Today’s episode is the first in a two-part series about customer service on Amazon. Listen to Part 2 next!

Show outline:

1. What is the true meaning of Customer Service on Amazon?
2. The touch points of customer service on Amazon and tips/insights for each.
3. Download our free Amazon-friendly message templates: customer service email templates (PDF).

Subscribe & review on iTunes | Stitcher | Google Play | Spotify.

What is the true meaning of Customer Service on Amazon?

• Who it’s for? = 3rd party sellers
  • Amazon’s Letter to Shareholders: “Third-party sellers are kicking our first party butt. Badly.”

“For orders from the Amazon website that Amazon fulfills, we will manage all customer service associated with fulfillment of your products in the program. Our online Returns Center provides customers with help pages and details about how to contact us. If the customer wants to return a product, we direct the customer to our online Returns Center.”

FBA Customer service landing page:

• ^ Customers will still contact sellers regarding these things.
• Our CX philosophy.
  • Starting with the customer – Amazon leadership principles.
  • The urgency behind responding to messages. Amazon shoppers want instant gratification.
  • Brings a new standard to e-commerce customer service. SLA, reviews, feedback, return dissatisfaction, etc.
  • Shoppers are Amazon’s customers. All of this adds extra pressure.
  • Uniquely challenging vs. Advertising/ Sourcing/ Keyword & listing optimization.
  • Offer better CS than Amazon itself. Banjo case = Free replacement, no return required

The touch points of customer service on Amazon

Buyer-Seller Messages.

• Hows to enable FBA customer service:
  • Existing Sellers page: FBA Customer Service.
  • Go to: Seller Central > Fulfillment by Amazon Settings > Product Support.

Communicate with buyers using the Buyer-Seller Messaging Service.: “The Buyer-Seller Messaging Service lets you communicate with buyers in the Amazon marketplace via Seller Central or your personal or business email. You can contact a buyer directly from your seller account or by using your authorized email account (if you have the buyer’s encrypted email address that was previously generated by Buyer-Seller Messaging). Either way, your correspondence will be visible on the Buyer-Seller Messages page.”

Amazon FBA

“Buyer-Seller Messaging Service overview”

Guidelines for contacting buyers.

“In general, you can contact a buyer only to complete an order or to respond to a customer service question. You can’t contact a buyer (including via email, physical mail, telephone, or otherwise) for marketing or promotional purposes, or initiate contact with a buyer about a return containing an FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) product designated as a gift.”

If you send a permitted email to an Amazon customer, your message cannot include:

-Links to any websites

-Links to Amazon detail pages or storefronts

-Seller logos if they contain or display a link to the seller’s website

-Any marketing messages or promotions

-Any promotions for additional products or referrals to third-party products or promotions”

– Amazon Buyer Seller Messaging Overview

FBA Customer Service

“If you use the Buyer-Seller Messaging Service, note that this service is for product inquiries only. Any customer service related inquiries, such as how or where to return/refunds + Shipping/billing a purchased product, on Amazon-fulfilled orders should be redirected to Amazon Customer Service.”

FBA Customer Service

• Best practices for Buyer-Seller Messaging.
  • Faster than 24 hours.
  • Upload templates.
  • No external links!
  • Multiple order numbers.
• Tips/insights for Buyer-Seller Messaging
  • Route messages to an external ticketing system. Why?
    • Team management (assign cases, add notes, etc.).
    • Learn from reporting (tag cases as certain categories).
  • Outbound messaging (Proactive CS).
• B-S Messaging Interface changes.
  • Multiple changes within the last 6 months
    • Our previous blog post: “Amazon’s Classic Seller Central Buyer-Seller Messaging is Going Away; What Sellers Need to Know.”
    • The new, “Voice of the Customer” page.
    • Ongoing development updates focusing on improving customer experience.

Amazon MCF Orders:

Fill orders from other sales channels (Multi-Channel Fulfillment)

“Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) is a program within Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). With MCF, Amazon stores your inventory in our fulfillment centers. When items sell on Amazon, on your own site, or on another e-commerce site, Amazon picks, packs, and ships them to your customers.”

“Products sold somewhere other than Amazon and fulfilled through Amazon’s fulfillment center (Multi-Channel Fulfillment) are not eligible for Amazon’s Customer Service.”

• Tips/insights for MCF orders.
  • It’s the primary way to send replacements.
  • Sends a notification email when shipped to the recipient.
  • This can be tracked by adding “R-” to the beginning of replacement order #s to come back and use for your research later.
  • Use to track defects with your manufacturer?