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Finder founder found figures favoured five flounders
ONLINE success favours businesses that focus on the basics - great customer service - according to the experience and research of finder.com.au co-founder, Fred Schebesta.
Mr Schebesta, who spends a lot of his time these days mentoring Australian start-up technology businesses, warned that Australian online businesses risk permanently damaging their brand reputations and financial bottom lines because of poor customer service standards.
"By ignoring what customers say - that's a fast road to financial ruin," Mr Schebesta said. "Without face-to-face contact, digital businesses need to work extra hard to establish loyalty and trust with their users."
Mr Schebesta believes it is important to build a lasting relationship with customers and companies that fail at this "won't be in business for too long".
Mr Schebesta discovered early that one of the most important metrics for any business to monitor was whether users recommend a service.
"It costs a lot to drive people to your website, so you want to hang on to them when they land on your page," he said.
"When you do get a customer - the aim is for them to like it so much they want to share it. That way, you generate a sense of ‘virality' to the experience so that you're only paying for that initial contact.
"Connecting with customers doesn't just happen overnight. Businesses need to put in the legwork all the time.
"Always think of the long-term benefits. Our service is free, and we spend up to one and a half hours on each call, a huge investment of man hours with no guarantee of financial return," Mr Schebesta said.
"As a believer in the concept of ‘manufacturing serendipity', I'm always confident that we'll receive something in return."
Now one of Australia's biggest comparison websites, Mr Schebesta said finder.com.au has figures to show it has helped more than 4.8 million Australians find better credit cards, home loans, life insurance, shopping deals and other comparative advantages since 2006. According to Google Analytics figures, on average one Australian every five minutes is using finder.com.au or one of its network sites, creditcardfinder.com.au and lifeinsurancefinder.com.au, to find better financial solutions.
Mr Schebesta has outlined five reasons that stop customers from liking a business.
Fred Schebesta's Online Business Warning Signs
1. Your customer service team doesn't embrace your brand values. Your employees are the face of your brand. Confirm that they share your company's values and understand its goals before communicating with customers. Hold regular meetings to discuss these goals and ensure that everyone is moving in the same direction.
2. Using enquiries as an opportunity to sell. It can be hard to resist going into sales mode when talking to a customer, but you should treat all enquiries as a trust exercise. Listen carefully, provide quality feedback and helpful information to exceed the customers' expectations to ensure they come back. When they do, it's time to sell.
3. You've failed to test the product. If you haven't trialled your product or website with a test audience prior to launch, then you can expect to receive disgruntled or confused customers. Careful testing will uncover potential hiccups before they go public which gives you time to find solutions or procedures to deal with any complaints or inquiries you may receive.
4. You're unwilling to go outside of your job description. Empathy will take you far in business. Always remember you're a human being first. If you find a person that is having a difficult time, even if their issue has nothing to do with you - help them. We once had a customer who desperately required dental surgery. She had been living in pain for nine months due to issues with her credit file. We ended up searching for a dentist that would provide treatment without any background check. We had no direct gain and this certainly isn't part of our services at finder.com.au, but we wanted to help. You can't buy that kind of referral.
5. You've created barriers to customer communication. If a customer has to search for more than 15 seconds for your contact information, they're not likely to contact you for anything nice. And there should always be more than one way of providing feedback or making an enquiry. We made a bold move in the beginning to be available via phone 24/7. We knew that none of our competitors were offering this type of service, giving us an advantage. We also operate with Live Chat, email and online posts answering around 1,000 user questions per month.
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