| Over the years, I have been amazed at the | | | | |
| "blinding" greed and reckless approach to | | | | |
| commerce that some business owners have | | | | |
| employed. Lying to customers, selling | | | | |
| inferior merchandise, and not offering | | | | |
| refunds, left a firestorm of irate customers | | | | |
| in their wake. Without fail, all of this "ill | | | | |
| will" led most businesses to bankruptcy, and | | | | |
| in some cases, Federal Prison. | | | | |
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| | | | "Me thinketh thou doth protest too much! |
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| I realize that not everyone engages in | | | | |
| "business criminality" that rises to the | | | | |
| level of fraud and incarceration. Most people | | | | |
| try to be good stewards, and approach their | | | | Do you accentuate the positive? Or, do you |
| enterprise in an honest and forthright | | | | run on negativity? Negative Ebay feedback is |
| manner. For those of you who own thriving | | | | a tool that everyone should use with |
| business concerns you already know that in | | | | restraint, or not at all. As a rule, I never |
| most cases the customer is always right. You | | | | leave negative feedback. Unless someone has |
| make sure that you communicate effectively, | | | | blatantly lied about your product, or |
| refund monies if the buyer is truly unhappy, | | | | attacked you personally without merit, then I |
| and try to meet the needs of the people who | | | | would not leave any feedback in the "minus" |
| buy your goods or services. | | | | side of the isle! |
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| However, there are more than a handful of | | | | |
| Ebay sellers that are of the mind that | | | | |
| customer service and effective communication | | | | |
| is not something that they need not | | | | |
| participate in. Take the case of a woman | | | | "Flame" wars are not pretty. I have seen a |
| named Barbara, (Nickname: BobAnn) who | | | | lot of unnecessary back and forth "banter" |
| recently posted her disappointment on the | | | | that could have been avoided, if they (the |
| Ryze Business Network: | | | | seller) just resisted the urge to make their |
| | | | "two cents" known. Sometimes it gives |
| | | | customers the impression that you are more |
| | | | concerned about arguing, then conducting your |
| Barbara Cerda wrote:Greetings Everyone, | | | | business. |
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| "When will sellers on Ebay understand that | | | | |
| customer service is key? And when will Ebay | | | | |
| sellers learn using customer friendly | | | | |
| approaches can only make their business | | | | |
| grow?" Again today I've bought from a less | | | | I have also witnessed seller feedback that |
| than friendly seller. | | | | has included some pretty foul language. |
| | | | Engaging in this type of verbal sparring is |
| | | | not much of a confidence builder either. It |
| | | | is more telling of what you are, then about |
| | | | revealing the sins of your customers. Don't |
| | | | go out of your way to register a negative |
| | | | response if you can help it. Heed the sage |
| | | | advice that our Mother's use to tell us: "If |
| Thought I was placing a bid and instead | | | | you can't say anything nice, don't say |
| bought the item at the buy now price. Of | | | | anything at all!" |
| course the seller refused to allow the | | | | |
| retraction, nor was I allowed to place a bid. | | | | |
| I always pay for my winning bids immediately | | | | |
| upon email confirmation. | | | | |
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| | | | "What we have here is a failure to |
| | | | communicate!" |
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| And did so in this case. But it would have | | | | |
| been customer friendlier for this seller to | | | | |
| accept my retraction to be replaced with a | | | | |
| bid. He would have gotten repeat business | | | | |
| from me and my friends. His "Buy Now" price | | | | |
| is 30% over the retail price for this item. | | | | Communication with your customers should not |
| Lesson learned by me again - that there are | | | | amount to the sound one hand clapping! Bottom |
| way too many sellers on Ebay out to grab a | | | | line, if someone e-mails you with a |
| buck and the hell with fair practice.Lesson | | | | question--answer it! Here is an example of |
| learned yet again." | | | | the type of feedback I obtained by doing just |
| | | | that...... |
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| BobAnn | | | | |
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| End quote... | | | | |
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| The operative phrase here is "repeat business | | | | |
| from me and my friends". There is no better | | | | "He was very Helpful and cooperative in |
| endorsement of your product or service than | | | | answering questions. Follow-up: Will |
| word of mouth advertising. Lack of | | | | DEFINITELY use his services anytime he has |
| flexibility on the part of the seller, not | | | | items of interest! Great Seller!" |
| only cost them one customer, but also | | | | |
| destroyed the possibility for future | | | | |
| business. Good news travels fast, but bad | | | | |
| news travels faster! | | | | |
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| As an auction seller, (Ebay auction ID: | | | | The gentlemen who left this positive review, |
| LevelBest77) I would have accommodated her | | | | wanted to know about some of the particulars |
| request right away. And while I have never | | | | of a "Mickey Mouse" clock I had up for |
| had anyone use "Buy It Now" by accident, I | | | | auction. His wife is a collector of all |
| have had several people over the years ask me | | | | things Disney, and thought it would be a nice |
| to retract bids. The number of people who | | | | surprise for her birthday. The clock, to say |
| have made that request can be counted on one | | | | the least, was in sad shape. It was incapable |
| hand! Some, did not even understand the | | | | of keeping time, and the only part of it in |
| process, (bid retracting) and I was more than | | | | working order was the second hand. I thought |
| willing to guide them through it. | | | | for sure that he would be disappointed with |
| | | | the item despite full disclosure of all of |
| | | | it's imperfections. |
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| People make honest mistakes, and you should | | | | |
| never "abuse" a buyer for doing so. If you | | | | |
| plan to get into Ebay auction selling for the | | | | To my surprise, not only did I receive |
| long haul, always practice good will toward | | | | positive feedback, but he also told me that |
| your customers. Unless someone is totally | | | | his wife absolutely loved it! In this |
| unreasonable, and you have done everything in | | | | instance, one man's junk, truly, is another |
| your power to accommodate their request, | | | | man's treasure! I never thought this item was |
| never deny people the ability to change their | | | | worthy of any praise! The time it took to |
| mind, return an item, or retract a bid! | | | | answer his questions-all of five minutes! |
| Developing good will also requires that you | | | | |
| anticipate customer needs..... | | | | |
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| | | | I know that some of you will say that I am |
| | | | not being realistic. You just can't answer |
| For instance, I had a few overseas customers | | | | e-mails all day; "I have a business to run!," |
| bid on a wireless router. This particular | | | | you might proclaim. If you plan on making a |
| item needed to be powered with a Universal | | | | living on Ebay, then you better think about |
| Adapter, since voltage requirements in France | | | | hiring someone to help you answer your daily |
| and Australia are obviously different from | | | | inquires if it is just too overwhelming. If |
| those here in the United States. | | | | you specialize in a particular product, set |
| | | | up a Frequently Asked Questions page to any |
| | | | Auto-Responder. |
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| | | | If you use Ebay on an infrequent basis, and |
| | | | have less than thirty listings a month, then |
| I made this abundantly clear to both bidders | | | | you really don't have any excuse not to |
| before they sent me any payment. The purchase | | | | provide great customer service and e-mail |
| of such an adapter, not to mention the | | | | communication. You shouldn't be inundated |
| shipping price, would have doubled the US | | | | with questions regarding that many items, |
| retail cost. I told them that they could | | | | unless the product you are selling is |
| probably get the product cheaper at their | | | | technical in nature. |
| local electronics stores. Without hesitation, | | | | |
| I let them out of their obligation to pay for | | | | |
| the item. I then contacted the next highest | | | | |
| bidder and offered that person the chance to | | | | |
| make the purchase. | | | | |
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| | | | If you ignore your customers, they will go |
| | | | away. Good customer service should be woven |
| | | | into the fabric of every good business. I |
| | | | cannot overemphasis the importance of this |
| | | | issue. I continue to be perplexed by the fact |
| | | | that it is last on the list of business |
| | | | priorities for some Ebay sellers! |
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| Both bidders thanked me for my honesty. They | | | | |
| had forgotten about the electrical | | | | |
| differences. I could have ignored that little | | | | |
| detail, and sold them the item anyway. I just | | | | |
| had to put myself in their situation. Think | | | | |
| of how frustrated they would have been if I | | | | Will good customer service and communication |
| did not reveal that information. Buyer's | | | | alone make you rich on Ebay? That would be a |
| remorse would have set in quickly, once they | | | | resounding "no". You will have to understand |
| realized that they could have purchased the | | | | your market, and provide products that the |
| same item for a lot less in their native | | | | Ebay community will bid on consistently. |
| countries. | | | | There will be "bidders & buyers" out there |
| | | | that will make mistakes and commit some |
| | | | auction sins! Forgive all Ebay sins and you |
| | | | will be rewarded with happy, repeat |
| | | | customers! |
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| While the benefits of these actions may not | | | | |
| have an immediate effect, you can be sure | | | | |
| that should I ever have another "item of | | | | |
| interest!" these two gentlemen would not | | | | |
| hesitate to purchase from me. They can count | | | | Robert C. Potter is the author of "The |
| on me to accommodate their needs, instead of | | | | Ultimate Guide To Products For Resale." Over |
| catering to my wants. Creating this type of | | | | 300 Wholesale & Surplus Supply Sources, For |
| good will instills trust, and the knowledge | | | | Ebay Auction Sellers, E-Commerce Websites, |
| that you have the customers best interest in | | | | Flea Market Vendors, and Retail Store Owners! |
| mind. | | | | |