For high-volume ecommerce businesses, traditional phone support can be an inefficient money pit. This episode breaks down why EcomCrew eliminated phone support, advocating instead for streamlined email support and community engagement (Facebook groups, webinars) to boost efficiency and profitability. Learn how to optimize your customer service strategy and reallocate resources for maximum impact without sacrificing customer satisfaction.
Key takeaways
Re-evaluate the necessity of phone support for your transactional ecommerce business, as it often has a negative ROI due to high effort and low monetary return.
Prioritize email support due to its cost-effectiveness, ease of outsourcing (e.g., to international teams), and ability to provide thoughtful, less-pressured responses.
Implement multi-channel support using platforms like Facebook Messenger and dedicated customer communities (e.g., Facebook groups) to foster engagement and provide efficient assistance.
Leverage webinars as a proactive customer support and engagement tool, offering direct interaction, Q&A sessions, and educational content to address common customer pain points.
Consider outsourcing customer service tasks, particularly email support, to reduce costs and free up internal resources for other strategic initiatives.
You may find this surprising, but Dave and I don't have a dedicated phone support for our respective businesses. Well, we used to. Dave's first ecommerce business had it for five days a week. I used to have 24/7 customer support via telephone for treadmill.com. We also had it for a while here on Terran until late last year. After the person who did this for us sent in his notice, we finally decided to remove it permanently in the last week of December 2017. So, why did we turn the phone off? Mostly because it was just too much effort for very little money. In Terran's case, we found that we were actually losing money. Dave sold his first ecommerce business in 2016. When he started another one, he consciously made the decision to do away with phone support altogether. Is phone support useless? That depends. There are businesses that benefit, even need, phone support to obtain leads that will convert into sales. However, for a transactional volume business like ours, it's hard to justify in that vacuum. Why we love email support Turning off the phone allowed us to focus on other customer support methods. We think email is the best of the lot. It's easy to outsource (i.e. our team in the Philippines answers customer emails, along with other tasks) so that brings the cost down. Unlike a ringing phone, it's easier to resist the lure of the inbox. Customer support alternatives In addition to email, EcomCrew utilizes a few other channels to help out both students and non-students. We answer questions via Messenger and on the EcomCrew Premium Facebook group. We also host three webinars each month where participants can interact with us and ask questions. You can register for the next one using the link below. Importing From China: Everything You Need to Know EcomCrew Premium registratio
What does this episode say about customer retention?
Re-evaluate the necessity of phone support for your transactional ecommerce business, as it often has a negative ROI due to high effort and low monetary return.
What does this episode say about founder & leadership?
Prioritize email support due to its cost-effectiveness, ease of outsourcing (e.g., to international teams), and ability to provide thoughtful, less-pressured responses.
What does this episode say about supply chain & operations?
Implement multi-channel support using platforms like Facebook Messenger and dedicated customer communities (e.g., Facebook groups) to foster engagement and provide efficient assistance.
What does this episode say about customer retention?
Leverage webinars as a proactive customer support and engagement tool, offering direct interaction, Q&A sessions, and educational content to address common customer pain points.
What does this episode say about customer retention?
Consider outsourcing customer service tasks, particularly email support, to reduce costs and free up internal resources for other strategic initiatives.
