Introduction

From inventory management to payment processing and marketing, many aspects of your online shop are based on the internet. But it doesn’t mean your store doesn’t need a phone line to provide phone-powered customer support.

The telephone is still the most widely used customer support channel and in this guide, we’ll break down why. The main causes for online shops to offer phone support are an older target audience, better opportunities for upsells, building rapport, and proving the brand’s professionalism.

Keep on reading to explore the top 10 reasons why an E-commerce shop should offer a phone support service in detail.

Why You Should Get a Phone Line for Your Online Shop

Here are the top reasons why eCommerce shops need a phone line for customer service.

1. Your Target Market is Older

Older people prefer phone calls over emails and social media conversations. Where apps like Apple mail or Instagram frequently update their interface, the phone has had the same layout for decades.

Similarly, they may not feel comfortable scrolling through a company’s FAQ page, tutorials, and manuals. But, do old people even shop online? Well, according to data from TheShelf, 90% of boomers shop online, at least once per month.

If you sell products that cater to an older audience, you should definitely have support for phone calls. That’s one of the many reasons top companies like Apple, Samsung, and Huawei offer a phone support service to their customers.

2. Customers May Have Questions/Issues That Can’t Be Dealt With Online

A customer may be unable to find out how to assemble a product they purchased from your store – even after looking at the manual and searching on the internet. In such a case, the only option left is to contact the customer support of their vendor.

The technical guidelines for the assembly of a certain product, its setup, or troubleshooting are more effective when communicated through a phone call. Phone calls make it easy for the consumers to ensure they’re satisfied with the instructions provided and that the instructions suit their particular case.

Similarly, consumers might find it convenient to call customer support if they have questions regarding any of your products that they’re unable to find answers to even after Googling.

3. Provides the Opportunity For Up-Sells

When customers are making a purchase, most likely they’ll be happy to pay more for added features and value such as VOIP PBX phone system. As a result, upselling alone can increase an online store’s revenue. Not only that upsells tend to be much more affordable than obtaining a new customer. With that in mind, upselling should be a part of the marketing strategy of any eCommerce shop.

The most effective way for an online shop to upsell is when the customer is on a phone call, because of the emotional bond developed by voice interaction. However, the customer support representative should be properly trained to target the customer’s pain points and upsell accordingly. Here are a few tips for upselling, however:

Make sure your upsell offer aligns with what the customer is looking for.
Don’t be pushy once you’ve presented a decent offer as it can damage your brand instead.
Use urgency – because if the customer doesn’t make a decision right away, most likely they’ll forget your offer.

4. Build Trust For High-Priced Product Sales

Customers like to buy products from brands they trust. Taking customers on remarkable customer support calls is a great way for online stores to do that. As phone calls build trust among consumers, they’re likely to shop from your brand again – this next sale could be much more profitable for the company than the current one.

In fact, customer service is sometimes an even stronger deciding factor than the pricing for customers. Therefore, customers are likely to choose an online shop with satisfactory customer service, for a big purchase.

5. You Appear More Professional

Customer service is an important element of a company’s professionalism. As a rule of thumb, customers want to be valued and dealt with well – regardless of how small their purchase is. Since a phone call is a great way to provide support to the consumers, it makes an online shop appear much more authentic and professional.

6. Better Way To Learn About Your Customers Needs

The way customers open up on calls, they’ll never do on your online shop’s chat support, email support, or forum. During a phone call service, customers feel valued and find comfortable with presenting their unique requirements. This can help eCommerce shops personalize their solution according to consumer needs and enjoy more success.

7. Provides Faster Service

Let’s say you buy a sofa set but the instructions manual is missing you’re not sure how exactly to assemble it. Now, you have two options; you can either Google the sofa set’s exact model and look for its assembly instructions across the web. Or, you can call the vendor’s customer support and have an expert guide you thoroughly.

If the assembly instructions can be found easily on the internet, going with the former method makes sense. Otherwise, as in most cases, the latter method is much faster for consumers to get their issue solved – leaving no time for them to complain or even worse; leave a 3-star review.

8. Easier to Build Rapport With Your Customers

Building rapport with a customer requires authenticity, love, empathy, similarity, and personalization. Expressing those emotions is sometimes not possible when writing a professional customer service email. But when on a customer service call, it becomes easier and quicker to build rapport with consumers – leading to higher customer loyalty.

That said, a face-to-face phone call (aka video call) is even more effective in building rapport with customers, particularly if they’re suffering from a technical issue like troubleshooting. According to America Express, 23% of customers suffering from these complicated issues look for face-to-face interaction.

9. Phone Calls Lead To Sales

Customers usually have many questions regarding a product, which keeps them from purchasing it. When they hop on a call with a store representative, they’re likely to get answers to their queries. When customers are thoroughly informed about the product: what they can expect from it and whether it fits their particular situation, the purchase chances are much higher.

10. Overall Better Customer Service Experience

Most customers prefer phone calls over other customer support channels. The possibility of expressing empathy, emotions, shared experiences, and personalization in a phone call is a big reason why customers prefer phone calls. As a result, phone calls are the most effective channel for providing customer support to consumers.

But, what phone line service should you aim at? Let’s find out.

The Best Phone Lines For Your Business

Here is an overview of the top business phone lines for your E-commerce shop on the market:

1. CommunityPhone (Wireless)

CommunityPhone is the ideal replacement for traditional carrier and VoIP business phone service providers. The company offers a wireless business phone service that offers advanced features such as unlimited nationwide calling, a customizable dial menu, and call routing.

Moreover, CommunityPhone lets you migrate a business number from your existing provider, or you can select a new one. Plus, it offers a quick setup and throws in a 30-day money-back guarantee that is trusted and legit.

CommunityPhone operates by connecting your landline phone to nearby cell phone towers. The company offers a landline base device that receives signals from your nearby cell phone tower and connects to any phone in your office.

2. Nextiva (VoIP)

Nextiva is yet another innovative platform that makes it easy for your customer support representatives (or you) to hop on calls with customers. What’s exciting about Nextiva is its automation features, allowing you to automate repetitive tasks and save time.

Ecommerce stores can not only use Nextiva to carry out customer support calls but also offer professional video conferencing and text messaging followed by CRM software.

However, Nextiva works on the VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) protocol. This protocol requires you to set up an internet connection and get a telephone, cable modem, cable connection, and other essential elements before using the phone service.

3. Vonage (VoIP)

Vonage is yet another VoIP-based business phone service provider that has been around since 1998. The company is known for offering powerful features at an affordable price. What sets it apart from the pack is the all-in-one communication service that caters to the communication requirements of most businesses, including online shops.

The key benefit of Vonage is the inclusion of unlimited calling and text messaging with all its packages, followed by free-of-cost video conferencing. But like Nextiva, getting started with Vonage can be somewhat lengthy and time-consuming. Also, you might run out of communication as the internet goes out.

Conclusion

If you want to take your customer support service and user retention rate to the next level, having a phone support service is a must. It’s also crucial for an online shop to look professional, authentic, and trustable. Plus, phone support is the top preference of old audiences and customers whose issues are not easy to solve online.

To provide your customers with the greatest phone support and outperform your competitors, you can choose from more business phone service providers listed in an article by LuckyMag.