Great Customer Service? It's All in the Details

After you discover a market through researching for a quality niche, you’ll want to spend some time thinking about your customers before you do anything else! And we don’t just mean how to market to them or take their money! Unless your product can be delivered electronically, it’s important to consider the best way to store, package and ship to your customers before you even consider making an order or producing your stock. One of the quickest ways to sink any business is to forget about logistics and customer service issues until you’re in the thick of dealing with them. Your customers won’t accept the excuse that you “hadn’t thought of that!” or “you’re just starting out!” or “you’ve grown faster than you expected!” They just want what they came to you to buy… and if you can’t deliver, they won’t be back. So before you launch any business, make sure you have:

• The space to store enough inventory to begin shipping to a fair amount of customers right away — and grow a little from there, too!
• The correct storage conditions so your product isn’t damaged or spoiled before you send it outnn
• Packaging that will ensure the safe (and fresh) delivery of your product — again, without any breakage or spoilagenn
• An exact calculation of your shipping costs to see if it’s worthwhile for your customers to order from you, rather than from your competition, or buying locallynn
• Ways for your customers to get hold of you if anything should go awry (telephone and/or fax, functioning email that you answer regularly, etc.)
• Strategies to deal with weather concerns, mail delays, border issues, international shipping concerns (if applicable)

nBy thinking through these issues in advance, you’ll not only launch your business on the right foot, but you’ll also be able to get a better idea of any financial or logistical commitments you’ll need to make before you earn a single dime. It may turn out that you need to rethink your product or chosen delivery method, or go back to the drawing board to work on your business plan a little longer. While it might seem like a lot of fussy details to work out, by working them out in advance, you’ll skip any sort of nasty surprises. We’ve discussed the ins and outs of logistics with many of the most successful Internet businesses online today — and shared their techniques and tricks with our clients so they can avoid “newbie” mistakes and startup hassles. To learn from their experience and follow in some pretty big footsteps, head to Secrets To Their Success. And as always, we’d love to hear from you in the comments. Tell us about your customer service challenges and successes!