As you build upon your successes as an FBA or third-party seller on Amazon, it’s tempting to put the focus squarely on making money, repricing your inventory, and competing hard against other sellers. And that’s a fine notion — something we’re not disputing at all. But what we do want to swing the focus back around to is that little gem that got you here in the first place: customer service. In the beginning, you had to focus on it a lot as you clawed and scrabbled for every single buyer. You’re no longer in that position, but it’s important to never forget where you came from and RepricerExpress has the top examples of how to maintain awesome customer service on Amazon.
Patience Above all Else
You’ll inevitably run into customers who make you want to tear your hair out, the kind who place all sorts of demands on you with seemingly no regard for the actual work that goes on behind the scenes. Are they unreasonable and demanding? Perhaps, but that’s of no consequence to them. All they want to see are results, and rely on you to deliver them.
Before you object and say, ‘Yes, RepricerExpress, but they’re asking me for everything under the sun!’, put yourself in their shoes for a second, and imagine the last time you argued about your cellphone or cable bill. Do you remember how frustrated you felt when the person on the other end told you there was nothing they could do to lessen the bill, especially when you knew the charges had been unfairly placed? And how happy would you have been if they’d just exercised a little bit of patience and tried to take an extra step for you?
Your responsibility — nay, your duty — as an online seller is to do just that: be patient for the sake of positive feedbacks and customer retention. In today’s digital age, all it takes is one well-placed bad review to get the ball rolling and undo everything you’ve worked so hard to achieve.
Consider Cutting Out Shipping Costs for Special Circumstances
As an Amazon seller with your own Seller Central account, you likely already have situations in place where you offer free shipping, such as on bundled products or items that meet a certain price threshold. We completely understand your reasoning for either keeping it in or leaving it out, because no item can travel for free.
But — and this is a big but — there are most definitely times when you should strongly consider adding in free shipping to better a situation. One of the most common examples of this is if something happens to the product, like it’s lost in the mail, stolen from the buyer’s doorstep, or if either happens close to a holiday or birthday. Nobody wants to spend Christmas having to explain to their child that the gift they ordered for them will arrive next year because the shipping costs were just as much as the gift itself.
Give people the Christmases and birthdays they deserve by ensuring you get the product there no matter what, even if you have to expedite the process and eat the shipping charges yourself. It may suck, but it’s something that doesn’t happen very often and paying that small price is a huge investment in customer loyalty.
Know Your Products Inside Out
There is little worse than trying to explain a problem to a company and just knowing they have no idea what’s going on. Possibly the only thing worse than that is if they keep talking and talking, trying to fool you with pretend knowledge instead of just being straight with you and putting you in touch with someone who can solve the problem.
No matter what you’re selling, make it your priority to learn what each item does. If you’re listing electronics, Google the basics on what the parts are and how to fix them. Or if you’re selling something like books or apparel, take time to educate yourself on who the big name authors are or the nuances of clothing will go a long way.
Use Your Connections
Sometimes, fixing a situation is simply out of your hands and you have to ask others for help. Take a look at this Businessweek story where a Ritz-Carlton employee made perfect use of his connections to keep hotel guests happy. You may not necessarily have to go to the lengths he did, but you should exhaust all avenues before calling it a day.
Final Thoughts
At RepricerExpress, practising good customer service is a maxim we live with every day. Our customers are the reason we’re here today — why we’re all here today — and it’s important to treat them amazingly well. And with exceptional customer service comes more positive seller feedbacks—all that’s left to maintain to increase your sales is competitive repricing which our 15-day free trial of RepricerExpress should take care of!
