Customer Service is King (or Queen) on your way to Top Rated Seller

I immediately emailed back.

Hi Joe,

Darn it! I hate it when that happens. I am so sorry. We don’t have another saucer. I will process a partial refund for you for the breakage. How much would make you happy?

Thanks for your business,
Lynn

He wrote back…

Dear thequeenofauctions,

Since it wasn’t anyone’s fault, let’s call it even steven. If you ever come across one, please keep me in mind. Have a great night and an even better tomorrow!!!

Wow! What a super nice customer. I was very quick to email him again and let him know it.

Joe,

You are super nice and I really appreciate it. Thanks! A pleasure doing business with you.

Lynn

PS I wish all of our customers were so awesome :)”

Joe’s next email…

You were being fair, so I returned that in good faith. I have been on an eBaying binge lately, so who knows, I may be back to your store soon. Take care.

After that, I decided I needed to ask Joe for his permission to publish these emails to show how reacting quickly, being an honest seller and being nice can really work in our favor!

Here is his reply…

Dear thequeenofauctions,

Lynn,

Any time I can do anything to put manners and goodwill out to the masses, I am in favor. You have my permission and my blessings.

Thanks,
Joe”

NICE LESSON! Customer service is all about manners and goodwill.

Example #2: Items mixed up and sent to two wrong buyers

We have been shipping out a lot of items lately. Our business is up over last year and that means more packages and the potential for more mistakes. Check out this note that came in late on that same Monday evening.

Hello,

I won this plate but was shipped a set of four Pier 1 bowls instead. Please let me know how you want to proceed.

Thanks,
Susan

Yikes was all I could say! How was I going to get this one unraveled? Well, I pulled up Auctane (love it) and saw quite quickly that the Pier 1 bowls and the collector’s plate were processed in our shipping log one right after the other and they were both being sent to ladies named Susan. I think I had solved the mystery and it only took a few minutes. Yay!

To learn more about Auctane you can read my ezine from December 23, 2010 here.

I immediately emailed Susan #1.

Hi Susan,

These bowls definitely go to a different Susan in Massachusetts. We are waiting to see if she received your plate but I am almost certain she will be receiving it as your orders were processed one after the other and both of you have the same first name. So sorry! If you would please ship those bowls to the other Susan and let us know what we owe you for s/h/i and your time I would greatly appreciate it? Thanks for understanding.

Lynn

There was no way the other item had made it to Massachusetts yet so I took a preemptive stance and quickly sent a note to Susan #2.

Dear Susan,

Your Pier one bowls were sent by mistake to a lady named Susan in Kansas. We are hoping that you will be receiving her collector’s plate. If so, could you please ship the plate to Susan and let us know what we owe you for s/h/I and your time? The other Susan is shipping your bowls to you today. I am so sorry about this and thanks for understanding.

Lynn

I received two very nice emails back from both Susans.

Susan #1

The bowls will be on their way to the other Susan tomorrow. I will let you know the cost.

Thanks. Sue

Susan #2

Hi! I got your message. No worries, mistakes happen. Please send me the address of the other “SUSAN” and I will send the plate out to her directly.

Thanks, Sue

I love it when people say “no worries”. It is one of my favorite sayings. Problem averted. Now, on to the next problem on that Monday night .

Example #3: Missing Coffee Mug

(Remember I am NOT perfect like Diva Dawn–we actually lose things–not garage door openers but eBay items )

I got an email from a lady that wanted to buy some Laurie Gates coffee mugs but she wanted to know if we could ship them for cheaper than $10.95 for two. I weighed one (doubled that weight), actually looked up her zip code and it was going to cost $13.40 by UPS. I told her I would ship the two for $12.95 but that I would be losing money on shipping.

She went ahead and bought them both. On that Monday night April 4th, I noticed that there was just one coffee mug on the shipping table and that it had been paid for a full week earlier. She had paid on March 28th. Panic at the disco! Waiting a week to ship is not going to get me five stars.

Here is a photo of the mug we could find.

I immediately went to the other shelf and the other Laurie Gates coffee mug in red she had purchased was not there. Oh boy! I had better be really creative to get myself out of this mess.

I just started walking up and down the aisles at HQ. I ended up finding two similar Laurie Gates mugs and I figured I could offer to substitute one of those. When I went to pull them up on eBay, they were not even listed. I quickly took a photo of the three mugs and wanted to email it to her but figured I had better just bite the bullet, request her contact info and call her and explain.

Here are the three mugs all together.

I went into advanced search and clicked on “Find Contact Information”. I received an email with her phone number and I placed a call. I left a message and kept it very vague. You don’t want to leave too much information on an answering machine. The item could be a secret, maybe a gift.

She hadn’t called me back or emailed me by Tuesday morning. I made an executive decision. That is the fun of running your own business–you can actually make important decisions!

I was just going to send her the three coffee mugs for the same price she had paid for two. When you have a customer that asks a lot of questions before the transaction and you have to do a lot of hand holding, it behooves you to treat them extra especially well. Mo, my mom and I have said for years that the customers that make the most noise before a transaction, will be the ones that make the most noise (not always good) after a transaction. They can also turn out to be your most loyal customers if they are happy with the transaction.

I didn’t hear back from my coffee mug buyer until Thursday. Yikes! Boy was I glad that we had already made the decision to send the three mugs!

Here is the email:

Hi!

I just got an email saying you needed my email address (which I sent) so you could send me a picture of a substitute Laurie Gates mug as the red one was MIA. I never heard back and just got an email that 3 mugs had been shipped….did I miss something? Also, do you have more of these mugs? I could use more of them.

Here is what I sent back:

Hi!

I felt so bad that we couldn’t find the red one and then I found a different red one and a different blue one. The blue one had a small split on the edge so I just went ahead and had the girls ship all three to you (no extra charge). We just want you to be happy.

Thanks for your business.

Lynn

Here is her email back:

Thanks for the update. Sounds good to me. I really appreciate you sending 3 mugs! Thanks! I’ll LYK when they arrive.

Another problem hopefully averted and five stars on their way to me!

My hanging out more at HQ, answering emails early in the morning or late at night and really being on top of things are going to get us Top Rated Seller. We are going to provide stellar customer service and become TRS by July 6th. Then it really will be “Happy Birthday to me.” That is our goal!

And as Norman Vincent Peale says, “Formulate a goal; not a fuzzy, vague goal but one that is sharp, clearly defined, and specific. Hold the image until it sinks into the unconscious. Then give it all you’ve got of thought, effort, imagination, and innovation.”

Happy eBaying!

Lynn