Contact Us! Enabling Customer Connections via Contact Forms
By: David Evans
Contact forms are a great way for your customers to reach out and connect with you. Whether they are looking to offer you a compliment, file a complaint, make a criticism or ask a question, contact forms provide your customer with an ideal venue to express themselves. More importantly, they help the customer open a line of communication with you, enabling you to reach them and really “WOW” them.
Here are a few ideas to keep in mind when creating contact forms on your eCommerce website:
Response Time?
Responding to a customer quickly is arguably the most important success factor for your contact forms. A study by Rant & Rave shows that 43% of people surveyed don’t use contact forms because they think the business doesn’t care and thus, will not respond. Of those 43%, 81% said they would be willing to use a contact form if they knew they’d get a fast response. Another report—this one from InsideSales.com—shares research that shows that 50% of buyers choose the vendor that responds first! Your contact forms can provide a significant boost to potential lead generation and sales conversion. Therefore, when setting up a contact form, be sure you’re ready to respond quickly to any form submissions.
Purpose?
When developing your contact forms, understand why you are setting up a contact form in the first place, and then match the information collected to the purpose for which the data is needed. What information are you trying to get from your users? Contact forms should be simple, legible, and pertinent. Asking for information that isn’t needed deters customers from reaching out. Taking the time to figure out what information is truly needed is key.
Organization?
Who is handling responding to contact form submissions? Consider creating a subject drop down box that allows your user to choose from a list of pre-defined subjects that will then be associated with individual departments. I.E. Sales will be associated with sales@xyz.com, support with support@xyz.com, etc. This can help organize where the contact response are going and will help with decreasing response time.
Why contact forms are important in eCommerce?
By utilizing these tips and information, you can create a fantastic contact form that will help your customers reach you with feedback. If done correctly, customer satisfaction can increase; with the increase in customer satisfaction, repeat business can go up; with repeat business means increased revenue. A great contact form can help immensely on your eCommerce website.
Sources
http://www.helpscout.net/blog/customer-feedback/
http://blog.usabilla.com/10-dos-and-donts-for-your-contact-form-design/
