way you want to be treated, that will ensure you’re in business for a long time and successful. The fastest way to alienate people is by not responding to phone calls and emails, and refusing to come out and even estimate a job.
RooSites has built our business by offering the best customer service in our industry. Contact us today for all your website design, development and management needs.
The number one reason e-commerce sites fail is because of improper pricing. People shop on the web mainly for the best deals they can find. In an Amazon, Walmart world people shop around for the best prices.
So the question is, if someone goes to your website and you’re selling something that is available on larger e-commerce sites for much less money, why would they buy from you?
Well, there are customers who may have a long relationship with you and are willing to pay a little bit extra due to that relationship.
But most people are shopping for price, and if your prices aren’t competitive, you will never succeed.
Pro Tip: Do your due diligence in researching the products you are selling. Do some searches and see if your product will be competitive in the marketplace at the price you have set.
“The moment you make a mistake in pricing, you’re eating into your reputation or your profits.” ~ Katharine Paine
Another reason why e-commerce sites fail is due to expensive shipping charges. In an Amazon world people want free, fast shipping (which is what they get with their Prime membership). So even if your pricing is excellent, if you add in shipping charges and it makes your product more expensive, again you will fail.
Pro Tip: If you are selling an extremely expensive product, consider building the shipping right into the price of the product. That way, you can publicize the fact that you have shipping included. I recently had a client selling items worth over $50,000. Their shipping cost was in the thousands and a lot of people balked at that. So they just made the price of the product $52,000 and people are willing to pay.
“Quit simply: If your product price + your shipping charge is higher than your competitors, customers will go elsewhere.” ~ Barry Roos
The third reason why eCommerce sites fail is due to a poor website experience. When someone is shopping and goes to your site, they want to quickly find the product they are looking to acquire. So if your main menu is not clear and people can’t find the product they want within one or two clicks, chances are they will go elsewhere and again you will fail. Another dissatisfier is when websites have convoluted check out pages. Today’s consumer wants a simple, one page checkout.
Pro Tip: One good thing to do before you launch a website is to have people do some unit testing within your company. Also, have people who have nothing to do with your business do some testing and get their feedback. You’ll be surprised at all the good information people come up with, that you might not have thought of as you are too close to the project.
“Usability rules the web. Simply stated, if the customer can’t find a product, then he or she will not buy it.” ~Jakob Nielsen
A fourth reason why eCommerce sites fail is that the company is not paying attention to latest trends and carrying products that people don’t want. As with a brick and mortar store, you really need to pay attention to what is going on in your market. If you were carrying something in a clothing store as an example and it sat there for a long time, you certainly wouldn’t be selling that piece of clothing, you would replace it with something that people want. Well it is the same exact thing with e-commerce websites, give the people what they want.
Pro Tip: do you know what it’s selling and what isn’t selling on your website. A good idea is to do some competitive analysis by visiting your competitors websites and their brick and mortar stores. Say you are selling women’s clothing online, go visit a popular store in your area and see what they’re selling. Another good idea is to go to shows, and see what is coming out for the next season.
“Scout out competitors’ websites. Everything your competitors think is important or relevant usually exists on their website.” ~ The Disciplined Leader: Keeping the Focus on What Really Matters
Last but not least is Customer Service. Customer service is a big reason why eCommerce sites fail. People want their websites to operate almost automatically. And in many cases, they do. However, there are times people have a question for you, or a problem with an order. That is where your customer service comes in. If you are quick to respond and help people with their issues, they will come back. But if they have to wait for days for a resolution, chances are you have lost them forever. Being responsive is easy, and we all know as a business people we need to be, but the reality is many companies fall down when it comes to servicing their customers/clients.
Pro Tip: Put yourself in your customer’s place. Make sure you respond to emails and calls, and especially deal with problems swiftly. People truly appreciate good customer service. Our customer service is a big driver for my company. Most of the referrals we get our because we offer the best customer service in our industry. When I went into business I made a promise that I would respond to all emails the same day and wherever possible make those updates to peoples websites within 24 hours.
“Customer service shouldn’t just be a department, it should be the entire company.” ~ Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos
There are many reasons why eCommerce sites fail besides the 5 we mentioned. But these are the main things that you need to pay attention to in order to succeed in the ultra competitive world of online shopping. If you have any questions about e-commerce, or anything else, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We are happy to assist you with all your website design, development and website management needs.
