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This Week's Quote
Internalize the Golden Rule of sales that says, 'All things being equal, people will do business with, and refer business to, those people they know, like and trust.'
- Bob Burg
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This Week's Glossary Pick
CIRA
(Canadian Internet Registration Authority)
It is a not-for-profit organization mandated to operate the dot-ca top-level domain.
As a registry, CIRA sets policy for,
manages and operates the dot-ca domain
database for registrars and registrants. CIRA is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. |
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Don't
Be Shy
In the store or on line, customer confidence
can make or break a sale. In Issue #4, The Confidence Builder,
we talked about the importance of
establishing Comfort Factors for your on
line visitors. We focus this week on
being readily accessible for inquiries and
sales.
Here are four items you should include in
your Contact information.
1. Telephone Number: Many
of today's business and consumer people
still want to speak directly with someone.
Including a telephone number indicates you
are readily available and willing to assist
with inquiries and sales. A toll free
number gives you a great competitive edge if
your customers are out of town. Even
with the use of a toll free number, it helps
to include your local number as well.
2. Geographical Address:
Many people are comfortable with electronic
communication, however it's still a good
idea to include or street or mailing
address. This gives your customer a
greater sense of stability and confidence in
your business. The customer feels he
or she has an arm's length reach to you as a
viable, legitimate enterprise.
3. E-Mail or Submission Form:
An e-mail address should always be included
to give your web visitor the opportunity to
conveniently and quickly correspond with
you. An e-mail address that makes use
of your domain name rather than your ISP's
domain name, or a free Hotmail or Yahoo
account is professional and perpetuates your
branding. If you prefer not to include
an actual e-mail address on the web site,
thereby avoiding spammers who mine the
Internet for valid e-mail addresses, make
sure you include an on line mail form in
which your visitor can enter a name, e-mail
address, phone number, other optional
information and a box for comments.
AND ALWAYS, try to return an inquiry within
the same or very next business day - no more
than 24 hours!
4. Staff Names and Departments:
Including one or more names of sales or
service representatives makes your on line
presence that more personal. If
multiple e-mail addresses exist for your
company, make it clear to whom you would
like which e-mail correspondence to be sent
to. You web visitor should not have to
guess who to contact to make an inquiry.
Your contact page should clearly identify
who to write to for sales, information,
service or technical support, executive or
administrative business and so on. |