after the sale - sbi!: build a profitable online business · 2008-04-09 · managing your store...

Managing Your Store After The Sale

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1. After the Sale

The main focus of Make Your Store Sell! is on your Most Wanted Response(i.e., getting the order).

But developing a successful online store does not end with the click of an Addto Cart button, and the authorization of a credit card number.

What happens after you get the order?

Well, nothing too important. Just a few minor points, hardly worth mentioning,really...

• you get paid

• you ship the product

• you nurture a powerful, long-term relationship with your customer

• you build your brand

• you source more quality products that will be of interest to your target group

• you strengthen the partnership of your site and your store, ensuring a steadystream of PREsold visitors and, of course, sales!

Like I said, nothing too important.

Managing Your Store After The Sale has valuable post-order information,strategies and tips. Pay careful attention to the sections on credit card fraudprevention and customer support. Both play a major role in building asustainable, thriving, online store.

And don’t forget to check the Monetization HQ for additional resources…

http://mhq.sitesell.com/

Ready to secure a successful future on the Net? Let’s get started...



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2. How to Get Paid

A great product line. An awesome store. Tons of PREsold traffic from your site.Orders galore. You’re home-free, right?

Not necessarily. If you don’t get paid for your products, your wonderfulcyberstore will soon be cyber-bankrupt...

2.1. Bypass Credit Card Land Mines

Two major credit card land mines could blow your financial legs right off...frauds and chargebacks.

Don’t step on these...

... dangerous and potentially crippling land mines.

Although the credit card field is full of explosives, you have no choice but to walkin that field. There is simply no better, more convenient, more universal way toaccept payment.

Is fraud something you should really be concerned about?

The level of concern depends on your product line. You need to be morevigilant about fraud if you sell higher-priced items (i.e., computer software cds,digital cameras, stereo equipment, jewelry, etc.) that are easily fenced. Fraudbecomes less of a concern if you sell lower-cost items (i.e., household wares,juggling supplies, toy trains, etc.) that have little re-sale value, or do not havewide appeal.

No fraud screening process is perfect, and a verified order is not a 100%guarantee that an order is genuine.

Let’s say someone purchases a $5,000 stereo system with a fraudulent card.You follow the process to the letter...


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You get your customer’s credit card information. You relay it to your credit cardprocessor and they fire back an authorization number, depositing the correctamount into your account. You are home-free, right?

Wrong!...

The thief has your stereo. The real cardholder loses nothing due her creditcard company’s “zero liability” policy. You’re out the $5,000 system. And youget dinged with a penalty fee from your banking institution!

Why is this happening?

In terms of protecting you, that authorization number is almost worthless. As aMOTO (Mail Order/Telephone Order) merchant, you don’t have much protection.All your authorization code really tells you is that…

1) No one has reported the card stolen. Big deal. Here’s what easily foolsthis test...

• A crooked gas station attendant has stolen the card number (but not the card)off a copy of a credit card purchase. He uses the number for as long as “thegood times last.” And if he does it from a free e-mail account, buying softwareor other software-type product, he’ll be virtually uncatchable.

• A thief steals the card, but no one has noticed yet.

• A high-tech fraud simply generates a phony card number that passes the test(easily done -- you can buy these number-generating algorithms on theInternet!). Believe it or not, this “authorization” does not cross-check to see if itis even an existing, real account. It only runs a mathematical test to see if itcould be an account.

2) The card is not over its credit limit, so they have deducted that amount fromthe card’s outstanding limit. Again, big deal. Most stolen cards will not be overthe limit. And even some algorithm-generated numbers have been known topass the test.

If you are a U.S. merchant selling hard goods and a high percentage ofyour customers reside in the U.S., use the Address VerificationSystem (AVS).

By verifying the on-record billing address with the ship-to order formaddress, you can get slightly more protection. Unfortunately, many fraudartists know how to defeat AVS.

However, if you are shipping digital goods directly, AVS is useless sincethere is no billing address.


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In addition to AVS, it’s a good idea to require customers to give their CVV2numbers when they order. CVV2 stands for Card Verification Value.This 3 or 4 digit number is located on the back of Visa, MasterCard, andDiscover cards, and on the front of American Express cards. Again,requiring this number does not guarantee that you’ll never receive afraudulent charge, but it is an added measure of protection.

Bottom line?

The credit card company’s authorization does nothing to protect you. It’s up toyou to protect yourself.

Verify the credit card for every order...

1) On the order form, get the exact name of the customer as it appears on thecredit card. Also get the customer’s address with postal code, and phonenumber. This is pretty much standard practice, but don’t overlook theimportance of such basic steps.

2) An order verification from from whichever company you are working withdoes not necessarily mean that you are in the clear yet. Be sure to look for anyred flags lurking around in the order...

• Different “bill to” and “ship to” addresses (if this option is an option on yourOrder Form).

• International orders -- Once your merchandise crosses a border, forget aboutever getting it back. Do not ship an international order with different “bill to” and“ship to” addresses.

International orders, especially for items with prohibitive shipping coststhat are readily available overseas, need to be approached with a healthydose of skepticism. A real customer would be very reluctant to pay ahuge shipping charge, especially if she could obtain the same item locallyfor a similar price.

• Orders that come from free e-mail services.

You have to be careful here -- obviously, the anonymity of these servicesmeans that you’re much more likely to receive a fraudulent order from afree e-mail provider, than a verifiable ISP address.

However, customers have become exceedingly concerned aboutcompanies abusing their privacy information and/or being spammed intosubmission. Many of them are distrustful of online merchants. That’swhy people have taken to the free e-mail services in droves.


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So unless you can effectively explain why you won’t process orders fromfree e-mail services, and convince prospects that you can be trusted withtheir real ISP addresses, you can expect to lose some genuinecustomers.

A quick word of advice...

Don’t immediately discount an order due to a free e-mail address. Wealmost decided not to accept any orders from free e-mail addresses. Butin the end, we didn’t make it a policy. Here’s why...

Our fraud is about 0.2% and all of these fraudulent orders are made bypeople using a free e-mail address. Compare that with the fact that 5-10%of our orders come from people who give free e-mail addresses. It’s badbusiness to throw away 100 orders out of a 1,000 to save 2 frauds.

• Order value of over $100 (or whatever amount you determine is worth the timeto prevent)

• Orders with next day delivery (since they aren’t paying, they‘ll just want to getyour stuff ASAP)

• Unusual numbers of items

• Suspicious shipping instructions - “Yeah, just leave that box by the front door.”

• Suspicious sounding addresses -- 123 Main St, Anywhere, USA

• Orders where shipping charges are extremely high

• Orders occurring late at night

• Country of origin -- orders originating from republics of the old Soviet bloc andEast Asia are especially suspect.

SBIer Paul Crane tells me that his partners cancel all such orders outright.Because a high percentage of orders from these countries tend to befraudulent, there is simply no point to ship products.

On top of that, some customs services in these countries are also highlysuspect and very possibly corrupt. So the chances of getting any productreturned is virtually nil. In the end, it’s worth losing the occasional validoverseas order to avoid all the headaches associated with a ton offraudulent ones.

In Paul’s case, 99% of his orders come from North America, so hispartners’ policies have very little impact on the success of his business.Analyze your product line and your business, and decide whether asimilar policy makes sense for your business!


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3) If the dollar value of the order is low, and if no red flags have shot up duringthe order, then go ahead and ship the order.

However, if the value of the order is high, or if you spot a red flag, follow thesethree steps...

Step 1 -- Phone your credit card company and ask them to verify the creditcardholder’s name and address. They will request the number, expirationdate, name and address. You will either get an OK or No Good response.

If the verification fails, e-mail the client. Politely explain that there was aproblem with the credit car. Ask her to contact her bank, or to please use analternate card.

If the verification passes, and the card later turns out to be a fraud (somethieves have all this info, too), you’re still on the hook for the money! Soproceed to Step 2, if you’re really worried.

Step 2 -- If it’s a North American order you’re concerned about, try doing areverse search on the customer’s phone number to make sure, it’s...

• a real phone number, in the first place

• the customer’s phone number

Then do a reverse search at...

http://www.anywho.com/

If you’re getting a red flag order from a legitimate domain name ([email protected]), do a Better Whois search and find the contact name forthat domain. See if they match up. Use the contact info for additional follow-ups.

http://www.betterwhois.com/

You can also check a published list of phony shipping addresses thatcompanies like AntiFraud.com provide to their members.

http://www.antifraud.com/

http://www.anywho.com/

http://www.betterwhois.com/

http://www.antifraud.com/


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Step 3 -- Call the customer to process the order by phone. Tape the call, andlet your customer know that it is being taped, so that you can use the tape incourt, if necessary. Serious buyers won’t balk. Frauds will.

Verify that the person on the phone...

• is the cardholder, at xyz address, and at the phone number you are currentlytalking to (repeat the phone number)

and...

• is indeed ordering the merchandise.

Also request some extra info... the name and phone number of the bank thatissued the credit card, the exact name on credit card, and the exact billingaddress.

If all the info matches and the order processing proceeds without a hitch,proceed to Step 4. If you have any doubts, call the issuing bank directly andtriple-check before going to Step 4.

Step 4 -- Ship the product.

Step 5 -- For international or extremely high ticket orders, you may wish to go acouple of steps further. Consider...

• using an online escrow service

http://www.escrow.com/

• asking the purchaser for a fax of a credit card bill, driver’s license, or gas bill.

Don’t worry about offending the customer -- she’ll appreciate your duediligence. After all, there’s only two reasons for placing an international order...

1) The customer can’t get your product locally.

2) The customer is a scam artist.

If you carefully review all orders and implement the steps listed above, youshould be able to virtually eliminate any occurrences of credit card fraud.

Oh yes, and remember...

http://www.escrow.com/


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You always have the option to say No. If something just doesn’t feel right, andyou are worried about being out-of-pocket for the cost of your product andchargeback fees, just cancel the order, and don’t ship it.

You can also use these fraud-intimidators on your store...

• Notify customers that you do random phone verifications to eliminate creditcard fraud. Ask for a best time to call them.

• Post your anti-fraud policy clearly. State that you intend to process creditfrauds to the fullest extent of the law. While this won’t do much for the hard-core con artists, it may make others think twice before scamming you!

Of course, you have to balance your strategies against the possibility of scaringaway honest customers.

If your sales volume is high and your per-order dollar cost is low, manualverification and authorization may simply not be worth the hassle.

Real-time automatic credit card verification might be more suitable optionfor your business.

Lucky for you, you don’t have to pay for additional online anti-fraud software.Both our payment partners have sophisticated anti-fraud technology in place.Nothing is fool-proof, however. And online fraudsters are not fools.

Stay vigilant.

2.2. Eliminate Credit Card Chargebacks

Since you do not physically run your customer’s card through the bar code slotand have him sign the chit, he can always say that he did not order or receivethe merchandise. If you have a shipping document that contains thecustomer’s address and his signature upon receipt, the customer will at leasthave to send the product back. But if it’s software, more than likely, that type ofliar will probably keep a copy.

A customer can chargeback for a variety of other reasons. For example...

• Product was not what I expected.• It doesn’t work the way you claimed.• Product arrived damaged.


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No matter how good your product is, or how clear your descriptions are or howwell you ship, the customer can always claim the opposite and you’re out ofluck.

You are so vulnerable that your customer doesn’t even have to bother with aphony excuse. He can merely request a copy of the card imprint with signature.Since this is impossible, and since failure to provide it can result in achargeback, you lose again!

Chargebacks are made by two types of clients… an outright fraudster or adissatisfied customer.

The best way to eliminate the dissatisfied customer is...

...to not have any!

Specifically...

• Sell a great product at a great priceIf your customer senses that he has been tricked into buying bad value, you’reheaded for a chargeback.

• Conduct your business in such a way that people like you.Customers buy from people they like. They don’t chargeback, either. Sodesign your site and write your e-mails appropriately. On the Web, nice guys(and gals) do not finish last!

Your site’s quality content builds trust, credibility and ultimately, likeability --all of which can vastly reduce the chance of a chargeback from aPREsold visitor ordering at your store.

• OVERdeliver on customer supportFollow up with all customers, asking them if they are fully satisfied with theirpurchase and the ordering process. Refund unhappy customers immediately.Do your best to win over those “on the fence” by offering discounts on futurepurchases, etc.

• OVERdeliver on your productIf you are not selling well-known brand name items that consumers are familiarwith, present your products effectively. Use product photos that are sharp andbright. Create “more info” pages with larger pictures and a more detailed


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product description. Work to increase the customer’s perceived value of yourproduct!

Bottom line?

Being nice is not only a nice way to do business, it’s a powerful way.

A fraudulent chargeback is basically...

... legalized theft.

The best preventative measure against fraudulent chargebacks is to verify allorders by phoning the customer back, and by taping all such calls, as Imentioned earlier.

The recording will intimidate people from charging back, since they know thatyou could always provide the tape as proof of purchase. It will keep all but thenastiest frauds from cheating you. And when a chargeback does occur, itprovides a first level of defense... but it will not defeat the hardened fraud artist.

If telephone verification is not practical for your product/business, just do aregular manual verification and monitor this problem closely. Too manychargebacks not only damage your bottom line, it upsets your credit cardcompany -- they may even cancel your account.

Let me repeat -- they may even cancel your account. So it’s up to you to doall you can to keep chargebacks to a minimum. (It’s best to keep them below1-2% of total sales.)

If you don’t do your homework faithfully and put a solid prevention program intoplace, chargebacks can become a nightmare. You can do all the credit cardverification in the world to make sure that the frauds don’t get you before yourship. But chargebacks get you after.

Don’t cut corners -- arm yourself with information, then protect yourself.

With digital goods (i.e., downloaded software, information products, etc.),each unit costs zero to make (excluding development costs). Because ofthis, there is sometimes a temptation to totally automate the orderingprocess via real-time verification and factor a certain % of loss intoyour online business.


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This attitude is a huge mistake. Why? First of all, digital product theft isvery common since thieves can disappear into the ethers of cyberspace.If you get hit frequently by fraud and chargebacks, a business-wreckingdomino effect can happen...

Most fraud gets discovered... eventually. And when it does, the bank willnot only deduct the original amount from your merchant account, it will alsoassess you a penalty fee. You lose time investigating and working withthe bank. The bank looks at you as a risk and it may increase yourdiscount rate.

And after a certain number of frauds or chargebacks, your bank mayeven shut down your merchant account and put you on a black list.Once that happens, it kicks you right out of the Web sales game.

So if you are planning on using real-time verification, consider combining itwith a good fraud screen.

One final note... When it comes to chargebacks, fully understand the wholeordering process. Know how things work.

2.3. Keep Up Your Antennae

What are the key recommendations from anti-fraud experts in the field?...

1) Insist upon exact name, full address and phone numbers.

2) Be vigilant about Web-based, or e-mail forwarding address. It’s just tooeasy to run frauds from these e-mail addresses. Insist upon an ISP- ordomain-based address, since these can be traced back to a “real” person.

3) Keep copies of all correspondence with suspicious customers -- yes, evene-mail. It will help support your case afterwards.

4) If in doubt, call the phone number listed on the order. Verify that they are thecardholder and that they ordered the product. (And as I suggested before, tapethe call. You won’t lose the honest customers.)


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2.4. Use Online Escrow Services

Online escrow services are the perfect ordering solution for those buyers or thesellers dealing with specific concerns (i.e., international orders, larger ticketitems, auction purchases, etc.). The escrow service’s job is a simple one...

Act as a middleman between two parties. The seller wants his money. Andthe buyer doesn’t want any surprises!

And that’s exactly what an escrow service does -- it ensures that there are nosurprises!

Here’s how the exchange works...

• Buyer and seller agree on transaction.

• Buyer transfers funds to online escrow service.

• Seller ships product.

• Buyer inspects product for quality and surprises. Buyer indicates hersatisfaction.

• Online Escrow service pays seller.

The process is simple, painless, and relatively inexpensive...

https://www.escrow.com/

2.5. Tried-and-True Payment Options

Many customers still prefer to pay by personal check, money order and/orcertified check -- even though they surf the Web! Most have strong, personalreasons for doing this.

If you don’t provide these options, this is likely lost business.

But be careful... even with money orders, fraud is possible. Develop effectiveprotocols to protect your business...

https://www.escrow.com/


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• Money orders

i) For postal money orders -- Call the Post Office to verify that the serial numberon the money order is valid.

ii) Bank money orders/certified checks -- Get your customers to provide thelocal phone number of the bank. Call to verify that it’s good.

• Personal check -- Make it clear to your customers that you don’t ship productuntil the personal check clears.

• C.O.D. -- Call your local courier. Find out if there are any cross-borderrestrictions.

• Bank transfers, purchase orders -- This is generally used for business tobusiness sales.

Bottom line?

Accept payment in as many ways as possible, or you will lose salesneedlessly. If you are going to eliminate a payment option, know the reasonwhy.


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3. Fast, Efficient Fulfillment

If you have already built your store, your fulfillment option is probably already inplace. However, if you are in the planning stage or you are just thinking aboutthe hard goods monetization model, the information in this section gives you a“big picture” look at fulfillment.

What’s the retail (offline) versus e-tail (online) shopping tradeoff? Let’s jotdown some points quickly...

Retail E-tail

Entertaining, high-touch Non-tactical, functional

Store hours -- limited 24/7 access

Time-consuming (travel, etc.) Fast

Immediate fulfillment Wait to receive the delivery

Let’s take a look at the last comparison. Customers are impatient beasts.They want it now.

If you’re selling digital-based goods, no problem! Download and you’ve got it.This is the Net at its best -- a frictionless, free distribution medium.

But for hard goods, hmm... the buying experience has a whole differentdimension. There’s going to be a wait. People aren’t used to waiting.

There’s no way around this one. You need to attack it head-on.

So... offer overnight delivery. If it’s a high-ticket item, absorb the cost, ifpossible.

Downplay the wait...

No need to drive to the store, find what you want,pay more, drive all the way home.

Just click “Buy Now” -- it’ll be at your front door...in a jiffy!

Take-away lesson?


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OVERdeliver on the fulfillment end of your business... and you’ll get peopletalking, and coming back for more!

OK, you have the order and received payment. Now you need a simple,organized protocol for physically taking the product from inventory, packing it,shipping it, and tracking it until delivery. And it’s got to be done quickly,efficiently, and as cheaply as possible.

Repeat purchases by a customer depend on how fast you get the product toher doorstep the first time... and each delivery after that!

You need a product fulfillment program in place.

If you have your own product line, or have opted to stock and ship inventoryyourself, it’s simple... you do everything yourself. Keep detailed records ofinventory... description, weight, company information (if you are sellingsomeone else’s product), shipping rates, etc.

On the other hand, if you went the drop-shipping route, you sell a company’sproduct and they are responsible for getting the product out the door. (For moreinformation on drop-shipping, see the MHQ HQ…

http://mhq.sitesell.com/drop-shipping.html

What about using the services of a fulfillment house?

It will cost you more than if you did it in-house, but it’s essential if you plan to doa lot of international business. Shipping products individually to peopleoverseas will kill your profit margin. The solution? Set up a fulfillment houseoverseas, and ship your product over by a low-cost freight solution.

What are the advantages of working with a fulfillment house? A fulfillmenthouse can handle just about anything from stocking, assembling, and shippingproduct, to order-taking to customer service call centers. Start your ownbusiness, outsource everything to a fulfillment house, and never left a fingeragain!

And the disadvantages? The expense. Unless you’re selling products with apretty reasonable mark-up, you can expect to see your profit margin disappear.

If you decide to look after shipping...

... Give your customers a variety of shipping options.

http://mhq.sitesell.com/drop-shipping.html


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Each option should have a clear price/speed difference from the others.Don’t confuse your customer with a whole bunch of options with only minordifferences.

The two most common options are...

• Courier -- Choose one only. Don’t make your customer choose between fivedifferent couriers. Each courier has a zillion ways to ship and bill. You cancharge according to price of order, weight, and so on. Simplify the process foryour customer as much as you can.

• Regular mail -- This is generally a poor option, since you can’t prove receipt.But the postal service does have a variety of courier-type services. So checkthem out.

Fulfillment is not really the final step of an order. It’s actually the first... in amutually rewarding long-term relationship with your customer.


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4. Where’s My Order?

Your customer makes her decision. She buys. That’s great! But chances areshe’s waiting at home impatiently for your product to arrive! And even thoughshe’s selected ground shipping, with arrival slated between five and sevenbusiness days...

She e-mails or phones your customer service after two days... after four days...after five days... slowly eating away your profit margin.

Why not enable your customer to track her order online? Then she’ll knowexactly where it is!

The best way to do this is to configure your store so that your customers canchoose a higher-end shipping option. UPS, for example, will provide them witha tracking number they can use online to check the status of their order.

Now there’s no need to contact you!

Bottom line?

Anticipate your customer’s every need. Replying to a purchase with aconfirmation e-mail is one thing, but allowing your customers to follow theirproducts through the shipping process is another.

Take customer service to the next level by answering any possible concernsyour customer may have. Do it automatically, via e-mail, so she’s not chewingup your profit on your 1-800 number (should you have one) with your customerservice reps, or yourself...

• Where’s my order?

• When will I receive my order?

• Has my order been shipped?

• Has my order cleared customs?

Tracking software answers all these questions quickly, efficiently, and best ofall...

Cheaply!


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5. Make Returns Easy

A great product translates into no customer returns! Just the same, there arelegitimate reasons for returning a product...

• Product damaged in shipping

• Product doesn’t fit

• Customer changed his mind

• Wrong product shipped

• Product took too long to be delivered

• Product wasn’t what the customer expected

• Product bought as gift, and the birthday girl has one already!

Make your product return policy part of your customer service strategy. Recentstats indicate one-fifth of online shoppers have kept products that they wouldhave otherwise returned, if not for prohibitive shipping costs.

Think about it... if a customer is clearly unsatisfied with your product, and wouldreturn it if it could be done easily, do you think he’ll ever return to your Web siteto buy again? Probably not. So how do you turn an unsatisfied “never-to-return”customer into a raving fan?

Provide a shipping label so your customer can return your product for free.

What a great way to build customer loyalty! There is no better way to “walk thewalk, and talk the talk” when it comes to customer service. What does yourcustomer think when he sees a return shipping slip? That you do care... thatyou want him to be happy -- in fact, you insist on it!

And guess what? This only costs you if the customer decides to returnsomething. Take the steps to ensure that refunds happen as infrequently aspossible.

Ship the correct product quickly, package it properly, and follow up via e-mail.Focus on customer satisfaction every step of the way.

If you feel a return shipping label is too cost prohibitive for your business,try building part of the shipping cost into your product somewhere.


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6. Grow Customer Relationships

A new sale...

... A new customer. Super! Treat her like she’s the only oneyou have.

Cement the relationship!

At the time of order, send her an e-mail to enthusiastically congratulate andthank her. Remind her of your after-care support program. Give her an e-mailaddress and phone number to contact should she ever have any questions.

But don’t stop there...

Develop a caring, after-sales program. Perhaps it’s a combination of e-mailfollow-up and a strong on-Web customer-support department.

In short... pamper her.

A happy customer will buy from you... again and again.

And it takes a lot less work to keep a customer happy than to find a new one.

Ultimately, the long-term success of your business depends on repeatbusiness. Customers will do repeat business with you because of a trusting,credible relationship (assuming you have a good products, of course).

A store (or a Web site) helps to build relationships. People do.

6.1. Testing... Testing... Is this Thing On?

It’s so discouraging when it seems like no one is listening...

Hello? Hellooo? Is anyone there?

Respected industry analysts continue to express their concern about thedecaying state of customer service on the Net.


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The situation is not just bad...

... it’s pathetic.

I don’t get it. What’s so difficult about offering great service ? Why isn’t it beingdone? Customer Support is absolutely essential to the success of your onlinebusiness. When you consider that 75% of quality customer service can betotally automated, it’s even more disturbing!

Your customers are the life of your store (and other monetization models).There is a direct correlation between your online business longevity and thenumber of first-time and repeat customers you have. The following statementssupport this reality...

• Exceptional service increases buyers' total satisfaction and encouragesrepeat visits and word-of-mouth recommendations. (Forrester)

• Customer loyalty measured in repeat purchases and referrals are the keys toprofitability in an online business. (Bain & Company and Mainspring)

• The success or failure of an e-biz depends on one thing - delighting yourcustomers! (Bain & Company and Mainspring)

• Repeat purchasers spend more over time. (Bain & Company andMainspring)

Bottom line?

Keep your customer focus each and every day as you grow your store. Don’tstray off course -- even when you’re tired, or having a bad day and it would beso much easier if you could put your own interests first.

The old adage is especially true... you never get a second chance to make agood first impression.

It’s totally within your control. Absolutely do-able. Inexpensive. And often,doesn’t require much effort -- small things speak volumes on the Net.

Rise above the competition, and stay there.


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6.2. Automated Yet Personal Follow-Up

Your single, most important tool for deepening a personal relationship withyour customer, no matter where he lives, is...

... e-mail. E-mail is personal and friendly, one-to-one... but onlyif you make it so!

But how do you develop one-to-one relationships with thousands of people?Simple...

Automate.

Yes, you can automate and still be personal.

Let’s say you have just received your first order for Product X. It’s time to writeyour first “thank you reply.”

You are warm, friendly. Thank your customer, reassuring him about the greatpurchase he has made and how you will support the heck out of him. Make it astrong letter. Remove buyer’s remorse. State your commitment to hishappiness with your product.

Wow! Here comes the second order for Product X. Re-read the customer replythat you just did. See a few places to improve it? Good!

Over the next few orders, you’ll get to the point where you feel that letter is aboutas good as it can be. When you re-read it, you just don’t see a way to improveit.

Time to automate!

Is it any less personal now that you copy-and-paste this letter into an e-mailupon receipt of a new order? Of course not -- it still contains the same,original heart-felt message that you wrote in the first place. Just make surethat your automation process itself does not compromise the personal feel.

E-mail offers wonderful opportunities for spontaneous, friendly follow-up. Useit well, and creatively.

Create a series of e-mail templates for a variety of scenarios...


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• an initial purchase

• a follow-up purchase

• a support request

• a purchase of a specific product

... and so on. Work on them to make them as best as they can be. Re-visitthem in a week’s time and tweak again.

Keep your templates in a special folder on your computer, so you can accessthem easily. Cut-and-paste the appropriate one into an e-mail whenever theneed arises. Personalized and automated communication.

A newsletter is an excellent way to keep the connection open with yourcustomers. But don’t turn them off or away with a sell-sell-sell approach.Focus on your customers’ needs, even after the sale. Provide informationrelated to your store products -- new developments, trends, comparativestudies, etc. Show your customers that you know your field and your products.Then when it comes time to announce an event, special sale, new products orproduct upgrades, you’ll have a receptive audience.

If you care about your customers and show it, you gain their confidence andloyalty. And they will come back to buy more.

A satisfied customer base is the most valuable asset your business has.

6.3. OVERDeliver Customer Support

Everyone wants to feel loved, valued, supported, and appreciated. Make thatthe goal of your customer support... every customer counts! No question istoo small or too dumb.

Be indifferent (or worse, rude) to your customers, and they’ll do more than justleave you. They’ll spread the word, and they’ll do it with a vengeance, tellingeveryone they know.

Even today, when one-to-one customer management is fashionable, very fewcompanies do it. Who knows why? Who cares? It only means that you’ll standout... way out.


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But you’ll have to adopt four all-important attitudes to succeed...

1) Be a customer...

To truly understand Web biz and what a customer feels like on the Web, do asmuch of your own personal buying on the Web. Get direct experience as acustomer.

Notice what makes you feel...

... good, successful, smart, appreciative and appreciated. Integratethat into your own online business.

Notice what...

... peeves or frustrates you, what makes you doubt certain vendors.Do you do anything like that in your business? Eliminate it!

2) Whatever you want, however you want it...

A customer may want a brochure snail-mailed instead of receiving the regularpdf file. It’s OK to reply...

You know, I could fire you a PDF brochure by e-mail in a few seconds.It would look just as good and you’d have it immediately.

But if she insists on receiving dead trees in her mailbox, send it that way.

Sure, use the Web as your central headquarters for sales. But you mustforesee all the ways that your customers like to interact. Just because youprefer to e-mail, everyone is different.

If you allow your customer to work with you on her terms, you will have avery appreciative customer.

This is important -- allow customers to do business the way they want.

• Want a print catalog? It’s in the mail.


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• Need support? Use our online interactive tech support.

3) Beat “the real world”...

The Web allows your customer support to be better than the real world. Here’sa few examples of how this happens. You can...

• allow customers higher end shipping options (FedEx, UPS), that providetracking numbers for shipment

• create products/service FAQ pages where customers can find answers totheir most pressing questions... right now!

• e-mail sales confirmations/thank-you replies to clients immediately uponreceipt of an order

Above all, do it all in a warm and friendly way. Don’t let your techies rule theday, even in the tech support area. Be nice... play nice. People will come backto play (and buy) if you do.

Even though Web-based customer support is superior, for years to come,many people will still prefer to hear a human voice...

4) Leave nothing to chance...

People who handle one-to-one personal e-mails and individual phoneorders/support must be...

... well-trained, pleasant and totally customer-focused.Remember, as far as your customer is concerned, they are your company.

So leave nothing to chance for employee with direct “real voice” contact withyour customers. Develop a series of telephone scripts for all recurringsituations. For example...

• Build a list of the most common questions -- prepare the replies.

• Enter every problem encountered -- develop your answers. Improve uponthem constantly.

• Keep track of any other common situations, and what to do about them.


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Enter this information into a database for quick and easy access. Improvereplies constantly.

From the opening “Hello” to the parting “Glad we could help, have a goodday,” leave nothing to chance.

Finally, your live support staff must be more than knowledgeable. They must“smile” on the phone. If your customers like you, they’ll come back forever.

I hate to be redundant. But your customer is your biggest asset. You mustkeep her happy. Strike that -- not happy, but ecstatic.

It’s e-commerce 101. Basic Web marketing.

Great customer service can turn lemons into lemonade, and turn customersinto raving fans.

6.3.1. Maximize Support / Minimize Time

Your prospect expects an answer to her e-mail... fast! Your customer needssupport... yesterday!

But here’s the kicker... you’ll make a much better impression if it doesn’t lookautomated... as if a real human answered.

In other words, they want to eat their cake, and have it, too. Give it to them...automate whatever you can and wherever it’s appropriate.

Here’s how...

1) Autoresponders, if used appropriately, respond immediately, are cost-effective and sell for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Andthey don’t eat up any of your time!

Use Form Build It! to create autoresponders to deal with any issues that have aclear, unambiguous purpose (just link to the appropriate page on your site fromyour store). For example, do you offer a special report, or do you have amonthly contest of some sort? This is the perfect use for FBI!, and a great wayto leverage your time!

2) Potential customers have many inquiries, and actual customers have manysupport questions, most of which you have heard a million times. Identify themost common. Make a list. Develop, then automate, the replies as follows...


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• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) -- Develop two FAQs, pre-sale and post-sale. Depending on the particulars of your product and target market, this maywork well for product inquiries but not for product support. Or vice-versa. But ifyou’ve got a huge product line, or a thousand possible questions, the FAQformat starts to strain.

So let’s explore one other option...

• E-mail support -- Always provide a contact form on your Web site. E-mailswith open-ended questions cannot, and should not, be automated -- they willlook canned and will usually be off target. So what to do?...

Build and maintain an offline database of “best answers” for all of the mostcommon scenarios. This database can actually be the same one you use foronline support. When you get an e-mailed question, simply look it up, then cut-and-paste-and-mail the answer. Customize it with relevant details, if needed.Done right, the result is personal, yet fast and good.

Filemaker is a fantastic database application...

File Makerhttp://www.filemaker.com/

Occasionally, you’ll get a question that requires a custom reply. Support staffshould be confident in answering, or refer to someone who is.

To summarize, let your customers (both prospective and actual) deal with youhowever they like. If you automate properly, most will love the speed of replyand the personalization.

An automated reply system is valuable for large companies, reducing people-hours tremendously.

But for the small entrepreneur, it is invaluable. You become more productive,freeing up several hours each day for critical functions such as productdevelopment or marketing.

If you’ve ever wished that you could clone yourself...

... this is how to do it!

http://www.filemaker.com/


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6.4. 5, 6, 7, 8… Anticipate, Anticipate

Why not provide superlative customer service before your customers ask for it?

How? Just anticipate their every want and desire.

The simplest way to do this from the get-go is to eliminate all usage problemsby implementing simple navigation and ordering systems. Make sure productdescriptions are accurate and in-depth. (Why would you want to allocatecustomer service to explain that product A does this, and product B does that?What a waste. Do it properly on the site!).

Then all you need to worry about is the post-sale service...

For example...

Let’s say customer A places an order. As a result of that order, what questionsdoes she have? What needs of hers should immediately be addressed?

First and foremost...

The customer will want to know that her credit card is not “out there” floatingaround in the nether-regions of cyberspace. She’ll want to know you receivedthe order safely.

So the first step is...

1) Send a thank-you acknowledgement receipt of all orders immediately.

Okay, good. Now customer A knows her credit card # has been safelytransmitted, and hasn’t been stolen by cyber-thieves. Her next question?

That’s right... ”Has my order been shipped yet?”

If this question can’t be answered in the first e-mail, the second step is...

2) Notify the customer that the item has been shipped, or when you expect it toship. Indicate delivery selection and ETA.

Now... can you guess her next questions?

That’s right... “Where’s my order now?” or “Has it cleared customs yet?”


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So make sure e-mail #2 contains the information necessary for the visitor totrack the order. Then after an appropriate length of time, send a third e-mailand...

3) Ask if everything’s okay. Have you received your order? Was everything asyou expected? Are you satisfied? If you’re not, how can we make it up to you

See how great customer service is nothing more than answering yourcustomer questions before she has a chance to ask them? It’s about stayingone step ahead of your customers. It’s about putting yourself in their position.Ask yourself -- How do I feel when I’m buying from a faceless Internetcorporation? What concerns to I have about ordering?

You might be too close to your own business to be able to answer thesequestions accurately. The solution? Provide incentives for your customers,and ask them to tell you how they feel (via online surveys!). Ask permission tocall a couple on the phone. Get their recommendations. Then...

Act on them!

6.5. Keep Your Finger On The Pulse

The bigger SiteSell.com gets, the more I realize how easy it is to lose track ofthe customer. I used to answer all my own e-mail. Sadly, that’s impossiblenow. And now that SiteSell has a team of people who do just that, I startedfeeling a little separated -- somewhat unsure of what is happening at everypoint a customer contacts our business. Although this may seem like anecessary evil for a rapidly expanding company, I didn’t like it.

Things could unravel, and I wouldn’t know. Without my fingers directly on thepulse of the customer... I would be powerless to ensure that customers wereindeed getting the best, and only the best, service and support. So weinstituted a weekly meeting between myself and the head of Support. Good orbad, I want to hear anything that happens more than one time. In other words, Iwant to know about any feedback or problem that occurs more than once.

Also, we started an important policy. Every e-mail from our support staff bears asig file that lets people know how to reach me if they are unhappy with ourservice.

Our support staff knows they are accountable. And I stay directly in touch withcustomers to find out just how we’re doing. (And we’re doing very well, thank-


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you. Based on the 50:1 positive feedback from the folks who deal with support,I feel our support staff does the best job on the Net!)

Bottom line?

Even though we’re growing bigger, my fingers remain on the pulse. Yoursmust too, no matter how big you get!

“Never hire someone who is more than one step removed from the customer.”

Think about this advice for a minute. Either everyone in your company musttouch the customer, or supervise the people that do. I’d even go one stepfarther by saying the supervisor should have previously had direct customerexperience, and continue to have some, from time to time.

Bottom line?

If you lose track of your customer’s experience at any point where she contactsyour business, you sow the seeds for a growing, unchecked problem.

What makes some people “get it”, while so many others obviously have noclue? Is it genetics? Natural tendencies? Birth signs? Does customer focusjust come naturally for some people?

Nope.

It takes practice. It does not come easily for anyone. It’s just too easy to fallback into inside your own skin. It certainly didn’t come easy for me. During myfirst year online, I kept a yellow Post-it note on my computer. Guess what itsaid? That’s right...

What’s my customer’s experience now?

Every time I looked at it, I applied the question to a different part of ourbusiness. With time, becoming your customer will become natural. And yourbusiness will thrive because of it.

Review every point of contact between you and your customer. Never losetouch with what your customer’s total experience is -- no matter how big or howsuccessful you become. On a periodic basis review...

• Your store -- is everything clear?

• Making the purchase -- is it easy to order?

• Order fulfillment -- efficient and timely


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• Your product -- the best that it can be?

• Your support -- problems solved quickly and courteously?

Is your finger on the pulse? Is every point of contact between your customerand your business golden? If necessary, perhaps a Post-it note on your owncomputer would not be a bad idea.

Think of it... if every point of contact with customer is golden, how can youronline venture possibly fail?

6.6. An Example Of Support OVERdelivery

I once received an extraordinary e-mail from a customer. Before I get into thatletter, let me back up a bit. It turns out that Janice who tracks failed orders hadsent this e-mail to a customer who had trouble ordering...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hi Paul,

I noticed that you had difficulty placingyour order overnight for Make Your WordsSell!. It appears the server for our creditcard clearing company was down and for thisreason we could not process your order.

If you wish you may try again today as theirtechnical glitch appears to have beenresolved.

I invite you to use our discount page sinceyou have already purchased a product fromus...

http://www.sitesell.com/discount-directory.html

I also noticed that you ordered Make YourKnowledge Sell! without the discount. I willrefund 10% from the price you paid.

I thank you for your attempts to order MYWS!and apologize for the bother.

Best regards,Janice~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


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Did she make a customer delighted? Absolutely.

And that is what results in a lifetime customer... one who'll tell several friends,who in turn will become lifetime customers.

What Janice did does not show up in this quarter's P&L statement or balancesheet. But chalk up one more big asset for SiteSell... a raving fan.

What's the key to customer loyalty?

No, it's not customer satisfaction! They show some fascinating data thatproves satisfied customers are at risk of defecting to competitors. In otherwords, mere satisfaction falls short.

The key is to delight your customer. Score 10 out of 10 on customersatisfaction surveys. Loyalty, as measured by the likelihood of repeatbusiness, shoots up exponentially among highly satisfied customers.

But here's the critical point...

Don’t delight your customers because you'll make more money. Yes, that is theend result.

You have to build delight from the ground up.

The foundation must be your attitude...

Care. Be obsessed with your customer's success and happiness.

That attitude creates situations like the one above, over and over.

Here's the twist, though...

This ground up approach has to come from the top down. The #1 person atyour company must infuse everyone with this attitude. Or it simply sputters.

Most firms fail to develop customer delight (that's why you always see the samecompanies (ex., DELL) used as positive examples over and over). Forexample...

High-powered, super-expensive semi-intelligent software continues to spitback useless, off-target answers to customer questions. And that gets themmad.

Why? Why would big companies do that?


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Because the ground up has not been built from the top down. There's no truecommitment to the customer. If there were, someone would take the time tocheck what their customers are seeing, and how they're feeling about theresponses they get.

And why would they do that? Why should they do that? They should do itbecause they care!

Instead, they look for quick CRM solutions... Hey, if it costs $100,000, we mustcare, right? Not at all.

Follow this simple advice... Care. Soon, you'll be “looking for trouble." Whenthat happens, you'll be ahead of those high-budgeted companies.

You'll be building lifetime customers who love what you do, and how you do it.

6.7. Talk The Talk... Walk The Walk!

It is an immutable law in business that words are words,explanations are explanations, promises are promises --but only performance is reality.-- Harold Geneen

Knowing is one thing. But if you don’t do it, it won’t do you much good.

As a customer, I fail to receive replies to e-mails regularly, even when I’m aprospect, but especially when I have an after-sales question. The former losesmy order. The latter loses my ongoing business.

Some of the worst offenders? They are Web marketers who preach howimportant one-to-one marketing and responsiveness is!

As a result, those who reply quickly and well stand out. They have a five-milehead start on 99% of their competitors, who have slow and sloppy e-mailhabits.

And why don’t the 99% respond quickly and sharply?

Because it takes effort. You have to actually do it. No excuses, no “we’ll starttomorrow.” You can’t just talk the talk. You have to...


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... walk the walk.

Do it.

Sell great products. Then build a strong, supportive one-to-one relationshipwith your customer.

The Web offers a host of customer service opportunities. Get creative -- a lot ofwhat you do now can probably be automated and offered on the Web, in afriendly and personal manner.

Treating your customers promptly, and with care and respect, develops astrong, trusting relationship... and a solid business based on repeatpurchases. I can’t stress this enough.


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7. The POWER OF Branding

“Branding” is all about drilling your unique brand, image, product, or productline into your customer’s brain.

Successful branding means a customer thinks of your product before shethinks of anyone else’s. And she immediately associates your brand withquality.

When someone says “branding,” we immediately think big dollars, and well-known gigantic companies like Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, IBM, and Proctor andGamble, to name just a few. That’s because branding effectively on a largescale requires a lot of money.

Most people need to see your brand, image, or product numerous times beforeit begins to register with them. On a huge medium such as the Internet, gettingpeople to see your ad frequently enough means a substantial outlay of cash,and millions of ad impressions.

But effective branding doesn’t have to be about money. A brand is much morethan just a logo or a slogan or a product or so on.

It’s dedication to the vision that enables one to get all the nit-picking customer-focused details right -- from the time she arrives at your store, to the time shebuys, to the customer support, if needed. That’s how an e-brand is developed -- your store and your site are seamless in their customer-first approach.

Find a theme, develop it, and stick with it. Unique words or phrases can build avery powerful brand... if they are memorable and mean something to yourvisitor/potential customer.

Build your brand in your text, your links, and your newsletter. Expand it acrossyour entire advertising network, even your sig file.

The basics are simple, and cheap. All you have to do is a little planning inadvance…

• a catchy domain name that sticks in your head

• a professional, simple, cross-site integrated look

• subdomains for new products to emphasize the “sitesell” brand

• a simple clean logo carried across the different sites


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• great quality products at a very good price

• large affiliate network that extends or branding capabilities

Anything here that demands a huge outlay of cash? Not at all.

The SiteSell.com product home pages are not state-of-the-art programmingfeats. There is no special secret at work here.

The key is not to underestimate the power of branding on the Internet. Sure, inthe brick-and-mortar world, there’s no way you could compete with the bigguys, without tons of cash.

Online, though, all you need is a good product, a look, a dedication toOVERdelivery, and depending on your business, an eager affiliate force.

Bottom line?

Build your brand. Yes, even if you think you’re too small to bother...

Now is the time!


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8. Build A Business... Not A “Back-End”

Once someone has purchased something from you on the Web, she is muchmore likely to buy from you again. After all, she knows that you deliver a fineproduct in good time, your customer service is fabulous, and your guarantee isimpeccable.

However, to everyone else... you’re just another unknown Internet commodity.

It’s easier to sell other products to existing customers than it is to acquirenew ones.

It’s at this point that the terms “back-end” or “back-end strategy” start poppingup with increased frequency. I’m hesitant to use the term back-end becausemost direct marketers use this term to mean...

Keep slogging so-so products to the people who made the mistake of buyingfrom us in the first place.

The connotation is... bang ‘em out fast, and sell ‘em fast. In other words, keepthe cash flowing steadily from your customers’ pockets into your own.

This is not a business... it’s an exercise in dollar extraction, without acommitment to providing value. So “back end” is not a term I like to use at all.

Yes, of course you want to build your business. And, of course, you want repeatcustomers. But the best way to do that is by offering quality products withgenuine, high-value benefits that improve the lives of your customer.

There’s no doubt that ecstatic customers...

... are repeat customers!

So don’t build a “back-end.” Build a business.

I suspect success is the “least prepared for” scenario on the Internet. Yes,often you’ll be so wrapped up in perfecting your current project, the thought ofproviding your customers with additional solutions is furthest from your mind.But it shouldn’t be!


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If you....

• sell a truly fantastic product line

• look out for the best interests of your client

• keep building benefit-focused content pages on your site that PREsell yourstore products

• follow up with great customer service and friendly support

Your customer won’t just buy from you again... she will prefer to buy from youagain.

That’s why you need to plan for the future now. You want your customers tokeep coming back for more!

But let’s be realistic. Sometimes, this is a lot easier said than done. After all, ifyou’re running this business as a one-or-two-person show, sourcing new andunique products will cut into your marketing and promotion time significantly.

How do you source new products and continue to sell and keep in touch withexisting customers?

Here are a few ideas to get you started...

• Through your newsletter, maintain contact with your buyers (i.e., recentdevelopments, new studies, updates, store specials, contests, etc.), and keepyour business on their radar screen.

• Offer incentives and discounts on the inventory you do have.

• Refer visitors/customers to your site, where you are always adding newcontent pages that would be of interest to them.

Remember, the value of a customer is immeasurable.

Even if you can’t immediately market a new product to your customers, continueto build a strong connection with them. Don’t let them forget you!

Then, when you add your next series of products, your customers will say...

Hey, I remember them. They had a great series of really unique products.Maybe I’d better take a look at this.


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When MYSS! was little more than a glint in my eye, do you think I envisioned therapid growth and success SiteSell.com would experience? Hardly. But Icertainly built SiteSell.com around a model that could expand easily if and

when things took off. And they certainly did!

With the success of MYSS!, people came to trust us, and our pledge to“OVERdeliver” on value. So it’s only natural that they wanted other solutionsfrom SiteSell.com.

But instead of rushing a pile of products out the door to take advantage of thecustomers’ willingness to buy from us, we grew SiteSell slowly... on the samesolid foundation of value and credibility that initiated the trust in the first place.And that’s important

The key here?...

Build ethically, and with regard to your customers’ needs. Don’t rush toproduce an inferior product.

Does this work?

Well... I see many of the same people buying over and over again. They mightstart with an e-book or two and then order Site Build It! or vice versa. Ourcustomers become faithful to the SiteSell brand. I guess that means it must!

Bottom line?

At the risk of repeating myself...

Build a business... not a “back end!”

Your future is in your hands. You can and will build a thriving, diversified,stable online business. Have fun!

And don’t forget to mine these helpful HQs…

Monetization HQhttp://mhq.sitesell.com/

SBI! Resources HQhttp://sbiresources.sitesell.com/


http://sbiresources.sitesell.com/


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Managing Your Store After The Sale© and TM 2008 SiteSell Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.

No part of this publication may be stored in aretrieval system, transmitted, or reproduced in any way,including but not limited to digital copying and printing.

The author, Ken Evoy, and the publisher, SiteSell Inc,have made their best effort to produce a high quality,

informative and helpful book. But they make norepresentation or warranties of any kind with regard to the

completeness or accuracy of the contents of the book. Theyaccept no liability of any kind for any losses or damages

caused or alleged to be caused, directly or indirectly, fromusing the information contained in this book.

Screenshots in this book are directly from publiclyaccessible file archives. They are used as “fair use” under17 U.S.C. Section 107 for news reportage purposes only, to

illustrate various points that are made in the book. Textand images available over the Internet may be subject to

copyright and other intellectual rights owned by thirdparties. Some images copyright www.arttoday.com.

SiteSell Inc.Montreal, QuebecCanada H3G 1S0

after the sale - sbi!: build a profitable online business · 2008-04-09 · managing your store...

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