Retain Customers With The Best Return Practices

There’s no way around returns. The product your customer purchased may not fit, may not be exactly what they wanted, or may arrive damaged. No matter the reason for the return, it is important you use the best return practices you can to retain that customer in the future.

Retaining customers is much more inexpensive than gaining new ones, so even if you have to take a loss it is important you try to retain each customer’s business. If your return policy causes your customers grief not only will you lose their business, you will lose business due to their negative feedback.

A hassle-free return policy is an easy way for your business to keep customers happy and loyal. While return fraud is a real concern and absorbing shipping costs can be expensive, these are things you can work around in your return policy.

Instead of thinking of returns as a loss of time and money, think of them as an opportunity for excellent customer service that will bring your customers back again and again.

Here’s how.

Have A Clear, Easy To Understand Return Policy

Your customers are already dissatisfied with your product, so don’t irritate them with a policy that is difficult to find or understand. Keep the language of your return policy simple and easy to skim.

For example, take a look at the ShippingSupply.com Return Policy.

We have a single landing page that clearly explains our return policy, including an “Important Notes” section that states requirements for returns. Our language is free of legal jargon so it is easy for our customers to understand just by scanning.

Include Return Information In The Packaging

Making it more difficult for customers to return products they are unhappy with is shortsighted. When finding return information is challenging, customers become annoyed and more likely to avoid your business in the future.

Including a simple note with your packaging makes it easy for customers to find the information they need. Your customers will appreciate not needing to search the website for your return information. Don’t worry; including the information in the packaging will not make customers more likely to return it.

Don’t Begrudge Customers For Returns

It may be true that the customer is the one who broke your product or didn’t read the description closely enough, but if you resist taking the return it will hurt you in the long run.

Not only will it infuriate your customers, it will waste a great deal of time and you may lose that customer forever. If the experience is bad enough, that customer may leave negative feedback that other customers will see, or tell their loved ones about their negative experience losing you more customers. Returns are a part of any business, so make sure to provide excellent customer service to try and retain the customer. In fact, providing customers with an excellent return experience can gain a lot of customer loyalty.

Ask Customers For Feedback

Ask customers why they are making the return. While this idea seems very straightforward, you can use this feedback to make big changes so you have fewer returns in the future.

By tracking feedback patterns you will get a better idea of why a return was made. If a lot of products are returned due to damage, for example, you may not be packaging your products correctly. If customers state the product doesn’t meet the description, it may be time to update your product copy and photographs. Returns are an excellent opportunity for you to make improvements to your business.

Keep Customers Updated

There’s nothing more infuriating than waiting for your money to be returned to you, or for a replacement product to arrive. Luckily it is easy enough to update customers about the state of their returns via email or phone.

Inform customers when you receive the returned item(s) and how long it will take for the replacement item to arrive or for the money to show in their account. Your customers will be glad they don’t need to keep calling your business for this information.

Cover Return Shipping, If You Can

Depending on the size of your business you may not be able to afford to cover return shipping, but customers will appreciate it if you can.

Customers may be irritated at being forced to pay return shipping costs. As a compromise, you may consider covering return shipping for specific situations, such as a damaged product.

What return practices are you using for your business? What has worked and what hasn’t?

10 Ways To Actually Get Happy, Loyal Customers

Getting website traffic and sales simply isn’t enough in this day and age. Both e-commerce and brick and mortar stores need to be doing everything they can to create an experience that leads to customers who aren’t only happy, but loyal. You’re looking for customers who will shop from you again and again while also recommending you to their friends and family.

Today we have some easy, concrete ways you can create those loyal customers, and it won’t even take that much extra work!

1.      Think About Your Own Loyalty

What brands and businesses are you loyal to, and why? Is it the quality of their product? How does the company treat you? Last time you had a problem with the service, what did the company do about it? Go even farther by thinking about what you wish companies would do for you. Take notes, because this is exactly what you want to be doing for your own customers.

2.      Show What Your Company Stands For

Customers aren’t necessarily loyal to brands only for what they offer in terms of products and services, but for what those brands stand for and believe in. This doesn’t mean you have to take a strong political stance, it simply means you must show that your brand stands for something.

Airbnb focuses on the experiences of hosts and guests all across the world, helping people find ways to integrate themselves into the local communities of places they visit. Burt’s Bees offers natural care products that promote healthy living, while also showcasing its dedication to sustainability. Make sure customers know what your company cares about to build a loyal following.

3.      Have a Positive Response to Negative Customer Feedback

It is impossible to make every single customer happy, but you can still create a satisfied customer by having the right attitude when you receive negative feedback. Don’t allow yourself to respond to your customer with an emotional, knee-jerk reaction.

Acknowledge the anger from the customer in a professional manner, being sure to avoid accusatory language. Offer an item exchange or discount when applicable. Outweigh the cost of losing them as a customer, along with their negative feedback to their friends and family, versus taking a temporary financial hit to see what is feasible.

4.      Use an Engaging, Achievable Loyalty Program

Signing customers up for loyalty programs certainly isn’t a new concept, but it is one that is often misused, resulting in a waste of time and resources and a lack of customer loyalty. You should absolutely create some sort of loyalty program, but you need to do it in a way that actually inspires loyalty.

You’ll want to set a clear, simple goal for customers for this loyalty program. You need to provide a clear finish line to keep customers motivated. Many coffee shops offer a free drink after a certain number of beverage purchases, and it works very well. Figure out how you can use your unique products to create a reward that customers will love.

5.      Be Patient

Nothing turns a customer off more than a representative who seems in a rush to end a conversation. Maybe you’re simply in a bad mood or maybe you are overwhelmed by tasks, but you should give every customer the same, unrushed attention.

If you called in with a question about the shipping of your product, you’d be pretty irritated if the representative you spoke to gave you a corporate answer in a two minute phone call. You may choose not to shop with them again. Don’t let this happen.

6.      Make Communication Easy

Your customers shouldn’t have to go on an epic quest to find contact information. This information should be both easy to find and convenient for your customer. Automated phone lines are very unpopular, so if you need to have one make it simple. Offer live chat or even video chat when you can. And don’t forget to respond to social media messages.

You always want to pay attention to your customer service hours. If your phone lines are only open during business hours, it’s going to be difficult for many customers to get in contact with you. If customers do have to email or leave a message, make sure you get back to them as soon as possible.

7.      Be Consistent

Whether you’re dealing with long-time customers or brand new prospective ones, the experience should be consistently excellent for each person.

You should take strides to ensure the same levels of service across all aspects of your company, including customer service, returns, communication, and storefronts. If a customer has a fantastic experience chatting online with a staff member only to be told something different over a phone call, they’re less likely to remain loyal.

8.      Pay Attention to Details

The little things really do matter when it comes to customer service. There’s tons of small details you can use to impress your customers, at very little or no cost to you. Including a handwritten note in a shipment, offering free coffee at a brick-and-mortar store, and checking in with customers during the buying process can all leave customers feeling valued and appreciated.

Take a look at what your competitors are doing and think about what your customers want. Once you’ve done that, find ways to stand out with details your competitors aren’t using.

9.      Get Personal

It is easier than ever to personalize a person’s shopping experience through email, mobile alerts, and more. Customers want to feel like you care about them, and there’s no better way to do that than to acknowledge your repeat customers.

There are a few ways you can do this; acknowledge how many times a visitor has shopped with you, offer suggestions of products based on items they’ve already bought, give them a coupon based on previous purchases…there’s tons of ways to make your customer feel valued!

10.   Never Break a Promise

Never promise something that you can’t deliver. If you promise something and don’t deliver, customers are not going to be happy. If a customer is unhappy they’re likely to tell friends and family about the bad experience they’ve had.

In fact, you should try to over-deliver on your promises when you can. When you exceed expectations customers are likely to tell you about friends and family for good reasons.

We hope that ShippingSupply.com is implementing these strategies for you! Please feel free to contact us with feedback!