Opinions needed

[ThePatch]

Please feel free to express opinions on this . . .

I was contracted to set up a site that sells cosmetics. At the last minute they decide they don't want to use a payment gateway, they'd rather all orders be phoned in.

Ok . . .

In that case I should set up a 1-800 number; nope, they'd rather use their local phone only.

. . . . . .

So . . . now they are not getting any new sales, I'd like to set up a 'survey' on site exit . . . my questions would center around why they didn't make any purchases. Do you think this would be 'so' annoying it would make people not come back, do you think it would be a good way to find the information I need, if so can anyone recommend how to do this?

I think their problem is two fold, if I'm in Oregon I'm not going to call somewhere in Tennessee to maybe order some product. Second, if I'm looking online for cosmetics then I want to buy them online . . .

Thanks in advance!

[Get Em Fast]

Patch, I think your right on both issues. But, I don't think I would waste my time on a survey, as if the customer is already leaving without purchasing a product......chances are, they're NOT going to be back, anyway, and if I was the customer looking to buy cosmetics online, and I found this site, found out that I had to spend my money to make a phone call to spend more money......I'd already be pi**ed off enough, that I wouldn't come back to begin with, let alone the fact that you're trying to FORCE me to tel you why I didn't buy anything......well, hey! It's pretty obvious to start with.
Those clients need to get their heads out of their butts, and figure out what ONLINE SALES means........and it's NOT "PHONELINE SALES"!

[afo]

I agree. I wouldn't be shopping online if I wanted to order over the phone. If that was my only option, I'd get up off my ######## and find a store!

Your clients need to rethink that idea. If they want a web presence, they need to have it DO something. If they don't want to accept payments online (silly), they can use their site to accept orders and process them off line, communicating with customers by email, but I doubt they'll have many sales with that setup.

[ThePatch]

I appreciate the input guys.

They have a hard time with email . . . as far as sending it and checking it. I'm beginning to wonder why they have an online presence at all. I'm there to support them all the way, I just wish there was something I could do to convince them to change.

I love doing this work, sometimes it's hard convincing those not familer with the new sales medium what works and what doesn't . . .

[afo]

It can be extremely difficult to teach an old dog new tricks. There are lots of people who understand that new technology is a good thing, but remain technophobic. There's no easy answer. They need to seriously consider adding a payment gateway (PayPal is pretty basic) and seeing where it can take them.