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Customer service is a delicate craft. But it's one we'd all love to master, as it can boost online conversion (and offline conversion considerably). Let's first have a quick look at the art of buying and selling in the world we physically live in: offline conversion. Every one of us has suffered at least one attack of awful customer service. Maybe in a bookshop, or on a plane. I remember my father storming out of a restaurant once, dragging us all along; he'd asked for the check three times and it just wouldn't come. He was fuming with anger. And how many times didn't I get red in the face myself, talking to some utterly stupid service rep on the phone? Now, imagine how hard it is to get some online conversion. In the online world, we're serving people we can't see or hear, who can't see or hear us. It's hard to understand them correctly, and it's even harder to get them back once you lost them. At every virtual corner, competitors stand screaming and shouting, luring in people who might have shopped at your store, but didn't - because you got it wrong.

Avoiding online conversion with illogical customer service

Whether shopping offline or online, customers are people. And people only do what you'd like them to do (in your case: buying) when they feel at ease. As a webshop owner, making your visitors feel heard should be your number one priority. If they do, they might just be confident enough to part with their precious nickels and dimes (or euros, or dollars). But if your shop feels only slightly 'wrong' to them, they'll click away. No second chances when online conversion is concerned! Not only will 'wronged' visitors refrain from buying, they won't come back either, and they'll tell their friends to stay away. Rightly so, we may add. Let's pretend you're a potential customer with the intention of buying. You enter an old-fashioned brick and mortar shop (say a fashion store) and go up to the shop assistant to enquire about sizes. Three things might happen:

1. The shop assistant looks at you with empty eyes. You ask the question again. He doesn't respond. (Online alternative: the email you sent, gets no reply. You send another email. Still no reply. These people are not worthy of your money, that's for sure. Goodbye!)
2. The shop assistant nods. "Well, Ronald, we do have something in stock that might be of interest to you." You frown. First of all, your name is Alice. Secondly, you're short and curvy - nobody could possibly mistake you for a man. (Online alternative: the email you sent, does get a reply. But even though the content seems relevant, you don't feel heard at all. To these people, you're nothing but a ticket number, or a lazy 'Sir/Madam', or just someone with another name. Off to another webshop you go!)
3. Ever so slowly, the shop assistant focuses his glazy gaze on your face. Is he on drugs or something? Words start coming out of his mouth, but he doesn't seem to know much about the products he's meant to sell. He certainly doesn't seem to care. (Online alternative: the email you sent, gets such an incomplete reply, written in such an indifferent way, that you don't even bother to ask a follow-up question. Till never again!)

Achieving online conversion with logical customer service

In all three cases, you end up leaving the shop. Online conversion doesn't happen, and online conversion won't ever happen, because:

1. The potential customer is ignored.
2. The potential customer doesn't feel welcome.
3. The potential customer is informed inadequately.

I've got news for you: there's a cure for this all. Something so simple you'll wonder how you ever managed without: Casengo. Here goes...

1. Casengo makes it kind of impossible to ignore any customer. Each customer query lands in your free Casengo inbox as a case. And every case has a status: new, pending, resolved, etc. At one glance, you know which customer is still waiting for an answer. You instantly know where your priority lies. Simple. Check out our fun little trailer.
2. Whatever you do with a case, it will always seems genuine to your customer. We at Casengo don't like treating people as tickets. Sure, we know that at the end of the day, every customer query represents a number down the line. But we know that nobody wants to feel that way. Casengo brings back the human touch in customer support. Learn the basics in 2 minutes.
3. Casengo makes collaborating with your co-workers something like breathing or sneezing. You just do it. Every case (filled with questions and answers, whether sent by email or in a chat conversation) can be forwarded as a whole to someone who knows the answer to the customer question. He or she shares his wisdom by commenting on the case, you respond to the customer, and the case is resolved. As a team, you always have an adequate response at hand. One of our happy customers, Ikbenmama, is particularly pleased with this aspect of our tool; check out Ikbenmama's video testimonial here. If customer service is a craft, online customer support is an art. So is online conversion. But it doesn't need to be complex, or expensive. Discover Casengo, smart customer support software for webshops and smaller businesses. Simple. Solid. Beautiful. Try it now!