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~ Salesupply ~

THE CROSS-BORDER

CUSTOMER SERVICE

PARADOX

Text: Ruud den Rooijen // Photos: Salesupply, iStock, andi asmara
How to deliver good, affordable customer care when expanding cross-border?

o become truly successful in e-commerce, you have a sufficient base of returning customers, and you are
two aspects are absolutely crucial. Turning no longer solely depending on paid channels to get new visi-
Tconsumers into loyal returning customers tors to your website. You are now ready to expand your online
and expanding internationally to generate enough business cross-border!
revenue to keep on growing and improving your
business. Unfortunately, these two key factors aren’t Initial preparations
that easy to combine. Read here how to solve the Of course, you have investigated consumer preferences, com-
cross-border customer service paradox. petition and all relevant cultural & legal aspects of the market
you are entering. You have localised your website content,
Customer loyalty – the importance of customer pricing and surely you have included popular payment, deliv-
service ery and return options but, aren’t you forgetting something?
With the endless stream of online alternatives, it is not
easy to create returning loyal customers. Everything has to What if an international customer has a question for your
be nearly perfect for a customer to return, from browsing service team?
through the products up to payment, delivery and returns.
All steps of the journey need to be smooth, fast and easy. A The importance of native customer care
Salesforce study actually shows that 84% of customers say the They will contact you in their own language. And they expect
experience a company provides is as important as its products an answer in their own language as well. According to CSA
and services. (How Customer Experience Is Rewriting the Research, 75% of consumers say that they’re more likely to
Rules of Business Success - Jul 31, 2019) return if customer care is in their own language.

Customer service plays an important role here. Whenever a And marketplaces like Amazon demand that their vendors
customer has a question during the buying process or has a provide customer support in the local language: “When you
query or complaint afterwards, a prompt, friendly response is sell in an Amazon marketplace, you are required to provide
vital for retaining customers. Furthermore, a bad customer ex- customer support in the local language of the marketplace.
perience will not only scare away the customer but also their For instance, if you are selling on Amazon.es, you are required
network. The following statistics, taken from the Salesupply to provide customer support in Spanish.”
Ecommerce Customer Care Guide 2021, underwrite this:
What to do?
• 91% say they are willing to use a webshop more often
after a positive customer service experience; Recruit an exchange student?
• 60% will not return to your company after one bad cus- This might be an option, but what about the fact that a big
tomer service experience; share of all online orders is made during the evening hours?
• 50% will tell others about a bad experience. This means you will need at least two students a day. And
this doesn’t include the weekends yet. And what if a student
Expanding cross-border gets ill, has exams, needs a vacation or returns home? You will
You have worked hard to get to this point. Your webstore is need to recruit at least 3-4 agents to offer basic service. That’s
generating a steady amount of income in your home market, quite an investment when you are just entering a new market.

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