15 November 2021 @ 11:25pm | Jack Parkinson
Amazon has changed significantly over the last few years. Sellers are having to work harder and spend more on things like PPC and creative content to attract shoppers to their listings.
This increased spend means that in order to build a profitable marketplace business, you’ll need to maximise the lifetime value of each of your customers. A great way to do this is to keep them coming back.
Here are six customer service tips that will help you do that:
1. Try eliminating the need for customer service altogether.
The best customer service you can offer is to eliminate the need for customer service in the first place.
A potential buyer should be able to know if your product is right for them without having to contact you. This means creating Amazon listings that pre-empt potential questions your customers may have and proactively answer them through clearer titles, more detailed descriptions, and informative product images.
Avoid simple mistakes by triple checking your product details when creating listings, making sure things like product dimensions, colour, and size are all correct.
If you fulfil orders from your own warehouse:
- Always keep your stock numbers up to date so you never oversell an item.
- Put measures in place to make sure the correct items are dispatched to the customer in a timely manner.
The best way to avoid warehouse errors like this is to switch to FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) – Amazon will then take care of all your fulfilment for you.
2. Respond promptly.
When customers do get in touch with you, always respond in a timely manner.
At the very least, you should be replying to messages within 24 hours – this is Amazon’s minimum required SLA (service level agreement). But ideally, you should be replying sooner than this. When you do, it suggests two things:
- You have a handle on your marketplace business
- You care about them, and you’re prepared to make them your top priority
This will help you build trust, and ultimately keep your customers coming back.
3. Be polite and patient.
Over the years, people have come to expect a seamless transaction when shopping on Amazon. And, chances are, you’re going to come across a frustrated customer every now and then.
No matter what, it’s your responsibility to remain professional. So, be patient, polite, and focus on resolving their issue as quickly as possible.
You’ll often find that if you reply to an angry message in a polite and respectful manner, the customer’s response will also be polite and respectful.
4. Own your mistakes.
Sometimes, there’s no other way to put it: You messed up.
If the customer’s issue is something that could have been avoided by you or one of your colleagues, then it’s up to you to hold your hand up and own that mistake.
Rather than trying to come up with an elaborate excuse, just acknowledge the error, apologise, and offer a resolution that your customer will be happy with.
5. Focus on the solution.
Customers don’t want to read long, drawn-out excuses. All they’re interested in is how their issue can be resolved.
When dealing with customers, stay focused on a positive resolution, and always work towards the outcome.
Keep your message short and to the point. The customer is already inconvenienced by having to contact you, so don’t create a further inconvenience by having them read through lengthy paragraphs about how you’re going to fix things.
You should be able to apologise and outline a positive solution in just a few sentences.
6. Think long term.
If handled correctly, a negative customer experience can lead to positive feedback. So, when mistakes do happen it’s important that you go above and beyond to make sure your customer is happy.
You’ll often find positive reviews result from negative experiences, where the customer was so impressed by the level of customer service that they felt compelled to write a positive review. This is the best outcome you could hope for after something goes wrong, and here’s why:
- There’s a good chance the customer will return
- It also shows other potential customers that they can trust you to handle any issues that may arise, improving your conversion rates.
Long term, going the extra mile is a great way to build a loyal base of customers.
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