Guide to Making Customer Reordering Easier

Use technology wisely

Use your database or contact management software to track customers' past order histories. By studying past buying habits, you can foresee future needs and provide personalized customer service. Set up your system to let you know when to send email or postcard reminders to customers when it's time to reorder.

I recommend: FileMaker Pro and Microsoft Access allow you to collect customer data and analyze it. Clientem is order management software that allows you to import customer names from ACT, Outlook and Excel and track orders.

Add functionality to your e-commerce site

A shopping cart that recognizes repeat customers simplifies reordering. It can speed the checkout process so customers don't have to enter all their contact, shipping and billing information each time they order. Shopping carts that allow customers to review their own purchase history make it easy to zero in on items they want to reorder. Further facilitate reordering with shopping carts that allow customers to use any form of payment, including credit card, PayPal or check.

I recommend: Check out shopping cart software from Smart Shop, Monster Commerce and X-cart.

Offer 24-hour telephone orders

Customers often think about reordering products after your normal business hours so offer 24-hour support.

I recommend: Instead of having a round-the-clock staff, consider switching your phones over to an in-bound call center that will take customer orders outside of normal business hours. Tel-Us Call Center provides the service to small businesses. To compare quotes from call centers, check out quotecatcher.com.

Provide excellent customer service

Many organizations make the mistake of providing excellent service on a customer's first order but not maintaining that same level of service on follow-up orders. Make sure everyone in your organization provides a consistent level of customer service for every order to make sure reordering is a pleasant experience for the customer.

I recommend: Bone up on customer service with online training, seminars, software and more from the Service Quality Institute. Learn the Three Essentials of good customer service from BusinessKnowHow.com.

Increase stock availability

When customers try to reorder an item only to discover that it's out of stock, they get frustrated and may switch to a competitor. Make the reordering process smoother by ensuring that you have items in stock. Use third-party fulfillment centers to increase the number of products you offer without having to warehouse them yourself.

I recommend: Find a national directory of fulfillment companies at the Mailing & Fulfillment Service Association (MFSA) Web site. Automate order fulfillment and warehouse management with COREsense software, which handles order fulfillment involving multiple suppliers.