Customer Support Equals Online Usability

Hello.

There is a lot of talk about website usability, but I’m unsure people really understand what it means. It basically means: is the website usable?

Having Trouble?

I was getting an error while trying to login to our online registry at Williams-Sonoma. Well right next to the login area and on the same page is a telephone number in case you are “Having trouble accessing your registry”. I was, so I called and got a representative right away who helped solve my problem.

That, my friends, is usability.

Website Usability

Placing the telephone number and stating why the telephone number was there is brilliant (and useful) web design. It it hadn’t of been there, I would have had to hunt down throughout the site looking for the number and then route back to the registry page once I began speaking to customer support.

A lot of time, effort and sanity was saved thanks to a small decision to add the contact number right next to the login page.

I got off the phone a happy and satisfied customer.

If you have a telephone number, don’t hide it from your customers. Display it in areas where it will be helpful and useful to them.