Taking Stock of the Situation

Making sure you can deliver the products you sell is one of the most important parts of running your business. It sounds like a no-brainer, but many merchants have probably experienced an ordered item being out of stock, a manufacturer falling behind on production, or delivery of an order taking longer than originally communicated. It happens. So how do you retain the business and trust of your customers in events like these?

Prevent the situation before it happens

During a trip to Montreal last month, I experienced a good example of a bad business situation that could easily have been prevented. Several weeks prior to my trip, I made a car rental reservation online and received confirmation via email, then later received a follow-up confirmation. When I arrived at the car rental agency, though, I learned that the company had triple-overbooked their entire fleet of vehicles and could not guarantee when a vehicle would be available. The company’s oversight also affected a good number of other customers with reservations who were lined up behind me, along with any other customers still to arrive that night.

Had the company been paying attention to their inventory vs. reservations, they would have realized the problem long before being faced with a crowd of unimpressed holiday travelers, many of whom will likely not trust this company their business again. Customers could then have made other arrangements, rather than scrambling for an alternative. The company would have saved itself lost revenues from offers of discounted or free rentals if a vehicle did come in, and more importantly, a damaged business reputation among the affected customers, and any friends, family, and coworkers who heard about the poor experience.

Key takeaway:

• Keep track of your inventory. One way you can do this is by using the database inventory feature in Store Manager. Have the inventory management system send you an email alert when inventory of an item is low, indicate inventory levels of items in the customer’s shopping cart, and display a message when there is insufficient inventory available to fill an order.

Handling the situation if it occurs

If it couldn’t be prevented, this situation could have been resolved with a simple phone call or email to affected customers, as soon as the inventory issue was discovered. As Paul Boisvert wrote in an earlier post to the blog, all it takes is a call. The company may have tried to make arrangements to have cars with other companies available for the same rate (possibly having to absorb the difference in cost), or at the very least, given the affected customers time to try and make alternate arrangements themselves.

Key takeaway:

• If an item that has been ordered becomes unavailable for any reason, or if there will be a shipping delay, always notify the customer as soon as possible. It’s also a good idea to set shipping expectations by displaying the item’s availability. Many customers order items for date-specific events or occasions, like weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, or holidays, and will appreciate the heads-up on when an item is expected to ship or if there’s been a shipping delay. They can then decide if they’d like to wait for the item to come in stock or be delivered, or if they will need to make other arrangements.

  Even if the customer decides to cancel their order because of a delay, keeping in touch with the customer rather than waiting for them to inquire about their items will go a long way toward earning their business in the future.

Once might be forgivable, but…

If you can’t prevent the error, and an unexpected situation was handled poorly, learn from these experiences. Make every effort not to repeat these errors, especially if a customer gives you a second chance.

In the case of the car rental agency, I was willing to try again. At their request, I left them with a cell phone number I could be reached at should a vehicle become available. Several hours later, I was notified that a car had come in and was being held for me. When I arrived, however, I was told that the car I’d been called about had engine problems and could not be rented. Not long after, the employee who had called me had a different story, saying that the car had actually been given away during his break.

Again, a call to explain the mix-up or mechanical problem would have prevented an unnecessary trip back to the car rental agency, and ultimately, the complete loss of my trust and any future business I might have given them.

Key takeaways:

• Learn from past experiences. Develop internal processes and policies to avoid similar situations in the future, and to properly handle situations that can’t be avoided.

• Always tell the truth. If an order is delayed for any reason, telling the truth means a customer will hear the same reason for the delay from any employee they have contact with.

Whether you’re a large, established company or a smaller merchant just starting out, it’s important to remember that how errors and delays are handled can affect your business reputation, and determine whether or not you earn a customer’s trust and repeat business.

Jennifer Farwell
Yahoo! Small Businesss

Delivering the Complete Package

With Mother’s Day coming up, I was recently browsing the Vermont Teddy Bear and PajamaGram stores for some gift ideas. While looking at the items in each store’s Mother’s Day section, as a potential customer, something caught my eye – messaging about the free gift packaging, gift card, and other special items included with every order. A quick scan of the stores showed me that these free extras weren’t just a Mother’s Day promotion, but a key part of how they do business.

In past posts to the blog, we’ve stressed the importance of providing a good shopping experience to make sales and earn repeat customers, and have suggested sending freebies (like product samples) with orders to win your customers’ love. Vermont Teddy Bear and PajamaGram take this concept a step further, by adding special touches and extras that deliver the complete package – literally.

Over at PajamaGram, all women’s pajamas arrive packaged in a keepsake organza hatbox, with a Do Not Disturb sign, lavender-scented sachet, and gift card included. Pajamas for men, infants, girls and boys also come with their own special packaging and extras. Vermont Teddy Bear sends every bear as a “Bear-Gram,” complete with a gift box, gourmet chocolate, and a gift card. If you’re at a loss for words, both stores give customers the option to choose from a list of suggested gift messages (creative ones, I might add). These added touches are a good example of how merchants can deliver value to their customers, to gain not only their appreciation, but repeat business and word-of-mouth referrals.

So how can you tell what kinds of extras will be a hit with your customers? I asked Irene Steiner, vice president of marketing for Vermont Teddy Bear and PajamaGram, a few questions about the special packaging these stores include with each order, and for some advice to merchants who’d also like to amp up the shopping experience at their stores.

What made you decide to include special packaging with each order?

Since more than 95% of our BearGrams and PajamaGrams are sent as gifts, we feel it’s very important that all of our products be beautifully presented as complete gifts. We added the Do Not Disturb Sign and the lavender sachet along with every PajamaGram to help convey the sentiment of relaxation. We want the recipient to feel like they’ve just received permission to take a mini-vacation. And the free organza hatbox that comes with every pair of pajamas just makes everything look beautiful when it arrives, and is something women tell us they use over and over again. As for Vermont Teddy Bear, people also tell us all the time how much they love the box our bears arrive in, and that they get a kick out of the airhole. The chocolate that comes with our bears is gourmet Lake Champlain chocolate made right here in Vermont, just like our bears. Sometimes the bears do snack on the chocolate on their way to their new homes, however… it’s a bit of a problem.

Was there a time when special packaging wasn’t included with each order?

There was never a time when we didn’t include the special packaging. We have done catalog tests where we test saying “Free Packaging with Every Order” vs some other message and the “free packaging” message pulls best.

How do you decide what “extras” to include?

We have brand meetings every week to talk about how to make our brands even more relevant for our customers, which includes regular discussions about what to offer and when to change the free extras that come with our bears and pajamas. We also survey our customers with our ideas and let them tell us what they prefer.

Does your gift packaging and the extras included change over time, or for different holiday seasons?

We’ve changed the message on our Do Not Disturb Sign a few times and switched from bath salts to a lavender sachet a few years ago after we heard from several customers that they take showers, not baths. We are also talking about offering a holiday packaging option for our PajamaGrams this Christmas. We’ll be launching a survey soon to see what customers think of our new packaging ideas. For Vermont Teddy Bear, every time we try to change from our gourmet chocolate bear head, we hear that nothing tops it, so that’s been a mainstay for years.

I also notice you have suggested card messages, for different occasions. Can you tell me a bit about these?

Our customers use the suggested card messages a lot. We know because we all go help dress bears and pack pjs from time to time, and we proof the cards before they go out the door for delivery. We have an in-house copywriter who writes most of them, but our employees have fun making them up, too. We have a lot in poet-wanna-bes here! We also grab good ones that our customers come up with, too!

Can you offer any advice to merchants who may also be looking to deliver something extra to their customers?

Every business is going to have different customers with different needs. For us it’s critical because we want to stand out in a competitive gift business. Of course it adds cost and takes resources to pull it together correctly, but we’ve found that it’s a major draw in attracting both new and repeat customers. Customers also don’t want to receive free stuff just for the sake of getting something free – they’d rather have lower prices – so what you offer really has to make sense for your product line without throwing off your pricing strategy.

Big thanks to Irene, for sharing these suggestions and experiences.

Almost all stores sell items that could be gifts, whether it’s a gift for another person, or a gift for the shopper who places the order. If it makes good business sense for your store, you may also want to consider including free extras and special touches that deliver the “complete package”.

Smaller merchants that don’t have a large budget for extra items may choose to focus on presentation. For example:

• If you sell bath and spa products, you might want to "wrap" these in a waterproof carrying bag. Not only does the waterproof bag provide extra protection when shipping the order, but it’s something the customer or the recipient of their gift can use time and again. I once received something similar to this, and although the bath products have long since been used, the carrying bag gets pulled out every time I take a trip and need to pack items like shampoo, conditioner, and other bath products that could potentially spill while traveling.

• If you sell jewelry, you may already package this in a small box, or a sealed plastic bag. To give orders that extra touch, you also include a cloth jewelry pouch (something that can be used with the item purchased, or for other purposes), offer free gift wrapping, or both.

You don’t have to be a big store to add extra touches to your orders, just creative, and in-tune with your customers’ needs. Making it your business to go that extra mile can help you earn both new and repeat customers, and encourage them to spread the word about the extra thought and care that went into their order, beyond the point of sale.

Jennifer Farwell
Yahoo! Small Business

All It Takes is a Call

I have written in the past about providing a great shopping experience and how little things can win or lose a loyal customer. Recently I had a chance to encounter both ends of the customer experience spectrum with two different companies.

The Good Call

I recently booked a weekend at the Bodega Bay Lodge. I found the listing through Yahoo! Travel and there were some good ratings so I had an expectation that the place would be nice. The night before I arrived however there were very heavy rains and some flooding occurred which ended up blocking one of the main access roads guests would take to get to the hotel. I checked road conditions online before leaving but there was no information about the road I intended to take being closed.

To my surprise and delight though Bodega Bay Lodge called my cell phone (which I provided with my online reservation) and left a message about the road conditions and provided alternate directions. I wasn’t a guest yet, but they were already taking care of me. This to me was the sign of a company that has an eye on customer satisfaction and all it took to win a loyal customer was a phone call. On an ecommerce related note, if you do reserve a room take note of how they are even cross-selling in their own checkout/registration process. Why yes I will take some chocolate-dipped strawberries to go with my room!

The Bad Call

On to my next experience which actually preceded the first example. I ordered a steamer pot online from a well-known department store in the last week of December. The delivery date was set for the end of the year. Well into the first week of January having not received my purchase or any email/phone call explaining the delay, I called the customer service number. A customer service agent answered, was very polite, and only needed a minute to get my order information and provide me with the status of the order.

The order was actually being filled by a drop-shipper. The drop-shipper though did not have the item in stock and had no idea when they would get the item in stock. They sent a cancellation to the department store but obviously there was a disconnect somewhere along the way as I never received notification the order was cancelled, not to mention a refund. The customer service agent said they would process a refund within 3-5 days.

The Ugly Call(s)

Ten days later, I called back asking why I had not received a refund. The customer service agent gave some explanation about the drop-shipper not having credited the money to them first. I was floored. Why are they holding my money when the issue is between them and their supplier? I was promised an expedited refund.

Five days after that, I called again to ask about the status of my refund which was now long overdue. I had to do some serious deep-breathing to maintain calm while discussing why I couldn’t care less about them not having received a refund from the supplier. The supplier did not charge my card—they did. In the end I told them a chargeback was coming their way since my card was charged but the goods were not delivered. So here is the tally of costs.

Can You Afford Not to Call?

Bodega Bay Lodge

Costs: one local call + 2 minutes of employee time to provide directions

Result: one happy customer + multiple word of mouth references as I tell this great example of service to many friends, relatives, co-workers, etc

Unnamed Giant Department Store

Costs: three customer service calls + chargeback fees

Result: lost order, lost customer, many more word of mouth references telling all friends, family, co-workers, strangers, and anyone else I may encounter to avoid this site like the plague for fear of having an experience like mine.

Takeaways

• Own the experience: do not lay blame on a drop-shipper. Your customers may not care. They bought from you so only you can make it right with them.
• If using drop-shippers, ensure you are updating status for any orders that cannot be filled. A small problem (canceled order for an item out of stock) may only mean loss of an order but if left unresolved could snowball into a mass negative word of mouth campaign and a chargeback.
• Consider your drop-shipper performance in filling orders. If the experience with them is bad, it will reflect poorly on your store so you may wish to find another drop-shipper if possible.
• Because you are smaller than the ecommerce giants, take advantage of the fact that you can be more agile, make calls, resolve problems in a more personal manner. Acting small can help you get big in the long run.

Paul Boisvert
Yahoo! Small Business

Want Customer Insight—Just Ask or What eBags Knows That Others Don’t

I am reading a great book I would recommend to merchants—Web Analytics: An Hour a Day by Avinash Kaushik. In terms of web analytics, Avinash is one of the leading figures and his book as well as blog posts are a great source of some very accessible advice on the difficult topic of web analytics.

One piece of advice Avinash stressed in the book and also in a blog post on customer survey questions, is the importance of qualitative data—in other words what customers are saying about your site and how they feel when shopping there. Analytics can tell you what they bought, when they bought, what they searched on to find your site, what pages they viewed, and even some arcane information such as what resolution their screen was at the time. Analytics can’t tell you they almost left your site before buying and would have if you weren’t offering a coupon promotion for free shipping. Because of this, Avinash rightly stresses the importance of collecting this type of attitudinal data from customers.

A Look at the Top 100

With this in mind I went and looked at some of the sites in the top 100 Internet Retailer. To my surprise I did not find many examples. Now it is possible or even highly likely that these mega merchants, many of whom have retail locations (Target, Walmart, Staples, Williams-Sonoma, and other) and undoubtedly massive marketing departments, are collecting this same data in focus groups or usability testing sessions, but it was still surprising to find so few examples. Why not ask your customers what they think right on your web site?

Crate & Barrel has a feedback link that appears in the footer of their pages just below the email sign-up form. This opens a pop-up with a few questions (see below).

Crate & Barrel feedback form

While Crate & Barrel is smart for collecting this information on site when many other top retailers don’t appear to be (at least not with prominent links in global locations of the site), I wonder about the quality of feedback they are getting with such an open-ended form and by asking for multiple pieces of information even if marked optional; they are collecting a quantitative rating as well though which seems smart.

The best example I came across which appears not in a pop-up but right in the footer of the page was eBags.

eBags feedback form

The message appearing with the form makes it very clear what information they hope to collect. They are asking in a customer-focused way for the products customers want to buy and the language they would need to see to aid in making the sale.

If this seems like a good way to collect feedback from your customers, it’s fairly easy to create form and use a cgi script which we provide already to collect this data and send it to an email address you specify. Then you can add the HTML for the form to the final-text field or a custom field if you have custom templates.

In terms of processing the feedback, I would recommend creating an alias such as feedback@yourdomain.com and then forwarding messages to the appropriate people in your organization to act upon. Now all of the feedback you collect may not be something you can act upon, but there will likely be some invaluable nuggets of information you can use to expand product content to address buyer concern, add new related products you don’t carry, or help establish trust with buyers. If you have employees that handle customer calls you may want them to use the same or a custom-built form within their CRM tools to collect this same feedback. Your goal should be to try and learn something new with each customer touchpoint.

Paul Boisvert
Yahoo! Small Business

P.S. Avinash is donating all of his proceeds from his book to two charities: The Smile Train and Doctors without Borders so if that plus all the great insight don’t encourage you to buy the book, I’m not sure what will. And yes he is that nice of a guy to do so.