It’s no secret that every internet marketer would love to be able to keep selling to their customers over and over again… and being able to repeatedly sell to buyers several times should be a goal of ours.
But how can we keep buyers coming back over and over again to purchase our products? Well there are many ways to do that, but I with this post I wanted to touch on one very important, but many times over-looked aspect to keeping happy customers.
The quality of customer service is very important in keeping happy and satisfied buyers. If we are continually thanking and giving back to our buyer, the more likely they will stick around and purchase more products from us in the future.
Like most, if not all of my blog posts, come out as a result of an experience I have had recently, and this post is no exception. Over the past month or so I have purchased several different internet marketing related products from marketers who I was not all that familiar with, although I was confident enough in them to purchase. (Note: the products themselves where good, and this post has nothing to do about the individual products).
However, I did have questions that I wanted to ask the marketer about, either to clarify an issue, to expand upon something, or just a general question about the topic. This brings me back to the customer service issue and keeping buyers coming back for more…
… not one of those marketers have responded to my initial (or repeat) contact to them, even though I contacted them in the way that they stated to do so (email, forum message, etc).
If a customer contacts you for almost whatever reason, it is always best to respond to them, either to answer their question or to at least state that you will get back to them by a certain date. None of which these marketers did for me, and it’s been 1-4 weeks since my initial contact.
So how can you keep buyers coming back to purchase from you instead of one of the other thousand marketers? Deliver quality products with quality support systems in place.
This is an online marketing blog dedicated to bringing you quality information that you can use to boost your profits and make the most out of your Internet business.
Hey Joel,
Your observation is true in the offline world as well as the online world. Quality customer service must go hand in hand with quality products. I’ve experienced the same as you and will think long and hard before doing business with a company that has poor customer service.
I must say that I’ve also had some excellent service from many marketers and that really makes your point because I will do business with them again and again
Luca Di Nicola´s last blog ..Niche Site Club $1 Trial Ends December 31st 2009
Wow, that is not a very good way to run a business.
Customer service seems to be a thing of the past for a lot companies. From major corporations all the way down to some of the smaller mom and pop shops.
Guess those marketers aren’t looking for repeat customers, eh?
I always try to answer questions from anyone who purchases one of my products and even from the subscribers on my lists who have never purchased anything. Just seems like the right thing to do.
Too bad more people don’t feel the same way.
Brett McEllhiney´s last blog ..Creating a Paypal Button for Your Niche Site Sales Page
Sorry to hear of your experience. Yes it is extremely important to give support to your buyers and if you don’t it will come back and get you.
Mike Paetzold´s last blog ..Claim Your Free Plug & Play List Building System
I agree that customer support is important. Most people are like me I suspect and when customer support is needed, fast and quality support sets well. If support is needed and it is given in a fast and efficient way it tends to stick in your mind. Then the next time you see an offer from that individual/company, you remember and are likely to become a repeat customer.
Lonnie Minton´s last blog ..Get this Free Ebook – Increase Your Affiliate Marketing Sales
I agree with you 100% because I’ve experienced shoddy or non-existent customer support myself.
I’ve had to wait several days to get a response from some marketers and even then it is from a VA who either didn’t understand my question or took the lazy way out by copy-pasting something unrelated from their FAQ’s.
It is one thing to outsource parts of your online business to save time but never at the expense of good customer support if you want repeat business.
Achinta ‘Archie’ Mitra´s last blog ..Turning Your Content Caterpillars Into Sales Butterflies
What? You mean there IS such a thing as online customer support?
I’m only kidding, I haven’t had much of a problem with poor customer support with my online purchases.
There are times that I want to purchase an exciting (appearing/sounding) and if I have never heard of the person and I can’t find someone of influence who has given the person a nod somewhere…well, I do my best to enter into it confidently and remind myself, that I’m committing myself to a positive endeavor, and sometimes good things go bad.
Thank you Joel – You are Joy!
JoyfullyJanet´s last blog ..how to calculate profit
Good article Joel. I always learn a lot from your posts and really appreciate it! I wish you a Happy New Year. Regards, Martin
i think the best words for keeping the customer in continuing to buy the products or product we offer is that ” customer must be delighted by our service” not simply satisfied.
Robert