Using soft skills to improve your e-commerce

Today, managing an e-commerce site is not just about mastering technological tools. Soft skills play an equally important role in the success and sustainability of your digital platform. They can transform the way you interact with your customers, your team, and your market.

What are soft skills?

Soft skills… a term we use a lot, but what exactly does it mean?

👉🏼 Literally, these are soft skills, human and personal abilities that are useful in everyday life. Complementary to hard skills (technical skills), they influence how a person interacts with colleagues, handles conflicts, and navigates their work environment. They can encompass aspects like communication, time management, teamwork, adaptability, emotional intelligence, and problem-solving. They are malleable and develop throughout our lives depending on age and experience.

Since soft skills correspond to our way of acting and working, they are valuable allies for improving the professional performance of your teams, particularly in the e-commerce sector.

Usefulness in e-commerce

Given the constant expansion of digital technology, the e-commerce sector is no exception. In addition to investing in technological development to adapt to market changes, it is also crucial to invest in human development through soft skills.

Indeed, soft skills are closely linked to the technical capabilities of your platform. Why? Because knowing how to be and knowing how to do go hand in hand for interacting with your target audience and optimizing your sales.

Customer interaction :

In the business world, soft skills complement hard skills. When a customer makes an online purchase, there is no direct contact with a human, creating a connection solely with the machine. This is a mistake because it is not the machine that decides to sell a product or service, but a human. Therefore, it is important to implement the right actions to offer a human touch to your customers, providing an immediate response to a request (through visual contact or by phone, for example, and avoiding the use of automated chatbots).

Why ? Because it enhances the customer experience. The idea is that once the request is handled, the customer remembers a positive shopping experience, where the brand was attentive and promptly addressed their needs to resolve the issue. The customer service linked to your e-commerce site is thus extremely important because it creates this direct connection with your buyer and avoids frustrations. The soft skills to look for include: kindness, listening, patience, availability, understanding, and responsiveness.

The same goes for the digital team, particularly the community managers : they must be responsive and available to quickly and effectively meet the needs of your digital customers. The more curious and empathetic your teams are in identifying your target audience’s core emotions and desires, the more qualified your leads will be.

Finally, all teams in your company are concerned with the ability to create strong, charismatic, and convincing storytelling. This narrative ability will help you develop your sales and firmly establish your offer in your customers’ minds, linked to situations, emotions, and memories.

Teamwork :

Teamwork, related to soft skills, is essential. Collaboration between the various departments of your company (marketing, sales, web development, design, logistics, etc.) must be resilient, adaptable, and flexible. For example, if a pallet of products arrives completely damaged at your customer’s location, you need to find an appropriate solution between the sales or customer service team and the logistics teams.

Soft skills are therefore crucial here: the more people think collectively, the more stable your e-commerce site and the related experience will be. This is especially true for managers, who unite and motivate teams through communication, trust, and decision-making. It is a matter of listening to both the customer and the collaborator to encourage collective thinking. If your teams are satisfied with their work environments, your customer can only be happier with their experience with your brand.

Ability to innovate :

As with digital, innovation is key. Soft skills such as autonomy and a sense of responsibility allow for self-organization and the sharing of innovative ideas, saving time and enhancing the customer experience. By considering various possible solutions and continuously renewing yourself, you can stand out to your customers and convert more prospects into loyal customers.

Soft skills are real assets for managing a site. They complement technical skills and allow for a smoother user experience, effective communication with stakeholders, and proactive challenge management. Investing in developing these skills will improve your overall performance and help you exceed your sales goals.