I feel one of the challenges that online stores face is the balance between technology and humanity. One of the reasons I buy things online is because of the ease and convenience of ordering - click, poof, the goods are on my doorstep! One of the complaints that I have is the nameless, faceless nature of online shopping. Sometimes you cannot trust the faces that you do see on an online stores loaded with stock photos.

FYI - those are all my faces in that fun rotating circle in the column to the left. Here are some more of me and my hats:

More important than the genuine photographs is the genuine person behind them. My servant attitude means my customer service focus is on the total experience not just reacting to problems. Those times remind me of the importance of individually and personally connecting with people not just automatically processing orders, but dealing with complaints isn’t the only reason to make time to communicate.

There are lots of techno-tools for me to use with our online store - setting up automatic discounts for our Club K&J members, tracking abandoned carts, seeing which products are at the top of people’s wishlists. To me the key to making the most of these tools is making the communication about them personal. I give specific answers to every question generated through our online forms. And I write notes to every customer through out the order process - from receiving the order through it’s shipment. There are of course templates set-up for generic responses and automatic messages, but we’re all about having conversations. So the effort is made to be real.

I’ve gotten feedback that people are happy to know there’s a “real person” at The Lemonade Stand. I’m happiest when I know folks are sharing about their shopping experience - gives me the chance to interact with more cool people. That’s why I was thrilled with the bloglove given by Lemonade Stand customer and Club K&J member Amanda. You can read all the nice things she had to say about Kim & Jason at her fun blog, but this is the part that made me grin from ear to ear:

I received an email from Jenna, one of their staff… she has some “grand poobah”-like title which escapes me at the moment… asking if I had any issues or concerns since I hadn’t completed my order. I explained that I still planned to order, but that I had to get all of my ducks in a row, first. She responded with the comment “proper alignment of waterfowl is important”. Indeed! Just that email made me smile and feel warm inside… This was not just another online shop. There was a real person on the other end of that email, a person after my own heart…

I am after her heart and the hearts of everyone who comes to the Lemonade Stand. I truly believe if the focus is on the people and not what can be gotten out of their wallets, we set ourselves apart from the masses of internet retailers. That’s my goal to serve every customer, every day. With cool people like Amanda, it’s a great job and it’s why I love being the Grand Poobah (it does come with a fun hat!) aka Chief Sales Servant.

Technorati Tags: customer service, bloglove, grand poobah, genuine people, online shop, Lemonade Stand, Long Journey, Sweet Flowers