Now that you are set up, you’re almost ready for the purpose of all this preparation, making sales.  You will be making sales, and with good preparation up to now, lots of them.  Most of them will come through the shopping cart on your website and depending on what you are selling, and if you set up a phone line, by phone.  You need to have a system in place to cover phone sales, and questions people may have before they place the order.  You’ll also need to have your payment options set up.  As happy as you will be when you are getting orders, you’re also going to have to examine them to make sure they are not fraud.   In this section we will go over the pre-sales, sales, order problems, and the post sales part of electronic commerce.

Pre-Sale

Most of the pre-sale questions you will get by phone or email will be asking about product specifications and usage, shipping questions like how long, expedited shipping inquires, and where you ship to.  You will also get inquiries as to what payment types you accept, as well as questions about things vaguely related to your business that you will be asking yourself why the person called.  Making the basic information clearly visible on your website will cut down on the calls and emails you get from people seeking this information.  

Some companies have a FAQ, or Frequently Asked Questions section on their website with answers to these and other common questions.  If whoever is answering your phone or emails has knowledge of the products you are selling and their usage, this will make things easier for answering questions, and assisting people in closing the sale.

There are also call centers that for a fee will answer your phones for you and take orders, usually over the internet using the same means as a customer ordering directly from your website.  The main advantage of the call centers is that there is someone answering your phone 24 hours a day.  They usually charge a monthly fee plus by the minute charges for each phone call.

They will be able to answer basic questions about store policy like payment options if you provide them with a script for answering questions.  These companies will even provide you with a toll free number for your customers to use.  This is not recommended because if you decide to switch call centers or stop using them, you will lose the toll free number you’ve been advertising. 

The downside, besides the cost, is that the call center reps may be answering your phone line one minute, then taking a message for a doctor’s office the next.  You will not have any specialized service from them outside of someone answering your phone and reading from the basic information you supplied them.

If you are answering your phone yourself you will need to have voice mail, or something in place, for the times you are not available to answer.  Some companies forward calls to a call center for the hours they are not available to answer.