Gasp! Amazon now offering phone support. Should you?
Amazon.com is notoriously difficult to reach by phone. So tough, in fact, that Amazon regularly ranks as the number 1 search on ContactHelp.com. So imagine how surprised I was when shopping for a new laptop for my wife this week and got the following offer:
Yup. Amazon is now offering click-to-call and a real-live honest-to-goodness phone number for customers to call for more help. Will wonders never cease.
Of course, Amazon offering this for computers or big-screen TV’s – complex, high-priced purchases – is very different than offering this with books or digital downloads. But, it begs the question: If Amazon is willing to talk to its customers on the phone, should you?
The easy answer is yes. After all, not all customers are willing to buy online. And not every type of purchase works well online. Put the two together and you’ve got ripe opportunities to drive additional sales through the phone. It may not be the right answer in all cases, but I recommend eliminating phone support only when a compelling business reason not to offer it exists, instead of assuming you won’t it unless you can make the business case.
That’s not to say you should concede the point and direct all online traffic to the phone. Far from it. In fact, it looks like Amazon only offers this after a few page views for specific product types and even then only on certain brands (I suspect their margins play a role here). But your focus should not be how to grow your online business. Instead it should be how online can grow your business.
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