Picture this. You have been traveling over the hill side and through the winding worn in trails of the forest. Your horses are taking you and your family from your farm to the closest town. As you approach the gate of entry you see people coming and going as life in the town is bustling.
The excitement is now building as you enter the town. Riding through the main street you see crowds of people wondering through the marketplace. They are buying any number of things from the local vendors. Farmers have brought in produce and grains, the blacksmith has horse shoes and furnace tools, some women are displaying quilts and clothing materials, and on and on. People are buying and selling all around you.
In fact from the days currency became a part of society people have been buying and selling things. The amazing thing is however that the Main St or Town Square has grown into a global community all because of the Internet. Add that with the effective delivery capability and you have yourself an open marketplace.
In order to be successful as an e-tailor you also need to maintain a proper degree of professionalism. Even in the picture we painted above those vendors worked hard at earning a reputation of giving good services and offering quality products.
Okay so you have your web page operating and you are selling products on line. How can you be professional?
For starters how does you web page look? Is it easy to follow? Does it show you put some thought into it? Can I tell pretty quickly what you are? Yes a brief description of who are you and what you do is always a professional approach.
Are your products easy to sift through? Do you offer simple descriptions of your products? Is the price clear? Is the information accurate? Too often people find things on line only to find they don’t have it anymore. It is important to keep your site up to date.
Are your delivery methods clearly stated? Are all the options well stated? Are you 100% on top of your deliveries? Do you have top notch and reliable delivery procedures? Will the product arrive when you say it will?
How about your return policies? Are they easy and reasonable? Are you a pleasant experience to deal with?
Are you available for questions or problems? I cannot believe the amount of sites that do not provide email or phone numbers in plain site. Your customer shouldn’t have to waste hours trying to resolve a problem. Of course there is nothing unprofessional about providing an FAQ section on your web page. Oftentimes people can resolve or answer their own question by visiting the frequently asked questions. But some people want to speak to or correspond with the people who sold them the product. And why shouldn’t they be able to?
While many of these things may appear to be common sense the fact is it helps to have a reminder now and again to be a professional and remember what it is like to be a consumer. After all they are giving you there money.
So don’t forget things like having a simple payment procedure and not misrepresenting anything about you or your products. Remember you can form a bond that may lead to many more sales if you are professional and accommodating. Return sales are a significant part of retail in fact. And return sales are largely based on customer satisfaction. So it is undeniably worth giving your site and your business practices the professional touch.
Ironically this will also set you apart from your competition. Because just as sure as we are encouraging you to be more detailed and professional there are many who do not think it matters or that it is important. They will continue to let down their customers and present themselves in a uncaring manner and wonder why they are not doing well. Or they will be too lazy to take a few moments here and there to review our business methods.
But you don’t have to be like that. Hopefully you won’t be. Hopefully this article will motivate you to maintain a professional image. And don’t kid yourself into thinking that it takes an extraordinary effort to follow through with this plan of action. Because it really doesn’t.
In all honesty it usually is a result or mixture of knowledge and caring. Do you possess both?
This is a post from the " Be Professional " series of articles.
Other posts from this series:
- Be Professional Even Doing Your Hobby
- Be Professional Don't Follow The Path of Least Resistance
- Be Professional: Writing and Blogging
- Be Professional: Good Video/Audio And Imaging
- Be Professional: Advice Can Be Rewarding
- Be Professional: Be Flexible and Know Your Target Market
- Be Professional: As a VA or Freelance Contractor
- Be Professional: Affiliate Marketing
- Be Professional: Listen Up Recruiters
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