E business - How to differenciate from others?

The web is full of products. It is up to the e-seller to convince the customer that his/her product is the best. Price, of course, is a big motivator for any buyer, but I will try to talk here more about customer service, which can also attract clientele, and even better, be able to maintain a long run relationship with that person, in the sense that he/she may return and make additional purchases in the future.

The reliability of the seller is a big issue. If you are a big, well known company or even have store front locations, you may convince the customer to go ahead with the purchase. But when it comes to C2C business, references may become a bigger priority for the buyer than the actual price of the merchandise involved in the transaction.
Ebay and other sites use references to inform customers about the seller, how serious s/he really is about the sale, if s/he had any complaints in the past, and so on. Tripadvisor.com also uses customer feedback for hotels and restaurants.

But what happens if you are a small, newly formed B2C company that has no background, no history and hadn't accomplished that many sales yet?
Every no-name e-company that was concerned in providing products and services probably passed through this stage through their beginning.
If they had an initial physical store or office, then things would have been easier, since they may have gained some reputation at least throughout the local redidents, but many merchandise selling companies started only with a hall which was used as inventory space and office and a couple of computers.
What did they do to advance? Here are some tips:
-Always have ways that the customer can reach you (telephone, mail, email and even sms). Even if this may require more people to hire, it is important that you listen to your every customer.
-Stay in touch: become involved with your customers. If they don't want to return at your e-store, ask why (email or call them). It may be that they just misunderstood a term or are upset that a product is not in stock. They may find the site difficult to navigate. This way you may earn the customer back, since he/she fells taken care of, but also receive valuable info about your weak spots that need improvement.
-Respond quickly: HP for examples set a goal to respond to each mail within 24 hours. Customers don't like to wait. A good strategy is to have some frequently answered questions in hand, so that you just forward them if necessary. But when using this strategy, try to individualize the mail as much as possible, even if it involves only putting the customers name is the reply. For the rest of the mails, that require particular answers, take your time and answer the question thoroughly.
-Be ready to provide customer support for the product purchased. Dell has several such services for the laptops you buy from them. Online chat is available 24/7 and this even includes remote desktop alternatives.

These are just some of the customer support. Even though they are basic, they nevertheless are able to increase the customer's return rate and site reputation. Their back-draw is that they require time and money, reason why many e-businesses are reluctant to try them and prefer to spend more on advertising.

References: http://www.entrepreneur.com/, last visited on 08/11/08