Friday, December 12, 2008

Providing Excellent Customer Service

I was looking at a stream of communication among some Etsians to discuss what is good customer service. Is it important to quickly respond when a buyer makes a purchase from your shop? How much follow up? When? To be honest I was a bit alarmed by some of the responses. Some said "Well customers on Etsy understand that most Etsians work full time jobs and do this on a part time basis so its ok to not send a quick follow up to say. "Got your order and will get it shipped by xxx date" NOT!

Communication is a major KEY to excellent customer service! It really bothers me when I get no communication acknowledging my order and then a week later I get my item in the mail and no follow up whatsoever afterward. All I want to say on the feed back is "Thanks" or "Item as described". I state very specifically in my shop policies my standards for Customer service and my goal to the customer. Below is the process I follow when someone buys from me.

1. When someone orders from me, I respond with the below standard statement within 48 hours of the order (usually it is the same day) My subject is "Your Order" I am not specific in stating the item ordered. Use the customers real first name! It is more personal and shows your customer you have taken time to at least review the details of their Invoice/order:
**************Order Received Acknowledgment and statement of process!**************
Hi ______,
Your item will be shipped within 5 days. Once you receive your item, please leave positive feed back. I pride myself in having great customer service and a feedback rating that shows it! If for some reason you are not satisfied with your purchase, please contact me before leaving neutral or negative feedback so I may rectify the problem. And hey–thanks for choosing to shop with Uniquecommodities! :)

****When I ship the item I put "Tracking number - 9101 XX XX XXXXX in the subject line****
Hi______
Your item has been shipped! Once you receive your item, please leave positive feed back. I pride myself in having great customer service and a feedback rating that shows it! If for some reason you are not satisfied with your purchase, please contact me before leaving neutral or negative feedback so I may rectify the problem. And hey–thanks again for choosing to shop with Uniquecommodities! :)

**********Follow up if no feed back is left within 7 days of verified receipt of item**********
Hi ____I see that you received your item on _____! I hope it was to your satisfaction. If so, please leave positive feed back. If for some reason you are not satisfied with your purchase, please contact me before leaving neutral or negative feedback so I may rectify the problem. Take care!

After this I leave it alone and Notice that I have feed back for almost EVERY item I have sold (about 98%)..because I follow up and not in a nagging way. I have never had a complaint and I believe it is because I state my focus and intent from the start and follow through accordingly!


REMEMBER...EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE BREEDS REPEAT CUSTOMERS AND REFERRALS!

Signed,
Indiscriminate and Random Musings

8 comments:

MagdaleneJewels said...

One would think this was just common courtesy. Kind of sad, that one has to be reminded when to say thank you. I don't know whose response that some on Etsy are working and therefore this is time consuming, but they manage enough time to list their item, so a simple thank you would take one minute out of their "busy" day.
Thanks for a very good article and reminder to all!

the magic sleigh said...

I always let the customer know when an item has shipped and acknowledged the sale. I have fewer than 1/2 feedback's to sales though, even from repeat customers. I try not to nag, but I really like how you put it very simple and easy, I think I will try it!

April Bourgois said...

Thanks for laying it out for me. I was raised in a cave but I want to do this Etsy thing right.

Wondering how you track for international orders.

Live, Love, Laugh, Write! said...

Great post - I totally agree!

BeadedTail said...

What a helpful post! Thanks!

TiLT said...

Fabulous! I like to make contact too...but your notes to the buyers are much better than mine :) I may need to rewrite mine.
I really like the straight forward please leave positive feedback & contact me if that's not the case thing - I have been having a hard time trying to word that...was afraid of sounding pushy - but that totally does not sound pushy at all!
great job

agoodwitchtoo said...

That is some very valuable advice! Love the way you word ever single one of your contact "convos".

Can I just kick you in your shins right now? I'm still working on my mission statement and now I know I need to work on my communication convos as well... :D

I meant that as a compliment btw... LOL.

uniquecommodities said...

Hi guys!
Glad it helped you! As I learn and grow...no doubt I will share it with you all! Looking forward to learning much from all of you as well!

Happy Holidays!