The Store is Always Open: How to offer 24 hour ordering options

How many times have you thought about buying something, but didn't because the store was closed or you didn't want to bother the consultant who sells it because you only ever seem to remember at 10pm or 7am.

Unfortunately, this equals up to lost sales for you. Especially in the busy lives today's women lead, 2am might be the only time they get a moment to sit down and think about themselves, and how they need to reorder their Mary Kay lipstick or sandwich boxes from their Tupperware consultant.

However, if these busy women know they are welcome to submit an order to you at 2am if they want to, they will take advantage of it. So set up the ability to accept orders at any time - even 2am - even if you do not need to talk with them at the time. Every sale counts. And just as important, those customers will remember how flexibile you were and how easy it was to order from you.

So when you market your products and business, make it known that you are available for orders 24/7, whether it is 2am or 7am.

But, since no one really wants to answer the phone at 2am to take that order from a customer, you need to have structure in place to handle this situation. So how can you do this without disrupting family life?

Here are some ways you can remain accessible to your customers, without having to be there 24/7.

Voice Mail
Either turn off your phone or set it up to automatically go to voicemail between certain hours of the day, such as 9pm through 9am. This way you won't be disturbed when a customer remembers they want to order at 2am.

Fax ordering
Let customers know they can send you a fax note of their order, and you will follow it up.

Email or online ordering
Email and online ordering is also open 24/7. Be sure to check your email daily, so you won't miss an order that came in 6 days ago when you only bother to check email once a week.

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