Do You Make It Difficult to Do Business With You?

This morning, I went to a website to order a product.  When I found what I wanted, I discovered that to order it, I had to complete a long registration form. On this form it only permitted me to enter info from a pre-selected list, and many of the selections didn’t apply to me or my business. However, I muddled my way through.

Once it was completed, I got a message that I wouldn’t be able to place an online order but would have to call the company.  My hackles were beginning to rise.  Because this product isn’t universally available, I gritted my teeth and made the call anyhow.  The first question I was asked was my customer number, which had been given to me online just after I completed the registration process, but I accidentally closed out that window, and no email was forthcoming with that piece of info.

I responded that I didn’t have it, and the customer service person looked for it without success and placed me on hold twice to search for it.  She finally returned to tell me that she was going to have to call me back because she need to contact the web customer service department.

An hour or so later, she called me back and left the number on my voicemail.  I then had to call the company again to place the order.  All of this for an order of less than $10!  Had I been able to purchase this product elsewhere, I would have.  This company was making it much too difficult for me to want to do business with them.

Do you have roadblocks set up that frustrate your customers who are trying to order from you online?  If you haven’t automated your systems so that a prospective customer’s order is handled immediately and seamlessly, you are no doubt losing business.

Here’s a link to the shopping cart system I use that makes my life so much easier: Affordable and Poweful Shopping Cart Systems.

Don’t frustrate your customers–make it as easy as possible for them to do business with you!