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Learn from the experience of Alibaba
06 Apr 2015 (118 views)

I experienced Alibaba as a customer in 2008. I bought something from their website. It was not well developed at that time, but it worked anyway.

I observed one aspect of their operation that probably contributed to their phenomenal success. (I believe that their success come from many factors, so my observation is only one of them).

Most people think that a successful website is one that is so well designed that there is no need for any intervention by their staff. They designed the website to have as little human involvement as possible. That was not the case with Alibaba.

 

MY EXPERIENCE WITH ALIBABA

I had to make an inquiry with the Alibaba website on a product that I wished to buy. It required some modification to an existing product.

Someone replied to me promptly within one or two days. I learned later that this person is not an employee of the manufacturer but is probably an employee of Alibaba or a free lance person working for Alibaba on a fee.

She could even be a college student working on a part time basis. Her knowledge of English was very good - so I suspect that she was a college student.

She acknowledged my inquiry and said that she will check with the manufacturer. She did. I finally get the answer and placed the order. Without the involvement of this marketing person, my order would be abandoned.

She communicated with me by ordinary e-mail. She did not use any CRM or ticketing system that made it difficult for the two parties to communicate with each other. 

TYPICAL WEBSITES

In contrast, I see many websites that are designed to make it difficult for the customer to get the help of a person to find the answer. The website force the customer to spend a lot of time searching for the answer, and usually get the wrong answer. They make it difficult for the customer to submit an enquiry.

I have often to spend half to one hour to search for information in an unfamiliar website of an government agency or large organization. If they provide an staff to help me, the staff would spend 5 minutes (as they are familiar with the website) and save me half to one hour.

 

LEARN FROM ALIBABA

This is how to create a successful website:

a) Make it easy for the customer to contact a staff for help instead of asking the customer to search through a complicated website.

b) Allow the staff to communicate with the customer using ordinary e-mail, instead of a complicated CRM or ticketing system.

c) Get your staff to spend 5 minutes and save half to 1 hour of the customer's time.

Tan Kin Lian

 



Learn from the experience of Alibaba
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I experienced Alibaba as a customer in 2008. I bought something from their website. It was not well developed at that time, but it worked anyway.

I observed one aspect of their operation that probably contributed to their phenomenal success. (I believe that their success come from many factors, so my observation is only one of them).

Most people think that a successful website is one that is so well designed that there is no need for any intervention by their staff. They designed the website to have as little human involvement as possible. That was not the case with Alibaba.

 

MY EXPERIENCE WITH ALIBABA

I had to make an inquiry with the Alibaba website on a product that I wished to buy. It required some modification to an existing product.

Someone replied to me promptly within one or two days. I learned later that this person is not an employee of the manufacturer but is probably an employee of Alibaba or a free lance person working for Alibaba on a fee.

She could even be a college student working on a part time basis. Her knowledge of English was very good - so I suspect that she was a college student.

She acknowledged my inquiry and said that she will check with the manufacturer. She did. I finally get the answer and placed the order. Without the involvement of this marketing person, my order would be abandoned.

She communicated with me by ordinary e-mail. She did not use any CRM or ticketing system that made it difficult for the two parties to communicate with each other. 

TYPICAL WEBSITES

In contrast, I see many websites that are designed to make it difficult for the customer to get the help of a person to find the answer. The website force the customer to spend a lot of time searching for the answer, and usually get the wrong answer. They make it difficult for the customer to submit an enquiry.

I have often to spend half to one hour to search for information in an unfamiliar website of an government agency or large organization. If they provide an staff to help me, the staff would spend 5 minutes (as they are familiar with the website) and save me half to one hour.

 

LEARN FROM ALIBABA

This is how to create a successful website:

a) Make it easy for the customer to contact a staff for help instead of asking the customer to search through a complicated website.

b) Allow the staff to communicate with the customer using ordinary e-mail, instead of a complicated CRM or ticketing system.

c) Get your staff to spend 5 minutes and save half to 1 hour of the customer's time.

Tan Kin Lian

 

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