In a previous post we discussed the buying decision, and how to know when you should or shouldn’t buy a product online.

Now we’ll look at it from the flip side, and discuss your website and products – and your visitors’ experience and buying decision.

Let’s start by looking at an example outside of Internet Marketing that we can all relate to: the restaurant experience.

Going out to dinner is not just about eating food. It’s about the experience. Consider all of the elements of that experience – the atmosphere, noise level, service, anticipation, expectation, quality of food, etc.

If even one element is “off” it can easily ruin the customer experience. In Internet Marketing that equals abandoned shopping carts, unsubscribes, or your visitor clicking the back button…

The Customer Experience

The customer experience is directly related to the customer’s expectation. If you meet or exceed that expectation, they have a positive experience. If you fail to meet that expectation, they have a negative experience.

One of the easiest ways you can improve the customer experience is to influence their expectation. The more information you give them about your offer upfront, the more likely their expectation will match their buying experience.

Post-Sale Experience

The customer experience goes way beyond the point of sale. Your goal is to create a relationship with that buyer and turn them into a lifetime customer. A positive experience leads to repeat sales and word-of-mouth referrals.

A positive post-sale experience begins with delivery, quality of product, your follow-up material, and your customer service/support.

Unfortunately many merchants stop at the point of sale, ending the relationship with cash in hand. Implementing a simple follow-up series can dramatically improve both customer experience and profit potential.

As a merchant your job is to design your funnel, start to finish, for the best possible customer experience. This begins with first contact, and continues for the life of the customer.

As an affiliate your job is to add value to that process. For you, happy customers equal more commissions, and in some cases recurring or repeat commissions.

On the front end, affiliates have the power to influence the customer’s expectations and answer any lingering questions that affect the buying decision. This can be as simple as how you frame your product reviews.

On the back end, affiliates can offer how-to content or communities to keep customers engaged and buying product.

Take a good look at your online business, and search for opportunities to improve the customer experience. As a good starting point, I recommend reading these tips on how to treat your customers:

The Ten Commandments of Great Customer Service

In the 10th tip, the word “employees” can be interchanged with “affiliates”.

Consider your own experiences as a customer when you set up your systems or your online promotions. Walk through your funnel as if you were your ideal buyer and look for ways to add more value to their experience.

Best,

Raise your hand if you’ve heard of relationship marketing. Now keep it up if you know what it means.

Lots of hands still up, huh? OK. Fine. You, there. You with the iPhone and the I’m Kind of a Big Deal on Twitter t-shirt. What does relationship marketing mean?

Mmm hmm?

Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that. I tuned out at “creating authentic connections” and “establishing many-to-many connections that foster meaningful dialogue.” DING DING DING. You are WRONG, my tweep, my Facebook friend, my FriendFeed flunkie.

Let’s talk about what “relationship marketing” really is, shall we?

According to Wikipedia, and Len Barry who coined the term, “relationship marketing is a form of marketing which emphasizes customer retention and satisfaction, rather than a dominant focus on point-of-sale transactions.”

1. Relationship marketing is not about relationships. It’s about marketing.

As a relationship marketer, I focus on making sure you not only buy my stuff today, but you keep buying it over and over and over. “Relationship” refers to the customer’s purchase history, not some deep interpersonal connection.

We do not take moonlit walks on the beach. We are not friends. We are not acquaintances. As a matter of fact, we couldn’t pick each other out of a police lineup.

As a business, I’ve simply agreed to listen to you — or, more likely, people demographically similar to you — for long enough to know what you might buy. Then I make it and sell it to you.

If this is our relationship, we both need therapy.

2. Relationship marketing is not about authenticity.

I could tell you I’m just an ordinary person who happens to be exactly like you. I could tell you I’m the reincarnation of Cleopatra’s pool boy. I could tell you I’m a one-eared lumberjack.

It doesn’t matter a whit. If I get you signed up for my advance discount list and give you a good enough deal, we both win.

3. Relationship marketing is not about transparency.

Transparency is nice, and sometimes necessary, but it’s not what this is about.

It’s fascinating when Rand Fishkin tells me how much money he made last year, but it doesn’t affect whether or not I keep my SEOMoz membership.

4. Relationship marketing is not about connection.

Just because Steve Jobs doesn’t know your kid’s name doesn’t mean you’re going to buy a Dell next time.

5. Relationship marketing is not about being social.

Social is Sunday morning brunch with your buddies. It’s not Twitter.

And frankly, you’ll have a tough time selling anything in either place.

6. Relationship marketing is not about equality.

The only thing that’s equal about you being my “fan” and me begging you for money is that we’re equally codependent.

7. Relationship marketing is not even about communication.

I buy apples every week and the things don’t even have a label, let alone a communication strategy.

You joining my Facebook fan page is not a relationship.

You following me on Twitter is not a relationship.

You commenting on my blog is not a relationship.

Let’s face it, if your boyfriend treated you as badly as I do, your mother would tell you to break up with him.

Relationship marketing is about marketing.

The touchy feely, Summer of Love, gosh-aren’t-we-great-friends stuff is nice. Sometimes it’s even necessary. But it’s not what relationship marketing is actually about.

Relationship marketing is about getting the customer to stick around long enough to keep shopping. And it’s about making sure that customer comes back next time to buy more stuff.

Don’t fall so in love with the relationship that you forget about the marketing. Like talking about benefits and not just features. Like having a halfway decent market position. Like a real call to action. Like, you know, selling stuff.

All the authentically transparent connections in the world won’t fix those if they’re broken. But stick a Wheaties coupon on the back of every box of Wheaties and you’ve got it nailed.

About the Author: Naomi Dunford is the woman Brian Clark lovingly refers to as a marketing genius and Tourette’s survivor. She is the author of IttyBiz and co-author of How To Launch The **** Out Of Your Ebook. Her alleged potty-mouth is prominent in the former and virtually non-existent in the latter.