Hello everyone! I’m Jerad Schempp, COO of Hosted Support, an eBay Certified Solution Provider. I’m glad you could make it to my workshop today, and I hope you have plenty of questions and comments for me.
Hosted Support has been providing customer support solutions since 2003 and has an eBay Compatible Application called ezSupport for eBay that’s built exclusively for the needs of eBay sellers. I’m always excited to share our experience and knowledge regarding customer support issues, especially about how excellent customer support can help sellers increase sales and profits.
A few months ago I presented a workshop titled “Turning Unhappy Customers into Loyal Buyers” where I outlined a method for dealing with disgruntled customers so that they come away with a positive view of you as a seller and will come back and buy again. Today’s workshop picks up where that workshop left off with ideas for gathering information from complaining customers and what to do with that information to help you profit from your customer complaints.
“WHAT?!” you’re saying, “Customer complaints are nothing but a nuisance that take up too much time. Is it really possible to turn complaints into profits?” And to that I respond, “Yes indeed, it is possible to turn complaints into profits!” In fact, sellers who dismiss customer complaints as unimportant will not only be missing out on profit opportunities, these sellers may be out of business before long.
I know it’s natural that the very last thing you want to hear from your customers is complaints. We’ve all experienced a day that was going just fine, and then out of nowhere Whamo! a customer comes along with a gripe and it’s like getting dirt thrown in your face. Nobody likes being told that they did something wrong. But let’s be honest, no matter how well you run your business, there’s always room for improvement. So let’s get to it.
Adjust Your Attitude Repeat after me: Complaints are a Good Thing. Yes that’s right, complaints can be good for your business. Think of customer complaints as an advanced warning signal. They’re like minor symptoms of an illness that if treated properly will help you keep your business healthy, but if ignored could lead to your business’ early demise via red ink.
So the first step to profiting from customer complaints to simply adjust your attitude. I know this is easier said than done, but it helps if you can take your ego out of the equation. Generally when a customer makes a complaint, he or she isn’t personally attacking you so there’s no need to jump to the defensive. The customer is alerting you to an issue that you can turn to your advantage by taking it as a pointer on how to improve your business. And it really is necessary for you to view complaints as an opportunity in order to deal with customers positively and to make the most of the information you receive from your customers. Otherwise customers will know that you’re just giving them lip service, and you’ll never take the steps necessary to correct the underlying problems that are causing complaints.
Not to evoke any Titanic associations here, but another thing to consider is that every customer complaint you receive is really just the tip of the iceberg. Recent studies show that 96% of customers who have a complaint don’t bother contacting the business. Instead, they take the easier route of just walking away or complaining to their friends. And you know what that leads to -- lost future sales. So think of the customers who do make complaints as the ones who actually care enough to continue their relationship with you.
Encourage Communication Instead of trying to constructively solve a problem, why do so many customers walk away, or even worse on eBay, submit negative feedback? Well, frequently businesses don’t provide an easy way for customers to contact them. In fact many businesses actively dodge customer complaints. Reverting to my medical analogy from above, that’s like thinking that covering your ears while your doctor tells you the results of a physical will keep you from getting sick.
You want to be the first to hear your customers’ problems. That way you can deal with them before they get out of hand and keep bad word of mouth from spreading. It’s important that you encourage open communication with your customers. Every time a customer makes a purchase include a request for positive feedback and provide a clear line of communication if the customer has an issue that needs resolving. This could be a support hotline, direct email address, or web support form. Whatever line of communication you offer, just make sure it’s easy for the customer to use. Saving a customer the trouble of figuring out how to contact you can help diffuse an issue from the start. The customer will be able to approach you without the added frustration of figuring out how to reach you.
Perhaps my question is a bit off topic. Hosted Support offers automated and extremely effective way to communicate with buyer who are contacting seller via “Ask seller a questions”, what I call a pre-sale communication. However, Hosted Support does not offer a way for buyer to communicate via “Contact Seller” after auction ended what I call post-sale communication. Will you be offering such a feature in the future? It does not make much sense using your service if it only offers partial communication with buyers.
Hi tiptopgem. I reviewed a step-by-step process for dealing with customer complaints in my May 13th workshop "Turning Unhappy Customers into Loyal Buyers".
Hi america-resale. Our ezSupport system does allow communication with buyer of items after sale. However, you're in compliance with eBay policy, ezSupport is currently unable to contact buyers directly if they are not winning bidders.
You should also encourage communication with your employees. Let employees know that you’re open to suggestions for ways to improve procedures that are leading to customer complaints. You might be surprised at your employees’ insights.
Log Complaints Next, it’s important that you keep an organized log of all customer complaints and suggestions. Your complaint log will help you spot trends such as the types of problems that are cropping up, how frequently certain problems occur, when problems started, and whether certain problems are seasonal. This information is crucial for helping you devise long-term problem solutions, and you should review your complaint log on a regular basis to spot any new trends.
I would like to know how you turn a complaint into a positive when a customer receives their item and decided they didnt like it, filed a complaint for full refund 2 days later, now claiming the item wasnt as described when past customers have left feedback for identical item saying 'exactly as described'. Turn this into a positive experience??
Hi perkins55. Unfortunately, you won't be able to profit from all complaints. The goal is to watch for valid complaints that will help you improve your business.
Take Action! It’s not enough to just gather customer feedback and log complaints. You need to address the underlying issues. Figure out what’s at the root of the problem. Is it an employee, a product, a procedure, or the customer?
If your complaint log shows that orders handled by an individual employee are leading to a large number of complaints, then maybe that employee needs further training…hopefully the problem employee won’t be you.
Is a specific product generating lots of complaints? Maybe you need to drop that product from your roster or find a new source for it.
Seeing lots of complaints about packages arriving late? Maybe you need to revamp your shipping procedures.
Does it seem like your customers are just generally confused? Then maybe you need to improve the messaging in your auction listings and communications. Many customer complaints are caused by customers having inaccurate expectations, i.e. something like the customer not realizing that shipping takes five business days instead of five days.
Whatever the underlying issue, you need to tackle it head on and make some changes. And if your first attempt at improvement doesn’t yield results, keep trying until the problem is solved. Otherwise you’ll be doomed to hear the same complaints over and over again.
Hi sherilvk. As I related to perkins55 above, unfortunately you won't be able to profit from all complaints. The goal is to watch for valid complaints that will help you improve your business.
Start Profiting Once you start fixing the underlying problems you’ve identified by listening closely to your customer complaints, you’ll see profits immediately.
What will your profits be? To start with the number of customer complaints you hear will be reduced. This will translate into fewer headaches (Hallelujah!), but you’ll also be saving a lot of time. And as the old saying goes, “Time is money.” Just exactly how much money you’ll save by eliminating large numbers of complaints will depend on the amount of time you typically spend handling complaints. How much is your time worth? I’d say a lot, and I bet you agree! Studies show that a typical complaint taking 30 minutes to resolve can cost a business over $100. That adds up quickly.
The time saved by not having to handle as many complaints won’t just save you money. You’ll be able to put that time to good use generating more profits too. You’ll be able to increase your auction listings and fulfill more orders.
And let’s not forget that when you start fixing those chronic business problems that are causing customer complaints, your customers will be increasingly more satisfied with you. That will lead to more repeat business and improved feedback scores. Both of which will result in, you guessed it, more profits.
So to sum up, although customer complaints can be painful to hear, they can also help you identify weak spots in your business. And with a positive attitude and some creative thinking you’ll be able to use complaints help you to solve underlying problems and generate more profits.
I’ve posted the bulk of my material, so now’s an excellent time to ask me any questions pertaining to how you as a seller can learn from valid complaints you receive from your customers.
When I first opened my store, I used to drop ship directly from the manufacturer. However, this quickly became cost-prohibitive: I would not receive shipping discounts because my purchase orders were not in volume.
I had to refund a customer because of it.
In turn, I received negative feedback.
It's been over 3 months now, and I've noticed this customer does very high-volume on eBay.
Although I no longer drop ship. I am willing to do so, in special circumstances.
Hi digital_maven. Honesty is the best policy. I'd advise contacting the buyer and letting him/her know of you willingness to drop ship in special circumstances.
Hi perkins55. That's a question to address to eBay directly. My definition of valid complaint is any legitimate issue a customer may have that you can learn from. It's completely unrelated to eBay policies/procedures.
Hello everyone, just a reminder that hostedsupport does not work for eBay and is not able to answer questions or address complaints about eBay. Please confine your questions in this workshop to the materials presented by hostedsupport.
Learning from your customer complaints will help keep your business healthy and lead to increased profits. However, support tools are also necessary for you to implement these strategies efficiently and to provide valuable customer support in general. Effective customer support requires giving customers access to as much information as possible, responding to customer questions and issues in a timely manner, and keeping customer purchasing and support information organized and accessible for you and your staff.
Warning: product promotion ahead!
Hosted Support offers ezSupport for eBay, which can help you get a handle on buyer email and make it convenient for your customers to get answers. In addition to providing auto-response messaging for buyer questions sent via the “Ask Seller a Question” form, ezSupport for eBay has an optional Advanced FAQs module that allows you to post an unlimited number of FAQs on all your auction listings so your customers can find answers to their questions on their own without using the “Ask Seller a Question” form.
eBay sellers using ezSupport for eBay report the following benefits: - Bulk of customer questions answered with self-service Advanced FAQs - Automatic responses to questions submitted via the “Ask Seller a Question” form - Automatic retention of all customer communications, stored indefinitely in ezSupport’s Contact Manager - 25% increase in listings and revenue due to time savings
Over 3000 eBay sellers use ezSupport for eBay, including top sellers like Eforcity. Case studies detailing how these eBay sellers are using ezSupport for eBay are available in the Case Studies section of our website, http://www.hostedsupport.com.
By using these tips and tools for improving and automating customer support, you’ll be able to work “smarter” rather than just working harder. You’ll get better Feedback scores, more repeat buyers, and higher revenue for your business!
how do i respond to a customer positively if after some time receiving the item he won from me complains that it is not working? Say about 2-3 weeks after he receive item from me?
Hi tru-amdvds, re: post 51, you're certainly right that doing business on eBay has differences from doing business on other platforms. However, I think that customer support issues and learning from customer complaints is necessary whenever and wherever you interact with customers. I hope my advise can be used on any platform.
We’re almost at the end of the workshop, and as our way of saying thanks for attending we’re giving away ezSupport for eBay to the next 500 sellers who sign up. No tricks. No gimmicks. No hidden charges. It’s 100% free.
My opinion is that handling customer complaints is a no brainer. If you treat your customers right most will treat you right and you will have little or no complaints. Honest mistakes happen. If you made an honest mistake you make it right, no problem. If you give poor service you will have complaints. If you rip off or deceive your customers you will have complaints. If that is the case you don't care about resolving complaints anyway.
Sellers who conduct themselves in a professional manor, provide the best customer service, and provide good products listed honestly have few complaints.
Thanks for the questions and participating in today's workshop. This concludes the " Profiting from Customer Complaints with Hosted Support" workshop. Be sure to check the Workshop Calendar for upcoming workshops.
Thanks everyone for stopping by and we hope to see you again!!!!
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