A smooth customer service interaction is one of the keys to success for selling on Amazon, or any e-commerce store. It helps create brand advocates and repeat buyers out of a casual shopper. Here, we present 4 simple ideas on how to improve your Amazon customer service. These ideas can also apply to your other e-commerce platforms.

#1 Context! Why is the customer contacting you?

Much like trips to the DMV, when buyers have to contact customer service there’s a high likelihood they may be unhappy, tired, frustrated or all of the above. Focusing on how to make the experience helpful, fast and personable, however, can turn a negative experience into a positive and long-lasting relationship.

Whether due to a late mail carrier delivery, an Amazon fulfillment issue, or a defective batch of your products, buyers will likely feel indifferent as to WHY their issue occurred. They care about what you will do to resolve it.

Be empathetic and put yourself in their shoes. Money is at stake and they likely already feel disappointed about their purchase. Be extra sensitive, and show you care about their experience. How would you want another company to handle a similar issue for you?

Remember:

• Don’t take it personally! It’s hard to hear criticism about your product or company, but it’s business and you’re in it to sell. Regardless of the customer’s tone or who’s at fault, it’s best to be humble and apologize for the negative experience and provide the customer with a solution. Aim to put an excellent customer experience before your own feelings.
• Happy customers buy more! Even if you have to issue a refund, send a replacement or give something away, the small loss will almost always be worth it in the long run.

#2 Care about your response times

Stop and think about the impact of speed on any of your buying experiences. Innovations in technology + social media have created an environment where the modern shopper is accustomed to near-immediate gratification; the value of “time” is arguably at an all-time high.

Amazon is regarded as one of the most customer-centric companies in the world, going as far as calling themselves “customer-obsessed”. Just check out the first item listed on their Leadership Principles at Amazon.jobs:

Customer Obsession Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers.

It’s no surprise that they strongly encourage sellers to respond to all Buyer-Seller messaging inquiries within 24 hours, 7 days per week. Further, Amazon measures the response times of all sellers and counts the number of responses over 24 hours.

If you’d like to view your own Amazon Buyer-Seller Contact Metrics, login to your Seller Central account >> click on the “Performance” tab >> select “Performance Metrics”. Start keeping an eye on how long it takes you to respond to a message and consider if you would be okay with waiting that long.

As a bonus, spend time considering the valuable feedback found along with the “Customer Service Dissatisfaction Rate.” Customers will leave feedback on how they felt about the experience contacting you.

Note: Customer Service Dissatisfaction Rate is different than Seller Feedback, as it measures the percentage of customers who are not satisfied with your responses in Buyer-Seller Messaging. Read more on Amazon.

#3 Language is key!

Remember how we said that the customer will likely be in a bad mood to start with? A huge mistake to avoid is being unclear or leaving room for negative contextual interpretation in your responses.

Be happy and obvious! There should be no doubt in the buyer’s mind that you’re there to help them, things will end positively, and that you want to make their experience better.

Make sure your language is not only kind, apologetic, and positive, but clear and free of errors in grammar and spelling!

Avoid any language that could seem defensive, combative or dismissive. Ask yourself, “Is my pride worth more than this customer?”

• Bad sentence: “We usually don’t issue a refund for such a petty reason, but I’ll do it this one time.”
• Good sentence: “We hope this refund is an agreeable resolution; we appreciate your future business.”

#4 Over-Asking for feedback

A complaint we see from Amazon shoppers is that they feel pestered to leave a product review or seller feedback. We understand that reviews are the lifeblood of an Amazon seller account, but only a small fraction of buyers leave them.

Instead of “over-asking” for reviews or feedback:

• Offer great, personalized customer service. Buyers are more likely to compliment a warm person than a faceless or “smileless” seller account. 
• Recognize which buyers are most likely to leave a review. If you have a buyer with 100 purchases and zero reviews left, you’re better off investing time elsewhere.
• Leave the “asking” for the final contact. Once you’ve given them a resolution and the best shopping experience possible, remind them that leaving a review would be helpful for you.

Final Thoughts

Keep these four opportunities in mind as you reply to your customers.  You’ll notice the difference in the gratitude and happiness of your buyers’ replies. More importantly, avoiding these mistakes will improve your customers’ experiences! Every customer should be treated individually with well-worded and personable replies.

Not sure you can do this? If you’d like SellerSmile to offer your customers an exceptional experience with every response, sign up for our 7-day free trial. There is no commitment and you can cancel at any time. Start your trial at sellersmile.com/plans/.

Not sure on how SellerSmile could help yet? Have concerns about privacy? Want to discuss customized workflows? Come talk to us! Head over to Calendly.com/SellerSmile and choose a time that works for you. We would love to learn more about your business and give you information on how we can help save you time and money.