www.elesclothing.co.uk has another
article that we hope will help you when selling our cheap discount wholesale
clothing
Solving
disputes with buyers
In
this article:
·
Take a moment to compose yourself
·
What is the problem
·
How can you resolve the problem
·
How can you keep this person as a customer and
even have them recommend you to other people
·
Never ever lose your temper or respond in a rude
way there is nothing better than having a satisfied customer. But every
now and then someone will return to you with a complaint about some aspect of
your business, your service or your products. The first time this happens you
will feel embarrassed, stressed and possibly defensive. But there are ways that
you can deal with the problem and still make everyone happy at the end.
Take a moment to compose yourself
One advantage of selling online is that
you will never find yourself face to face with an angry customer. This gives
you time to sit and compose yourself and calm down before responding to them.
Remember that many customers will sit down and fire off an angry email without
even thinking about it. There have been many eBay sellers who have received an
angry email from a customer – and the customer has later apologised for being
rude. They didn’t realise the email was quite so heavy handed. But it all
depends on how you (as the seller) respond. Read the email, take some time to
think about it and let your own emotions die down. Then respond to it.
If you ever meet a customer face to face
and they have a complaint, make sure you keep your voice and actions calm. It
is more difficult for someone to remain angry if the person they are shouting
at is calm and wants to help them!
What is the problem?
The first and most important step is to
find out exactly what the problem is. For example it may be that the product
you sent out to the customer has arrived damaged or broken. Alternatively the
product may not have turned up at all. On a rare occasion you might
inadvertently send out the wrong product. This is more common if you sell a
number of very similar items and you grab the wrong one from the stock shelves
by accident.
If you sell products to people abroad
there may be occasions when you cannot quite make out what the problem is. This
is more likely to occur if the person writes in broken English. But if there is
any confusion or doubt over the nature of the problem, respond quickly and try
to get more information.
Most importantly, always reassure the
customer that you want to resolve the problem as quickly as possible for them.
Simply say you need more details to be able to process their complaint and
resolve it satisfactorily on their behalf.
How can you resolve the problem?
Most of the time, the solution to the
complaint will be simple. If the item has been lost and the required amount of
time has passed for the item to be assumed lost in the post, you can send a
replacement. If the item is broken, you can also send a replacement.
Some sellers request the broken item be
sent back to them before they will send out another one. This is understandable
because you want to know whether the request is genuine or not. However it is worth
remembering that the vast majority of people are honest. Your approach to this
might depend on how much the item is worth. Clearly if we are talking about
some stickers for party bags at £2, it’s easier to send out another pack. But
if the item in question is a television, you would be right to request it to be
sent back.
How can you keep this person as a customer – and even have them recommend you to other people?
Gestures of goodwill can go a very long
way. No matter how angry a person is when they first get in touch with you, it
is more than possible to end the process with them recommending you to others.
On some occasions a customer may require
an item for a certain date. Birthdays and Christmas are the most common
examples of this. If the item is lost in the post it may be too late to send a
replacement, so the customer will request a refund. If this occurs, make sure
you refund them as quickly as possible. You can also ask them to keep the item
as a gesture of goodwill if it does eventually turn up.
Some sellers also send an extra item
along with the replacement one. This could be related to the item that went
missing. For example if they ordered printer inks you could pop in an extra one
as well. Alternatively it might be another item from your range – something low
cost but seen by the customer as a nice gesture from you.
Another option is to give someone a
special code that will entitle them to a discount off their next order. This is
a nice way to tempt them back in future and most customers respond very well to
it.
Never, ever lose your temper or respond in a rude way
This is the most important thing of all
to remember. It doesn’t matter how rude a customer is to you – you must never
be rude back to them. Even if you hate them and they have annoyed and
frustrated you, you must never show this to them.
This is why the first piece of advice
given above is so important – you must always allow some time to compose
yourself. This prevents your own emotions from bumping up against theirs. One
thing is certain here – if you are rude to them you will certainly get an even
ruder response in return.
Whether you sell on eBay or on your own
website, there will doubtless be a facility where customers can give their
opinions on their order and your service. Which response would you rather have?
Would you like to get a satisfied response stating that while they had a
problem with their order it was resolved quickly and efficiently and to their
satisfaction? Or would you rather get a rude response telling everyone who
visits your shop that you are dreadful at customer service?
The answer is obvious, isn’t it?
Thanks for your business,
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