| Five specific tactics to raise your online sales |
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So you have spent the money to sell online but sales do not seem to be breaking any records. Do these 5 tactics right now. Your wallet and customers will thank you. #1. Get purchasers to choose what you want through the “order” button: Set your shopping cart up so the product or service you want the customer to choose is the most attractive. Help the customer make a decision by making it easy for them to compare different options. For example, replace the words on your submit button such as ORDER NOW with BEST DEAL to highlight the value of the highlighted item. #2. Protect yourself from credit card declines or chargebacks Paul Larsen, a credit card payments and operations consultant, explains that declines have gone from 10% to 40% over the past decade or so. Hard declines come primarily from credit card numbers that don’t work. The soft declines, now around 60% of all declines, are caused by problems such as credit limits or insufficient account balances with debit cards. “40% of primary accounts are within 5% of their credit limits at any given time,” said Larsen. He advises online content sites to devise a comprehensive 'decline recovery strategy' that includes: o Recycle the charge to see if it can be paid. Larsen recommends four attempts at 15-day intervals. o Participate in Visa/MasterCard recovery programs and American Express continuity billing programs. o Process payments even if the expiration date has passed. “There’s no difference in recovery rate because of expiration,” said Larsen. o Use descriptors that will help consumers identify you when the bill comes to avoid chargebacks caused by simple confusion. o “Have customer service available 24/7. If they can’t get you to answer a billing question, their next call will probably be to the credit card company for a chargeback,” Larsen noted. #3. Reduce the number of people leaving your cart without buying o Use industry standard cart's. Introducing a home-grown cart may save money, but means the customer has to take the time to learn your process. If it doesn't work like the majority of cart's on the Internet, you will have lower sales. People use what they are used to. o Reduce any confusion in the cart. Make it simple and easy for people to get the information and purchase they need. o Do not spring things like extra charges or delayed waiting times at the end. Let people know these things up front. o Offer phone support and an FAQ section in case of technical issues. #4. Combat automated email follow up problems o Use text only in all or some of the emails to get past spam filters. A confirmation is not the time to get creative. Very few receipts are exciting. o Keep emails brief. Only put in the email what is really needed. o Use a vendor who will track deliveries and non-deliveries for you by ISP. “Where aren’t we getting through?” o Request an alternate email at signup because people change jobs, move or change service providers. o Send a postcard (USPS) to email hard bounces to get a new email address. #5. Keep your loyal customers happy o Only accept cancels offline. You can save 50-60% of cancellations by making customers call to cancel. Your staff can often solve the problem that made the customer want to cancel. o Take the time to develop a good registration form page. You’ve got to put the proper emphasis on this page to make it easy for the customer. o Properly promote future promotions/events. Make it seamless as to what you do. Countdown an event 60 days out so people have time to plan. o Start a loyalty program. Reward your best customers with special incentives and perks. i.e. first-to-buy promotions at your online store. nxtConcepts.com Need help implementing a new sales or marketing program? We've got two suggestions:
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