In our age of relationship marketing, much has been written about the importance of customer service. Startlingly, however, there is very little literature pertaining to the importance and value of a strong customer service orientation in the on line business environment.

How could customer service possibly be the key to success? This is the Internet, right? That's what makes it so great, we don't have to see our customers. We don't even know who they are. They just show up, sign on to our mailing list, buy something (hopefully), download their purchase, and disappear. Right?

If that is your attitude, then we really have to talk.

Outstanding latest Pakistani is the lynch pin of all successful businesses. Successful marketers understand this. Most marketers have finally come to realize that we are living in the age of relationship marketing. By relationship marketing, we simply mean that we understand that it is less expensive and much more efficient to take care of the customers we have than to constantly try to find new customers. Don't get me wrong. We still love new customers. But what if we were able to get the customers that we already have to buy from us over, and over, and over. Wouldn't it make sense for us to do those things that make customers want to come back - to actually develop a relationship with us? Then why is it that so many marketers make so many dumb mistakes? Further, because so many of our on line processes are automated, we often "code in" the mistakes so that they are repeated with every customer. As an example, go to virtually any commerce website and sign up for their newsletter. You will be directed to check your email for a message to confirm your subscription to the newsletter. Notice how quickly you are contacted to confirm your action to sign up for the newsletter. The process that is used to get that email to you is an auto responder. It is a wonderful tool for maintaining relationships in an automated fashion. However, the tool must be used correctly. Mistakes using auto responders are commonplace.

I have seen the websites of some of the most well-known marketers make juvenile mistakes such as directing the buyer to a dead link after a purchase is made. Or, selling a continuity service that the buyer has paid for, yet the user name and password do not work - effectively locking the customer out of their purchase. Another common error is to actually accept payment for a purchase, but return text to the user that their credit card was declined or that the site was unable to process the payment. Consequently, the customer may attempt to pay for the product multiple times, with the result being that their credit card is charged several times for the same purchase. Add to that the frustration that the buyer experiences in seeking a refund for multiple purchases and you wind up with a customer who never returns.

Have you ever experienced errors such as these? More than likely you have, and most of us do not appreciate these buying experiences - and the examples above represent only a few of the myriad problems that may occur in operating an on line business. The simple fact is that each of these errors could be, and should be preventable.

Study after study has shown the same results. Customers who have a good experience with a company tell (on average) 3 to 5 people. Likewise, customers who have a bad experience tell 11 to 13 people. While that is bad enough, the really troubling statistic is that approximately 75% of customers who have had a bad experience never tell the service provider at all. Consequently, a business operator can continue on, day to day, happy and ignorantly unaware of the poor experiences his customers are having.

You might say, well, that may certainly be a problem if I owned a restaurant, or a retail store. But I don't. I operate a business on the web. How would my customers tell potential customers if they had experienced problems dealing with me? They don't see or interact with each other. I know that I have problems from time to time, and I know that the occasional customer gets irritated. But I don't see how those statistics could possibly affect me.

Latest fashion! More than likely you have a blog. There is the possibility that this blog could be seen by hundreds or even thousands of potential customers. Well, many of your customers will have a blog as well. In this age of instant information dissemination anyone has the ability to tell the entire world about their experiences. What if your customer had just been to your website and shelled out $497 for a course that was important to him. What if an innocent programming error repeatedly sent him to a bad link and he was unable to access his purchase. Further, as is common, you did not provide a telephone number on your website, but rather a system to submit a service ticket. As a customer, he has no instant recourse and he has to wait until you get around to responding to his service request - if you actually respond. Do you think that he is going to be angry? Do you think that he is going to be happy about purchasing from you again?

How are you going to respond when your customer tells the world about his poor experience with you on his blog? Think about it a moment. This throws the statistics above out the window. He is not going to tell 11 to 13 people about his experience with you. He might tell thousands, and you might never know. What happens to your business when 15 or 20 purchasers buy that course from you before you realize that you have a programming error? Those 15 to 20 customers have the ability to tell thousands upon thousands of potential buyers about their poor experience with you and your website - they could literally kill your business. Are you catching on now? This example utilizes one little error, and one method of information dissemination. Think of the other communication tools your customers have at their disposal.

There are a number of solutions available to "kill" service failures before they occur. Provide your customers with a contact number, and then make certain that there is someone available to take customer-related calls. In this era of cell phones, your number does not have to be toll free. Customers can call you on their cell phones without incurring the expense of a long distance phone call. Invest a few dollars and purchase a dedicated phone line so that you will know that any call coming into that line will be from a customer. Resolve to answer the calls and handle their issues promptly.

Structure the text on your website such that anyone can read, understand, and follow the directions without question. Do not leave to chance the possibility that a customer will have to interpret any aspect of the purchase, payment, product delivery, or payment confirmation. Invest in having a neutral third party evaluate your site for content, ease of use, clarity, and efficacy. Do not wait for problems to occur, but rather avoid them from the outset.

Make certain that your communications to your customers and potential customers are unambiguous. Proofread all outgoing marketing communications and have others proof them as well. Confirm that all links to auto responder messages are clean, and that these messages are coordinated properly.

Test every link on your website thoroughly. Make absolutely certain that any link related to the acceptance of payment is working properly and that the product delivery links work as intended. Test, test, test. Have friends or employees make dummy purchases to make sure that the entire payment and delivery process is clean. Maintain up-to-date site maps, and review them daily. Audit your website on a regular basis. With the use of multiple landing and splash pages, marketing communications, campaigns, new product introductions, affiliate promotions and the like their are opportunities almost daily to introduce errors to your website. It is not necessary to take the site down to perform a thorough audit.

Customer service is all about being thoughtful. About treating your customers the way that you would like to be treated. It may take more time, more effort, and maybe even a little more expense, but think of the outcome. Satisfied customers return to buy from you again, and satisfaction does not only mean  their pleasure with what they purchased. Satisfaction includes the experience they had during the buying process. You have the opportunity to affect that experience, and likewise that level of satisfaction. A proactive stance on the service that you provide will return it's cost many times over.

Larry Crowson, a Professor of Marketing, is the owner of http://www.AbsoluteValu.com and reviews popular home business ideas and opportunities. Crowson is also a recognized authority on the development and implementation of customer service programs, having created solutions for dozens of clients nationwide, from Fortune 100 companies to small businesses.