The internet revolutionized the way we do business. And in the short time it took business owners and executives to adapt to the changing landscape, consumers have also changed. People who were once hesitant to shop online have become comfortable with online commerce of all sorts, including just about everything from used books and specialty clothing to grocery shopping and personal estate auctioning. What this means for the business owner is this:

Customers are expecting the same professional treatment and customer service online that they might receive while visiting a retail or commercial location in person … if not better!

So instead of looking at what makes good customer service online, let’s make it more interesting and examine how to make a bad impression and loose customers in 4 seconds.

Outdated Website

Loosing the customer’s attention is easier than ever in our media-rich culture, but there are a few things that turn off customers faster than the click of a link. Focus your effort here when building your website and you’re bound to make a bad impression and lose customers.

1. Website style from the 90’s – Anything involving stock images, primary colors, flashing banners, visitor counters, silly fonts, and shallow website depth will do the trick.

2. Require visitors to Log In – Demanding information and action from your visitors is one of the best ways to lose customers; require your visitors to sign up as a member in order to see your website.

3. Place ads everywhere possible – Practicing this method requires you to insert some code around your website, but in the end customers won’t be able to stand the site of all your flashy ads just begging for their attention.

4. Impossible website navigation – If all else fails and your customers want to contact you, simply deny them the information by providing an encrypted navigational system. Instead of offering a simple “contact” page in the upper right hand corner, consider leaving a message such as “we look forward to hearing from you.”

Stick to these qualities when building a website and you’ll have potential customers hitting the back button every time!

Unreadable Copy

Another way to create a bad impression and lose a customer is to use impossible-to-read language when writing your product description, company bio, news, and any other copy on your website. The more complex your sentence structure, the more character count your paragraphs, and the more ten-character words you use, the more likely your customer will lower their brow and head for the hills.

Treat Customers Poorly

People are looking for a friendly professional to do business with, so when approached by a customer you wish to leave a bad impression on, consider being as rude as possible. Whether it involves foul language, sour attitude, indifference, or all of the above, being rude will certainly result in a bad impression and lost customer.

Don’t’ Respond to Any Email or Phone Calls

This might surprise you, but one of the most common customer complaints about businesses is that they simply don’t return their phone calls or email. If your customers get to this point, this method of creating a bad impression and losing customers requires no time at all on your end and works every time! Just sit back, relax, ignore email and phone calls, and enjoy not doing business with anyone. So simple!

Needless to say, it’s just not that difficult to create a bad impression and lose customers these days. If you plan on earning a profit with your business however, consider checking out these 21 Things that Impress a Customer Online.

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