One of the more interesting solutions I found for eCommerce sites was from one of my favorite SaaS providers – LogMeIn. They have been providing great remote access for my remote support needs, as well as for many clients. LogMeIn is an easy solution to implement – a quick client based program, and you have the ability to access your (or your clients) computer from any current browser. It handles multiple monitors and has multiple layers of security. They have different levels of product from Free (really free) to enterprise.
LogMeIn has introduced BoldChat (they may well rename or at least redo the logo which looks like 3 different words) as a low cost chat solution, a midrange solution and an enterprise solution to go up against LivePerson.
The low cost option is Free - http://boldchat.com/free-live-chat-software.asp. Can’t beat that cost, the limitations seem to be reasonable. The biggest limitations are how many chats per month, and how many concurrent sessions are running. This is enough to get most small ecommerce sites up and going, allow them to build those FAQ answers, and design how to organize your resources for prompt response. By the time the number of chats (750 per month) is becomes limiting, the next level should be a no brainer for your organization to fund at less then a fast food lunch is these days.
The basic level is $99 per seat per year or $9 per month. So for less then a Vonnage account, or RingCentral or any other telephony solutions (well maybe Skype can be less) you have a great way to be able to have chat. Complete with a self documenting solution for building your business into a repeatable solution.
The enterprise level has more features, and does cost less then your typical rent for the desk space and share of a break room for your agent. This level will integrate into SalesForce.com, have predictive messaging, better integration across team members and more reporting. At the enterprise level the mindset is to work more collaboratively as a team across your chat team.
Is it BoldChat or BuildChat or …?
Chat is quickly becoming the expected norm in ecommerce to assist in providing excellent quality service to visitors who want to learn about your product. If you don’t provide enough service on the site, they will take there business elsewhere with the click of a mouse or often with a quick jump in the car. Chat is also an opportunity to see into the customers real needs and questions, rather then having to guess what they are looking for. This tools allows you to collect real questions (in the way real visitors ask them, not how you think they ask them), and allow you to sculpt your most appropriate answers for re-use.
If you are planning on having relationships with your clients and will be using the Internet, plan on experimenting and testing with chat as soon as possible. It’s useful not just in answering a few questions while juggling another voice call, but also in having a self documenting way to collect answers for your next agents, and sales team members. These can be collected and put into a FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions (a whole other post). That is one of the easier ways to implement the systems approach of Michael Gerber’s E-Myth Revisited of working ON your business, rather then IN your business.
Want to save time and get more traffic to your website? I recommend answering your visitor’s questions as clearly and completely as you can. This takes the advice written by Michael Gerber, decades before the Internet was even opened up to the public.
If your website is a part of your business, I highly recommend reading Michael Gerber’s The E-Myth Revisited. It is written partly as a parable to describe the entrepreneurial myth of many small businesses. It is part parable, and part information. Gerber uses the story of Sarah, a struggling business woman, to describe the process of the written steps you need to take to improve your business. Whether your business is large or small, the website needs to have an entrepreneurial spirit. Therefore, I recommend reading and integrating this classic book that has formed the foundation of the businesses I have started, and the hundreds of business’ I have consulted for.
If you are trying to get more traffic to your site as easily as possible, I recommend creating or extending your FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section on the site. The idea of the FAQ is to collect all the different questions that customers ask on a repeated basis with answers. Why does a FAQ get you more traffic? Because when properly designed these pages will be descriptive of the terms that customers use to look for answers on your site. These terms will probably be repeated just enough without seeming ‘spammy’. So take the time to write out the questions and answers on separate pages to let users understand your site in the context of the questions your visitors are looking at your site.
It has also been suggested that Timothy Ferriss’ The Four Hour Work Week is another great resource that really explores the idea of defining your business on paper in a way that can ge shared with others. There are some great concepts there and clear steps outlined on how to document your business and create FAQ or Frequently Asked Questions pages. He has made a whole lot of money on implementing effective (both cost and time) ways of making money on the web following his own advice.
Are you a newer business without the traffic and experience of knowing the questions your visitors will ask? Time to do some market research. Larger business’ will pay a decent dollar to go out and see what perspective customers are thinking about. If you cannot afford to pay, it is time to get guerrilla in your approach. Ask friends, set up a kiosk at a flea market, hang at coffee shop, go to your kids soccer game and ask what questions do you have. Be ready to collect the questions, and test the answers. Stop by the library and read about market surveys and how to create your tests with as little bias as possible.
I would recommend a FAQ page that has all the questions on one page, then link to each question and answer on a separate page. On the page, I recommend the following:
A clear title that states the site name, short version of the question, and contact info (800 number).
A clear description of the site and question in the Description META tag.
Keywords META tag related to the question and answer keyword phrases.
Question summary
Long question
Short answer with key phrases in them.
Longer answer with key phrases and links to other pages as appropriate to the site or off the site. This is your chance to really explain and give the background appropriate to understand your site and what you are trying to have each visitor walk away from your site with, knowledge wise.
Ideally, ‘breadcrumbs’ to how you got to this page from the home page of your site.
Ideally, links to the rest of the site navigation system in text and graphical.
Ideally, UGC – User Generated Content where visitors are allowed to comment and ask follow up questions and give responses.
Ideally, have short poll questions to begin to truly understand how users view your pages (4 questions at most, ideally only 1).
These steps generally will create content that will allow the search engines to ‘understand’ your site and help rank you well on a variety of search terms. The key is to explain your site from the perspective of someone who does not know anything about your site. Do not assume your users have much background when they come to this page and ask the question, if for no other reason than this is the case for Google. It does not automatically understand anything and it is up to you to ‘explain’ your questions to the search engines.
Understand that unless you have been writing interactive copy for decades (and the Internet has only been public for 15 years), you will need to continue to learn how your visitors interpret your site. That is OK, and the fun of online marketing. This will require you to continue to tweak and improve your site. Google actually prefers to see sites that continue to evolve rather than act like the US Constitution (and even that we keep considering changing on a regular basis with admendments). Remember, it is a lot easier to change a website than it is to change our tax code and laws, and ‘they’ change that with great frequency (usually for the worse, unless you have million dollar lobbyists, but I digress). Sucks that we have 100 Senators, not to mention the hundreds of Representatives, and they have a whole lot of staff just to work on the wording of our laws. Are you better than 600 legislatures and thousands of staff in your ability to write your website FAQ pages? If so, please contact me ASAP, we could make millions together! Otherwise, keep reviewing your questions and answers and keep improving your responses based on your feedback of how well you are communicating.
The key is to put in writing on the site all those amazing visions you have for helping others with your site. It really needs to be written down and not just in your head.
Is your website reaching its full potential? If not let us help you out.
For 14 years we have been producing results – Traffic, Prospect Inquiries, Phone Calls to Your Office, and most importantly SALES for clients using the Internet – websites, and email.
Let us briefly discuss your vision and objectives to see if we can assist you. While our list of successes is long, one brief example might wet your appetite – we grew the Internet side of one retailer from 2 orders a month to $1 million a month in online orders using search engine optimization, and email marketing in just 13 months.
We have a variety of ideas on how to optimize your business’ site for more traffic. But traffic alone is a waste of bits. We will gear your traffic towards results and profit.
We can offer solutions that range from simple (a quick phone conversation, where I will gladly share for the high price of a smiling voice) to consultative (let us get together for a lunch and a small fee to let you pick my brain of 14 years of web marketing experience) to structured (there are a variety of models).
Your Goals and Your Objectives determine the approach we can take to best work with you. Some of the custom approaches that have increased profits for our clients in the past are:
- Monthly rate
- Pay per visitor
- Fee per Phone call,
- Fee per Email
- Fee per Form filled out
- Percentage of sales
- Flat fee for services
- Mix and match of the above approaches
- Custom Solution Specific to Your Business Situation and Needs.
Rather then point you to a fancy website with a lot of fluff, or a 20 page whitepaper, we ask you to call us and cut through the jargon and speak on your terms. The biggest reason, we are not sure what your true objective is, so we currently have no idea what solution makes sense for you. So we will ask you to trust us this far – call us at (312)361-0844. Let us have a no pressure conversation where we get to learn your needs, we will share some tips and ideas, and see if we can work in partnership to let you meet your objectives. Another reason we don’t have a fancy website, to be brutally honest; we would rather put the effort into marketing your business rather then our’s.
They have been providing great remote access for my remote support needs, as well as for many clients. LogMeIn is an easy solution to implement – a quick client based program, and you have the ability to access your (or your clients) computer from any current browser. It handles multiple monitors and has multiple layers of security. They have different levels of product from Free (really free) to enterprise.
