Put Your Website On Auto Pilot

STEP 2: PLANNING A SOLUTION

Okay, now you've identified the different forms of feedback your Website throws at you. And you're raring to go, and set up a process to reply to these eMails.

Whoa! Hold on for just a moment. An 'ounce' of planning now can save you 'pounds' of wasted effort later.

The questions you should ask yourself now are:

• how do you gather feedback?
• how do you want to respond to visitor feedback - by eMail, on a Website, or by other methods?
• how quickly do you want to answer questions?
• how much time and effort can you afford to put into this process, or how many people can you hire to do it for you?

This will determine the solution you will employ.

HOW DO YOU GATHER FEEDBACK?

There are many ways you can ask for feedback on your Website. The two most often used are:

• Web based forms
• eMail links

eMail links have the advantage that almost anyone can use them, irrespective of the kind of Web browser they use. But as most browsers today are forms-capable, and the dangers of posting your eMail address on a Website (such as having it harvested by spammers) are increasing, Web forms are preferred by most sites.

By thinking and planning the way your forms are created, you can simplify the process of handling feedback and allow easy automation of the response. If, for instance, you create a separate form for users to submit a 'site recommendation', all these messages can be answered by a common eMail message. This lets you set up an autoresponder just for this purpose!

HOW DO YOU WANT TO RESPOND?

If you are an eMail addict like me, you might prefer to use it to handle all visitor feedback. On the other hand you might want to tackle them from your Website itself. Alternately your Website might only be a vehicle to drive queries about your off-line business and you'd respond to queries by postal mail, fax or a phone call.

Deciding upon this step early-on lets you plan and design your Website forms accordingly.

HOW QUICKLY MUST YOU RESPOND?

The nature of your Website determines the answer to this question. A customer ready to complete an order, a patient desperately seeking help with a medical condition, or an investor seeking stock tips would desire (near-) instant responses. A student visiting a site on medieval history wouldn't mind waiting a week or more for an answer.

You need to set a goal that is:

• in keeping with the needs of your Website's audience
• achievable consistently without too much effort on your part

WHAT ARE YOUR CAPABILITIES IN HANDLING THIS PROCESS?

If you are Amazon.com, you could afford to hire a fleet of operators to simply answer customer feedback. But if you are a one (wo)man show, you can't afford this luxury.

Remember - don't over-stretch yourself. While overwhelming customer service is indispensable for a successful Website, consistency is also equally important. Once visitors are used to a certain level of service, they'll resent it if you slip below that standard.