Posted by Jon on Nov 9, 2009 in
Serious Business In a rough economy like today's, a strong customer retention strategy is important for any e-commerce business to thrive. It is far more costly to obtain a new customer through advertising than to market to an existing customer. Yet so many companies make simple mistakes that cost them several customers each day. Before you spend a dime on advertising, keep in mind these three popular ways of scaring your customers away:
Method #1: Don't Reply To Their E-Mails
When a customer e-mails your company, an opportunity is born. You have a chance to quickly respond to your customer and help them with something. Yet many online merchants seem to ignore this. While perusing the customer feedback profiles of several of my competitors, this was the number one customer complaint, hands down. People were upset that their e-mails were not answered in a timely manner, or even answered at all. What's the point of even being in business if you're going to ignore the people who keep you in business?
Method #2: Take Your Time Delivering the Goods
When a customer places an order, a fast turnaround time is critical. If you take too long to get them what they paid for, do you really expect them to hurry back to your store? If you don't act quick to get your customers their products, they won't be acting quick to do business with you anytime in the near future. Once again, this is something that's extremely basic, but often forgotten by many merchants.
Method #3: Misinform Your Customers
Too many merchants have no idea about how merchants' liability works. If you ship a product to your customer and it is lost in the mail, the customer has every right to call their credit card company and do a chargeback. Too many chargebacks, and you risk losing your merchant account, or being hit with stiff penalties. Many merchants tell their customers that they're responsible for purchasing insurance. This is a huge scam. The buyer is never liable for undelivered goods when paying with a credit card. eBay has even made it a listing violation to ask your customers to purchase insurance. This is the seller's responsibility; it always has been and it always will be. If you want to scare off customers, tell them they're fully liable for any lost shipments if they don't purchase insurance. As customers become savvier, they will not put up with companies who try to get away with this practice.
Good Communication Is Important
Good communication, fast turnaround time, and honest business practices are the lifeblood of any business. If you want to guarantee that your competition gets the share of the market that could have been yours, just follow the three methods in this article and you'll be out of business in no time at all!
Tags: communication, customers, e-commerce, service
Posted by Jon on Aug 9, 2008 in
Serious Business I do a lot of international business online. A LOT. Every now and then, an overseas customer comes along and asks me to forge an invoice to save him a few bucks in duty taxes. While this hasn't happened as much as it used to a few years ago, it still happens. Maybe they don't know any better, but it still makes my head spin.
While it may be true that this is not often prosecuted, it's still mail fraud. I like running a legitimate business, and not having to worry about being investigated for federal crimes. It's a bit upsetting to know that so many online merchants actually do this to please the customer, but at least I know I'm doing the right thing.
I like this store's customs declaration policy:
http://www.artofadornment.ca/catalog/shipping/
We CANNOT declare the value of the parcel contents on the Customs form as less than the actual item value for two reasons:
1.) It is illegal.
2.) The parcel is insured for the value declared. This means that if your parcel got lost we could only reimburse you for the amount declared on the Customs form. Example: if your item was valued at $100 and we declared it as worth $20, we could only give you a $20 refund since that is the amount Canada Post will reimburse (theoretically, if we refunded you the full $100 and only got $20 back from Canada Post, we would be paying Canada Post $80 for inconveniencing both of us). We would much rather declare the full amount so your purchase is covered!
The fact that other businesses may lie to Customs for you does not concern us (we will not "jump off a bridge" because another store did). It is not a fair and legal business practice.
eBay has been forced to take an aggressive stance against mail fraud as well:
Postal administrations in several international countries have contacted the United States Postal Service about the declaration of value placed on customs forms. They have noted that in many cases, the declared value is understated when compared to the actual invoice or known value of the item, especially for sales conducted over the internet.
While this applies to sellers both on and off eBay, the USPS has asked us to remind our sellers to declare the proper value on all customs forms.
The correct value of each item is required on customs forms as it helps determine the proper duties and taxes, and whether they should be applied. Some countries will soon begin taking steps to address this issue, such as levying fines on the addressee when the declared value is
determined to be lower than the invoice.
To make sure you're complying with international regulations, please make sure the stated value on your customs declaration is supported by your invoices or other documentation.
Tags: customs, e-commerce, ebay, law, mail fraud