Internet Marketing Tips Newsletter

Powered by The Internet Marketing Center

How Online Ordering Automation Can
Directly Affect Your Bottom Line

I have been getting a lot questions about online ordering and it is surprising how many people do not understand the importance of the payment types, the ordering options available, how you ask for the order, etc.

You can have the most attractive webpage in the world, or tens of thousands of visitors a month, but if your order system is not easy to understand, convenient and flawless to use, you will be watching people come to your site and then leave (without buying anything). So many people get caught up in salescopy and promoting their site, that they forget about the small details such as their ordering systems and options. The ordering process is a critical link to the success or failure of a business. Your order process can make you or break you.

I have seen very slick order systems as well as some really "mickey-mouse" ones. Remember, on the Internet you don't have a store front like in a retail store, or a showroom for people to walk into where they can touch and feel things. The only thing they have contact with is your website. You are just a URL in the crowd and this is why (as mentioned in my internet marketing course - http://www.marketingtips.com/tipsltr.html) making the customer feel comfortable at your site, building a rapport, and then asking for the sale is so important. These are just the basics but if you have a poor ordering process which is confusing, complicated, or simply out-dated, you are losing a boatload of sales.

If you still only offer the option to mail in a check (and that is the only ordering option), you might as well call your ISP and tell him to pull the site down, because you will never earn a dime from it. Or if you have a site that accepts credit cards, but they have to call you to place the order (in other words, no way to order online), you are throwing away a huge percentage of your sales (we will explain why a little later)! Even if you have an online order form, but it is not automated and in "real-time" you are still in the Stone Ages. Our goal here is to go over the EXACT order process, the options and payment types needed to get the sale and why these are so important.

The entire idea of an Internet business is that your "store" (or webpage) is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week receiving orders, and collecting your money (all automatically while you sleep). Let the computers and software do the work for you. Ok, lets get into the specifics...

Complete Automation is the Key

Remember the net is an international medium and is open 24 hours a day. My strong belief when selling in cyberspace is to be "completely automated" so you can work on your own time and at your own hours. I can travel anywhere in the country, any time and run my entire business from my laptop and my voice mail. If you're not going to be fully automated and decide to process everything manually, you must:

Be prepared to check your email every day of the week, including weekends and holidays.

Be prepared to confirm and process every order within 24 hours.

Be willing to give up valuable time to fulfill orders and do paperwork when you could be marketing your business and increasing sales.

If you do become fully automated, be prepared to spend a little more time and money in the beginning setting up your business and website (to get the automated system fully operational).

Don't wait until the orders start rolling in to figure these things out. All repeat sales depend on your professionalism and ability to handle the first sale quickly and smoothly. As I will show you later, in a newsletter, repeat sales will be a big part of your net profit, even if you presently don't have anything else to sell. I will show you how to recommend other products/services for a portion of their profits in a later newsletter.

The ordering process and payment types you offer are key to your success. If the customer is confused on how to order, or you don't offer a payment type that is convenient, you will lose the sale. I cannot stress how important this is! I have seen too many people have a great product or service, and sales letter, only to miss the sale because the order process was too complicated and the payment options were not convenient enough for the customer.

Because there is so much to discuss about ordering and payment, I have broken the information into a few categories to make it easier to read.

The All Important Basics

Ordering goods and services online is a relatively new thing. Many people have never ordered anything online and can be nervous or uncomfortable doing it for the first time. It is important to explain every aspect of the ordering process to build customer confidence. Tell them how to fill out the form, how the product is shipped, any special features, etc. Even explain to the customer that the order form isn't processed until they click the "send" button at the bottom of the screen as well as anything else you can think of that a "first time" electronic buyer might not know. The following is a copy of the secure order form I use for Car Secrets Revealed:

WELCOME TO OUR ONLINE SECURE ORDER FORM

This is a "secure" server so your credit card number is protected.

If you are using Netscape, the thin blue line at the top of this window indicates that any information you send is protected from unauthorized viewing by world-class encryption techniques. With Internet Explorer, there will be a graphic of an unbroken key on your browser window.

This page takes a moment to load completely, so please be patient.

Name:

Email:

Company (optional):

Address:

City:

State:

Zip:

Country:

Phone:

Credit Card: VISA
MasterCard
American Express
Discover

Credit Card #:

Expiration Date:

The book is shipped via US Postal Service, but how would you like the software shipped?
Send the IBM version to my email address within 10 minutes
Send the IBM version on 3.5" floppy diskette with my book via US mail
Send the MAC version to my email address within 10 minutes
Send the MAC version on 3.5" floppy diskette with my book via US mail

Your credit card will be billed for a total of
$29.95 ($27.00 plus $2.95 s&h).

After you press SUBMIT, the computer will pause as it processes the order. Please do not hit the submit button twice as it is normal for the computer to pause, while it processes your order, for a few seconds. It will then show you a confirmation of your order.

If you requested the software to be shipped via email, your software will be sent within 10 minutes and your printed softcover book will be shipped via US Postal Mail within 24 hours. If you requested that your software be sent on diskette with the softcover book, they both will be shipped via US Postal Mail within 24 hours.

This a "dummy" form. If you want to see the real one in action, click here. And then click the "Back" button on your browser to return.

Also, Let me show you what the order form looks like from The Internet Marketing Center course, "The Insider Secrets To Marketing Your Business On The Internet" (it is very similar to the Car Secrets secure order form).

WELCOME TO OUR ONLINE SECURE ORDER FORM

This is a "secure" server so your credit card number is protected.

If you are using Netscape, the thin blue line at the top of this window indicates that any information you send is protected from unauthorized viewing by world-class encryption techniques. With Internet Explorer, there will be a graphic of an unbroken key on your browser window.

This page takes a moment to load completely, so please be patient.

Name:

Email:

Company (optional):

Address:

City:

State:

Zip:

Country:

Phone:

Credit Card: VISA
MasterCard
American Express
Discover

Credit Card #:

Expiration Date:

Your credit card will be billed for a total of $217.00 ($197 plus $20 S&H -- the course weighs almost 10 lbs. so it is expensive to ship). All orders are shipping within 24 hours via Federal Express and are guaranteed to arrive within 3 days.

Note: All overseas orders will be charged an additional $25.00 for shipping. It is shipped via 1st Class Mail (the package is almost 10 pounds so it is quite expensive to ship overseas). Deliver time is approximately 7-10 days for overseas orders.

After you press SUBMIT, the computer will pause as it processes the order. Please do not hit the submit button twice as it is normal for the computer to pause, while it processes your order, for a few seconds. It will then show you a confirmation of your order.

This again, is a "dummy" form. If you want to see the real one in action, click here. And then click the "Back" button on your browser to return.

Make the customer feel at ease by confirming every order by email. After a customer places an order, they really don't know if it was received or if the product is being shipped until they hear back from you. Remember online marketing is not like a retail store where you get to talk to a cashier. Don't overlook the psychological impact a simple electronic "thank you" can have on the customer.

Confirming an order also gives the customer the confidence that your are a legitimate company. If you are using an automated ordering system, the confirmation will automatically be sent to the customer via email moments after they order.

If you are using a manual order system where the order is simply emailed to you (so you have to process it manually), try to send an email confirmation within the next 24 hours or have an autoresponder "triggered" to send a confirmation right away (discussed in the next paragraph).

I bet you're wondering how to set up this automated process and reduce your workload, right?

Well, there are many ways to automate the receipt of email or orders. For example, if you look at one of my manual order pages for the Car Secrets Revealed book, http://www.igs.net/carsecrets/order87.htm, you will see in the HTML code that the order is sent to two email addresses (remember to click on "view source code" in your web browser menu to display the HTML coding). The first one could be a customer service representative's, and the second could be the autoresponder that sends a confirmation to the customer within seconds (however, in this specific case above, the second email address on the order87.htm form is of an associate that we send copies of the orders to).

Note: Autoresponders will be explained in a separate newsletter. Basically how they work is when an email is sent to the autoresponder's email address, it will email back the original sender whatever document you have set up, all within seconds.

Another example of how orders are confirmed is by using a completely automated service at the server. We will use Car Secrets Revealed as an example. With the secure server that I use, the process is set up so that as soon as the customer orders:

The credit card is approved in "real time" while the customer waits for a few moments.

The money is deposited to my bank account.

The order is emailed to a fulfillment company who ships the hard copy of the book.

The customer is sent a confirmation of the order by email.

The customer is sent the software version of the book via email within a couple of minutes (I offer software delivery by email, and the secure server processes the transaction automatically for me). Of course this is only relevant if you are selling software or electronic information.

In the email confirmation to the customer, I repeat the contents of the order and the price, and then state when and how the order will be shipped. Your customer will appreciate the follow-up and the professionalism of this approach. Here is an example of the letter I use for Car Secrets Revealed:

To: customer@domain.com
From: Car Secrets
Subject: Confirmation and Thank You

Hi,

Thank you for your order. This email is just to confirm that we received your order and it will be shipped via Priority US Mail within 24 hours (weekends excluded). You should receive the package within 3-4 business days.

As an additional note; if you used your credit card for this purchase, it has been charged the special price of $27.00 plus $2.95 shipping. It will appear on your credit card statement as MONEY SAVERS GROUP from Ogdensburg, NY (our mother company).

Enjoy the book, as the information can be quite an "eye-opener".

Nick

Copyright 1996-2000 by The Internet Marketing Center. All rights reserved. This document may not be copied in part or full without express written permission from the publisher. All violations will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.