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Ebusiness Solutions
By: Elizabeth Morgan
The most popular way to reach a customer is through email. Many Internet users only have access to email facilities, which means that this is the only way they can be contacted as potential customers. Less popular forms of communication include newsgroups and Internet chats. Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) is a next-generation set of tools that is not yet fully developed in an affordable form, but will start to become available to small businesses in a few years.
In general, email facilities can speed communications between staff when they are away from the office, create more effective communications with other businesses, and make a company seem much friendlier and more approachable to the public. It is important to note that email is a more informal medium than the conventional post. Indeed, on the Internet people tend to "tell it like it is" rather than hiding behind formality and excessive politeness.
For most messages a next-day reply is adequate. If the flow of Internet email coming into a business is large, it may be worth dedicating an employee to the task of dealing with it. Not answering email queries creates a very bad impression. If a telephone call is not returned most people simply assume someone was too busy to deal with it and will, in all likelihood, call again about something urgent.
An email takes longer to create than a phone call, and demands more attention. If it is not answered promptly it can reflect badly on a company. Moreover, because of the way information moves quickly on the Internet, this can sometimes do significant damage to a company's reputation. Internet email can be used for receiving sales orders and queries from the public, and sending back suitable replies. It can play a pivotal part in making contact and perhaps negotiating with new suppliers.
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