Every point of contact with a customer or prospect is an opportunity to provide better customer service, and to plant the seeds for a sale.  Your Thank You pages should confer your thanks, but it also can offer customers and visitors to your site something they may not have noticed, and that may be of interest to them.

Most of us don’t fully utilize the Thank You pages that get displayed after purchases, or when an inquiry is made via a form.  Too often, those pages, simply say “Thank You” or “Thank You for your order” or something like, “Your request is being processed. We’ll get back to you soon.”

Those types of pages are better than nothing, but they are missed opportunities. So, here are some tips for empowering your Thank You pages.

If you offer online shopping:

1. Make the words Thank You bigger than the other text. While you are at it, tell them you appreciate their business
2. Be sure to prominently display your Toll-Free phone number. If you don’t have a Toll-Free number, you are not serious about wanting customers.
3. Have a link to the Customer Account login page.
4. Display the special of the day, week, or month.
5. Display at least two items, saying, “People who bought this also bought these items:”
6. Have a link to your “Specials” or other RSS feeds
7. Have links to your Shipping & Returns pages.
8. Make sure your Thank You page has <meta name=”robots” content=”noindex”>  in the header,  so you don’t mess up your analytics. The only time anyone should see your Thank You page is after they place an order or fill out another form.
9. Use  Adwords conversion tracking on your Thank You page. If you are not using Google AdWords, you should be.
   

If you don’t offer online shopping, you likely have a Contact, Request Info, or Sign Up form. Here are some tips for you.

1. Make the words Thank You bigger than the other text. While you are at it, tell them you appreciate the time they gave you.
2. Be sure to prominently display your Toll-Free phone number. If you don’t have a Toll-Free number, you are not serious about wanting customers.
3. Prominently display an email address they can use if they want to contact you later instead of having to use your form again.
4. Display and have a link to a daily, weekly, or monthly feature or  News (RSS) Feed.
5. Make sure your Thank You page has <meta name=”robots” content=”noindex”>  in the header, so  you don’t mess up your analytics. The only time anyone should see your Thank You page is after they  fill out a form.
6. If you are using Google AdWords, use conversion tracking on your Thank You page.

Use as few or as many of these tips that are appropriate for your site. As with any page, I am not suggesting a bunch of clutter. Use some thought as to positioning, layout and use of white space.

Turn that Thank You page into a customer service and sales opportunity!

Please add your own tips or thoughts by leaving a comment.

Simple as One, Two, Three? Well, almost. The basic concept of a home page really should be that simple. That said, it takes work to make something worthwhile and simple.

Whether visitors realize it or not, they are asking themselves three things when they land on your home page. Here is what they are asking, and what you can do.

1. Am I in the right place? You have only seconds to get a visitor’s attention. Communicate clearly (write simply), be careful of using industry jargon that your visitor may not understand (or may make their eyes cloud over). Use visuals. Don’t clutter.
2. Do I believe these people? Build confidence. Do you look credible? Are you real people? Are these items easy-to-find: phone number, email address, address, photos of your business and/or staff?
3. Where do I go now? Can I buy something, learn something, look at photos, leave a comment, contact you?

If you do your job well enough that visitors decide to click to other pages, give them consistent page design, with clear navigation, and page layout that puts things where your visitors expect to find them.

There you have it. Three simple steps to a quality home page.

Can you count on your email getting delivered or read? Don’t bet your job on it.

What should you do if you send an important email, and you have not received a reply within a reasonable amount of time? First, check your “Sent” or “Out Box” folder to make sure your email actually got sent. If it did, send a follow up. If you still get no reply, pick up the phone and call your intended recipient. Don’t apply pressure, just ask if they received your email. If they answer affirmatively, just say, thanks and that you wanted to be sure they received it.

There are many reasons an email may not get delivered or opened. Did you send to the correct email address? (You would be surprised at the number of emails sent to the wrong person.) Previously, we talked about spam filters and anti-spam programs. Another reason could also be the size of the attachment you sent. Many users have mail boxes that are relatively small. Five and ten MB mailboxes are not uncommon, so very large attachments (or multiple attachments) can render your email undeliverable. Even larger mailboxes fill up quickly, especially for someone who doesn’t check mail frequently (or leaves their mail on the server for a long time). Think before you hit the send button.

Emails do get lost in the etherland. In general, there is no guaranteed delivery. For those of you who really need a guarantee, there are some paid services that guarantee delivery. The most talked about is Goodmail Systems.

In short:

• Don’t assume someone read your email.
• Check your out box to see if your email was sent.
• Check your recipient address for accuracy.
• Check the file size of your attachment if you have one.
• Think before you hit the send button.
• Follow up with another email or call.

As I said, don’t bet your job that someone read your email.