5 Important Things of Selling In The Internet

1. Credibility. You have no doubt in business credibility. Of the content of your website or blog, visitors can catch it.

2. Expertise. People would be easier to buy in people who are experts in the field. Expertise that makes people believe of what you offer is the right solution for him. Excellent service is the way to do.

3. Proof. People like to see the proof. They will be easier to believe if there is proof that you handed. Proof such as the results of the effect of your products, testimonials, or even proof of delivery receipt picture if you sell physical products may appear on your website.

4. Honesty. This is the most important part of a business. With honesty, customers not only buy your product. But it's also going to tell the people around him.

5. Close to visitors. In your website or blog, you should be able to close to visitors. A simple example, such as how to interact on your blog. As a result, although not yet met face, the visitors will feel familiar to you. And while that's familiar, everything will seem easier for you, including business transactions.

Service Excellence Is Important!

Service Excellence is usually closely linked to service business in an effort to provide a sense of customers satisfaction, so that customers feel themselves overlooked or considered properly and correctly. Excellent service is also a strategy in order to win the competition. But not enough just to give a sense of satisfaction and attention to the customer, more than that is how to respond to the customer, which can cause a positive impression of the customers.

Excellent service must be supported by the reliable quality of human resources, and have a far-sighted vision.

In addition, efforts should be made continuously to improve the ability of service in order to foster dedication and provide best service to customers to remain loyal to use the products and services.

The success of excellent customer service may also cause the following:

1. Excellent service can lead to the customers decision to immediately purchase the products at that time.

2. Excellent service can create customers trust.

3. Excellent service creates customers to remain loyal to use our products.

4. Excellent service is expected to encourage customers to come back again to buy our products.

5. Excellent service can avoid the occurrence of claims against the unnecessary customers.

The Difference between Customer Loyalty and Customer Experience

Retailer are often mistaken in determining the concept of customer loyalty and customer experience. Errors in determine could cause further errors. Therefore, it is important to know exactly the difference between these two concepts, so we can formulate strategic decisions in both concepts.

Customer loyalty

Loyalty is a concept of relationship. Although impressed abstract, but the concept became concrete in the form of customer behavior. Customers show their loyalty and deliver value to the company through some of the following:

• Being a regular customer, which means providing value retention.
• Purchase products or services more or more expensive. This increases the value of cross-sell and up-sell.
• Recommend a company or product to the people around them. This action gives the value of is positive word-of-mouth for the company.

To build loyalty, then a business should connect with the rational and emotional dimensions of the customer's decision-making process. That way, we have a greater opportunity to improve the customer wishes to continue to keep loyal and do the three things above.

We should exert every effort to win customer loyalty. Due to the fact, it plays a very big role in the success of the company.

Loyalty will create an advantage when dealing with the cost and revenue. These benefits accumulate and ultimately have a big impact for business growth.

Customer Experience

Every experience, touch, and customer interaction is an opportunity for companies to deliver value and strengthen relationships with them. Experience is important because they affect and part of the customer relationship itself.

However, keep in mind that experience is not the same with relationships, and loyalty is much more complex than just a collection of customer experience. In short, the customer experience can tighten (or loosen) our relationships with customers, which in turn contribute to the formation of loyalty.

Customer experience can obtained from a variety of things, starting from the quick transaction using POP (Point of Purchase) to something more complex such as the use QR Code. The customer experience is nothing but the link in the relationship with the customer. We need to make sure that every link chain that connects closely with the customer relationship is solid.

Retail store need to focus on investments to deliver a better customer experience. Why? Because a memorable customer experience can provide several things, namely:

• Create differentiation between our business and our competitors.

• The way to attract customers to use our products and services.

• Increase customer loyalty.

Those are the difference between customer experience and customer loyalty. Good experience gained by the customer will create a loyalty, which in turn can enhance business growth in the future.

Wrong Retailers Perceptions About Customers

Most retailers think that the best way to retain customers is through "engagement" - as much as possible to interact with customers and build relationships with them. Apparently that fact is not always true.

In a study of 7000 consumers, found that retail companies are often wrong in determining the best way to connect with customers. Errors are usually caused by the perceptions believed by the retailer. The perceptions are:

1. Consumers want to have a relationship with our brand

The fact is not. Only 23 percent of customers of this study which says they wants to have a relationship with the brand. In view of the general consumer, the relationship is only built with friends, family, and colleagues. That's why when asked to others 77 percent customers, the reason they do not feel the need to establish a relationship with the brand, we'll get answers like "It's just a brand, not a member of my family." When dealing with the brand online, it actually desired by consumers is discount.

With this reality, how we have to take a stand? First, understand where consumers are included in the 23 percent and which is the 77 percent. From there we can begin to define expectations and appropriate way of marketing. Stop flooding the consumers who do not want to be associated with our brand with all kinds of emails and loyalty programs that are complicated.

2. Interaction of building relationships

No, the interaction does not build relationships. Shared values ​​build relationships with customers. Shared value is the belief held by both brands and consumers on a large goal or philosophy embraced by brands. For example, Pedigree Dog Food. Their shared value is the belief that every dog ​​is entitled to have a house full of love. While Southwest Airlines shared value is the democratization of air transport.

Of all the consumers in this study that states have a relationship with the brand, 64 percent said that the shared value is the reason they build a relationship with the brand. And only 13 percent said the frequency of interaction as the reason.

Many brands have big goals that are part of their mission. Start of commitment to the environment such as held by Patagonia, to the purpose of realizing the dream with Harley Davidson motorcycle riding experience. The objectives of this feels authentic to consumers. In addition it also provides a reliable basis for shared values ​​and the relationship between brands and consumers. So, to build relationships with consumers start by communicating the brand philosophy or a big goal.

3. The more interaction, the better

This is wrong. There is no correlation between customer interactions with their brand loyalty - in the form of the desire to buy, buy again, and recommend it. However, most of the retailers to behave as if there is a linear relationship between the number of interactions with the purchase amount. This makes retailers such as Neiman-Marcus, Land's End, and Toys R Us sent more than 300 emails a year as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

In fact, a linear relationship can be destroyed more quickly than a lot of retailers think. With the rapid interactions that were previously thought to help turn into a big wave that destroys. Without realizing it, many retailers simply bombarding consumers with information and make them feel shopping categories. This reduces consumer engagement with the brand, rather than strengthen it.

So, rather than constantly asking for the attention of consumers, it is better to treat with good attention we've been getting. When we intend to campaign, always ask our self, whether the campaign will makes the customer's information overload? If the answer is yes, then find the other way. When interacting with customers, the more often it is not getting better.

How to Use Retail Customer Data to Build Trust

Customer data if used correctly can be great tools for companies to build customer loyalty. However, if wrong in use, it will risk losing customers. Recent research from Transactis, which conducted the survey of 1,000 UK consumers, found that 95% of them will not do business with a company again if their personal data is used irresponsibly or abusing their trust.

However, the study also found that 83% of respondents were more likely to continue to buy from a company, not a competitor, if their personal information is used responsibly and use it to provide good service.

These results confirmed that the error in the handling of customer data can undermine customer trust towards the brand but use information wisely will further strengthen the relationship.

Tracing the customer journey

The initial step is to gain the trust of customers really understand individual consumers like you are in a relationship, which means making sure that you have the correct data.

This is so that the company can effectively communicate with customers and offer products and services that are right for them, the company should be able to build an accurate profile of each individual. That means understanding their behavior patterns - and the best way to do this is to look at what, where, when and how they buy.

Organizing Data

Build relationships with customers requires the company to talk to customers with one voice and have a complete picture of their involvement with the brand.

This requires the integration of information gathered from all channels and platforms - Purchase in stores, online, mail orders, web form, service calls, loyalty activity, delivery notes and other sources - into a single database / core.

To build trust, companies must demonstrate the understanding about customer preferences in terms of channel, frequency of communication, and timing. Consumers also expect company to recall the information they had been told. By creating a database of existing SCV in all channels, companies can avoid unnecessary and unwanted, correspondence with customers.

Keep the data

Fundamental way to maintain consumer trust is looking after consumer information submitted.

Failure to securely store data or use it in a way that is not valid is the fastest path to destroy customer confidence.

Using customer data effectively

It takes more than just collect data and store it safely to win the trust of customers. Companies should use data to improve interaction with customers.

Customers have high expectations at this time. Using customer data to tailor communication effectively, supply and services is essential to ensure confidence. Research shows 76 percent of consumers said that if companies use their personal data to improve services and offers they are more likely to remain a loyal customer and not switch to a competitor.

Technologies Should Be Owned By The Retailer

Nowadays technology has become an important part of our lives. With the help of technology, space and time are no longer a barrier to do various things in life, such as shopping. Thanks to technology, you will not only be able to shop whenever and wherever, but also can obtain a variety of information about the quality of goods and services. That way you can spend more discerning and selective.

Changes in consumer lifestyles must also be followed by a change in retailer selling style. If consumers use technology to obtain goods or services they needs, then the retailer should use the same to provide a better service. Here are technologies that need to be owned by the retailer to deal with its customers:

1. Smartphone.

This technology allows retailers to interact with customers at every step in their shopping adventure. There are several things retailers can do, such as:

• Encourage customers to use smartphones to find store locations, product availability, and ongoing promotions.
• Using LBS (Location Based Service) to inform about interesting products, promotions and exclusive offers.
• Develop an understanding of consumer shopping patterns by tracking the use of mobile phones while in the store. This could be an input to develop the design and layout of the store.

2. Self-scan and delivery tracking.

Both things will make customers easy to shop at the store. They can scan their own barcodes to compare prices, view product information and to access the reviews of other customers. They are also able to quickly track the shipment of their messages through mobile phones.

3. Surface computing and touch devices.

The presence of multi-touch devices in the store brings the interaction with the customer to a new dimension. With such devices, the customer gets a different experience in accessing content and information.

4. Application of Augmented Reality (AR).

Although the adoption of this technology is still in early stages, but the AR will undoubtedly have a major impact on retail. AR applications using object recognition and GPS can help customers find your store. At this time, the cost is quite high for the AR, but the technology is very feasible to be developed.

5. Mobile payments and near-field communications (NFC).

Mobile payment is becoming popular among the retailers due to the higher use of smartphones. One thing is for sure, mobile payment and NFC technology makes transactions at the store to be more efficient. Customers simply attach their smartphone at the register to make a payment. Fast, efficient, as well as providing its own shopping experience.

6. QR code.

With QR codes retailers can expand their presence through virtual stores such as Tesco carried out in a subway station in South Korea. Customers can use their mobile phone to scan the QR code shown on the goods they want, and the item will be delivered to the desired address.

7. Local Social Mobile Media (Solomon).

The increasing use of smartphones and mobile applications encourage the convergence of social, local and mobile media. Solomon works with the principle of mobile discovery. They will track the locations of mobile devices to deliver appropriate content. It can be a competitive advantage for retailers.

8. Video analytic.

This allows the retailer to learn the flow of traffic, duration of customer visits, spending intentions, and the amount of expenditures actually made. The technology can even detect how and when customers are actively involved in the promotion message, determine demographic data, and send relevant content to customers in real time. No doubt the video analytic provide crucial customer insight to the retailer.

The key in using technology is to have an open mind. Eliminate your doubts embrace new technology, because it can bring you closer to the customer, and advancing your business.