Solving Customer Problems As A Small Business Owner
Here’s how to manage unique requests!
According to 2020 Contentsquare benchmark data, the average bounce rate for eCommerce sites is 47%. Also, the average documented online shopping cart abandonment rate is 69.82%! Now, we can sit and conjecture on the hows and the whats and come up with plenty of reasons like a slow landing page, cart processing issues, non-attractive websites, etc. But, let us talk about one crucial factor for today; abandoning an eCommerce website due to the lack of a quick response.
Let’s consider a customer who enters your website and has a query about the shipping timeline of a product or is curious to know the details of some item. They use the “contact us” option and send a query. Unfortunately, your customer service team doesn’t respond immediately, and the customer loses interest, closes your website’s tab altogether, and never returns! That’s an outcome everyone is trying to avoid, aren’t they? So, what is the solution? The idea is to respond immediately, even when you can’t solve the query instantly. Because let’s be honest, it is a loss of opportunity and sales. When a customer has a query, it usually means that they intend to buy as one who’s not interested in your website wouldn’t take the pain to do so. So, when you delay your reply to them, you are simply missing out on the opportunity to strike a conversion from a visitor to a customer.
Handling Customize Product Requests
Sometimes a customer sees a product on your website and might want minor changes done before ordering. For example, a customer is looking for a bridesmaid dress, and they liked one in your store but want a different belt. So how do you decide whether you can move forward with such a request? There are a couple of things to consider:
- The size of the order
- The availability of alternate options
- Is the customer willing to pay something in advance?
Assuming you don’t want to miss on this order, although the above things didn’t work out and you still want to give them a good experience, how to manage such requests then?
You could offer a range of alternatives to choose from where you can personalize it for them.
This might be a little similar to upsell, but here, you are not asking the customer to order more. The idea is to give them a wider range to choose from. Understand what they are looking for and offer them personalized options.
Let us dive into the biggest takeaway from this article. We have curated templates for you to understand how to deal with a customer when they approach you with a certain demand. Hence, depending on your solutions you can answer them in different ways.
Let us help you help your customers. Here is a template to help you create quick and responsive customer service.
Hello CUSTOMER NAME,
We would like to welcome you to the STORE NAME community!
We appreciate your interest in our products. We understand what you’re looking for, and we are looking for all the possible options we can offer you! Meanwhile, since you picked the product XYZ, we thought you might also be interested in similar designs that fit your specifications better. Here are some of the options we handpicked based on your preferences. We would love for you to check these out while we work on offering you the best combination. Please let us know if you need any other help.
Thank you.
Yours Sincerely,
ABC
Offer a product at a discounted rate without the belts
Try to communicate your situation honestly, and also offer them the chance to pick the dress without the belt. Check what belts they might like, and create a discount for what it might cost them. This may not be profitable at times, but accessing if the customer will come back, can help you decide if it is worth it.
Here is how you can reply to them.
Hello CUSTOMER NAME,
Welcome to our STORE NAME Community!
We received your request, and we regret to inform you that we do have the kind of belt you asked for. Instead, we can offer you the dress without the belt for a lesser price of XYZ. Kindly let us know if you wish to proceed with the offer.
Thank you.
Yours Sincerely,
ABC
If you can get the product but need extra time
This is an essential part of building customer relations. You can offer assurance and guarantee of fulfilling the order if they allow you to extend the delivery date. In this case, the customer might understand, or they may not, but this can be a great way of dealing with it rather than straight out saying no. However, you have to remember that you should be able to meet the requirement within the stated deadline.
Here is what you can say.
Hello CUSTOMER NAME,
Welcome to our STORE NAME Community!
As you enquired regarding PRODUCT NAME, we have spoken to our stylists, and we are happy to inform you that we can fulfill your request by DATE. We understand that this is a slight delay on our part, but we wish to deliver it as soon as possible. So kindly revert if you want to go ahead with the order.
Thank you.
Yours Sincerely,
ABC
If nothing works, aim for the next time
If your customer can’t wait that long and move on to other stores, you can offer them a coupon for the next time they purchase from you. Ask for their birthdays or, in the case of a wedding, send them a congratulating email. This will ensure your customer returns to your website in the future remembering how nice and responsive you were to them. In fact, you can implement automatic discount codes for all your visitors and collect their birthdays through Tada’s gamified pop-up. Tada also pairs up with Klaviyo and Mailchimp so that you can easily automate the discount emails.
Hello CUSTOMER NAME,
We are sorry to hear about your need for immediate delivery as we will require more time. We don’t wish to disappoint you entirely. Let us know your birthday so that we can save it and offer you a 35% birthday discount on our site that day! Also, congratulations on your friend’s wedding! We hope we will see you soon.
Thank you.
Yours Sincerely,
ABC
Conclusion
Now that we’ve assessed an entire scenario, you might have gathered a fair idea of how to deal with customers. Also, these requests are like feedback or suggestions for your business that can help you grow. If you have the same request multiple times, you have to offer the particular request by default. This is also a great way to find new ideas for your business. For example, if there are repetitive requests for customized products, try adding that option to your store. Alternatively, some requests might bring out creative ideas which might become an edge for your business. Hence, it is advisable and prudent not to take these requests casually and try to learn and include them in your store where applicable and feasible.
