Tag: Sellers

The Importance of Reputation Management: Ensure buyers leave happy, not bad reviews

This post isn’t for all the perfect sellers out there … it’s for all the ones who’ve made mistakes. The difference between making a mistake, and making a mistake that leads to bad online reviews, is all about reputation management and why it’s important.

Bad online reviews for your business are like pesky spurs in an otherwise functional pair of boots: They can shorten your stride, slow you down and lead to no end of irritation. All it takes is one, bad online review to seriously hamper your projected growth.

Take the case of the Canadian guitarist whose guitar was bashed up by United Airlines. It wasn’t so much that they bashed up his guitar, it was that they refused to apologize and compensate him. He wrote a song about it and made sure several million viewers knew all about it. Then there’s the case of the Colorado restaurant that served a caterpillar with a salad. Instead of making the situation better, they offered the customer half off a dessert. After a couple of really bad online reviews, one of the two restaurants is now closed.

What do these stories have in common? Bad reputation management. Every company makes mistakes, but it’s often how we handle those mistakes that lead people to take the extra step and give a bad review online. These two companies handled these situations badly because they didn’t do what was right … and they didn’t manage their reputation.

eRated’s series on reputation management is all about turning mistakes into learning opportunities, not bad reviews. Here are some tips to manage your mistakes and avoid bad reviews:

  1. Turning a bad rating into a bad review: So you’ve screwed up. Something went wrong and you shipped your cat to someone instead of a box of DVDs. They’re not happy and they give you a bad rating, like a 2 out of 5. It wasn’t your fault because your husband was distracting you. You’re pissed. You write the buyer and give them hell. The buyer then posts a review: “She sent me the wrong product AND emailed me to give me shit. Don’t buy from her.” Your reaction to the buyer just turned a bad rating into a bad review, which is MUCH worse. Additionally, they have another complaint against you. If you hadn’t done anything in response, you could have minimized the damage. Now, you’ve lost your cat and you have a bad review. So don’t turn a bad rating into a bad review by berating your buyers.
  2. Failing to rate your buyers. At eRated, we know that the more positive reviews and ratings you get, the more you’re going to sell. It’s a fact. Unfortunately, only 20-40% of buyers leave a review. So how do you get MORE reviews? One way to NOT get reviews is not taking the time to rate your buyers. If they’ve paid you and it’s been a good sale, give them a positive rating or review. If you pat their back, they’ll pat yours’. Even if you’re making a dozen sales a day, take the time to drop ratings for all of them. If you don’t, they’ll be much less like to rate you … which means you’ll have fewer ratings … which means you’ll make less money.
  3. Shabby shipping. You’ve got eight products to send today. Your kid is whinging about what’s for lunch and you have to feed the baby. You’ve got a lot of balls in the air and you decide to just chuck that book you’ve just sold into an oversized box without any filling and ship. Too bad it was a First Edition you sold for $400.00. It arrives to the buyer bruised like a Canadian hockey player. They are not happy and let you know it by publicly disparaging you for the quality of your product. Bad news for you. It could have been avoided by taking the time to pack properly. If it’s between sending sooner and making sure the product arrives in the best condition, always choose the latter. You can always blame the postman for timing, but you have no one to blame but yourself when it comes to condition.
  4. Taking too long to respond. Have you ever posted on AirBnB and been hassled by AirBnB admin for not responding to potential buyers? They do that for a reason - because buyers hate not being responded to. If someone contacts you, get back to them, even if you have a better buyer in mind. They may leave a negative review based on your bad response time. Additionally, you may be pissing off possible future buyers. Don’t take too long to respond and always respond to queries. They make smart phones for a reason - take it with you to the cinema and get on the ball.
  5. Using unreliable parcel delivery. Buyers comment on two things most often: Speed and quality. If your product takes ages to arrive, it will take half that time for them to post a negative review about it. How can you manage this? Use a reliable parcel delivery service you can count on with a reputation as good as yours’ - because your success is tied to theirs’. If you’re in the UK, why not check out our friends over at ParcelBright? They’re as committed to building your reputation as you are.

Don’t let your mistakes turn into bad reviews. Good reputation management is about doing what’s right and making sure your customers leave happy, instead of leaving bad reviews.

Check back next week for eRated’s series on how online sellers can manage their reputation and get more out of their good reviews.

Do you sell online? If so, READ THIS

Like more than 100 million people, you sell in online marketplaces. Whether its shoes or technology, what’s in the back of your closest or in the top drawer of your chest, you want to make money and help buyers meet their needs.

At eRated, we have been meeting with online sellers to find out what makes you tick. We want to hear from you. You can earn money just by telling us what would make you a better online seller. Please get in touch with us at erated.co.

So what can make you a better seller? Here are some insights from our interviews with sellers:

    1. Join a community. In the Sharing Economy, like-minded sellers and buyers are joining communities online and in person. By becoming a member of the community, you’ll gain the trust of other members. There is one, indisputable fact of online sales: When more people trust you, the more you will sell. If you want to sell that whole wardrobe instead just a few pairs of heels, join a community or get looped into a small online marketplace like SnobSwap.
    2. Look to the Stars. Almost every online marketplace has a means for you to track your transaction history and view your reputation. Normally, it’s summed up by the number of stars you have, in addition to verbal feedback from buyers. Your reputation determines, more than anything else, the amount you sell. Never overlook your reputation. If you don’t have the reputation you want, be more responsive, make sure you deliver everything as soon as possible and ensure your stuff is the same quality as advertised.You are your reputation – own it.
    3. Get to know your buyers. When most people make a sale, that’s usually the end of their relationship with a buyer. Do yourself a favour, get to know them. Send them a follow-up message to get more info. Why did they buy from you and not someone else? What else are they looking for? Can they suggest ways for you to improve your profile and up your sales? Advice is often free, but sadly just as often ignored. Seek advice from your buyers.
    4. Try new marketplaces. 90% of all sellers are selling in more than one platform. There’s no secret, the more platforms you use, the more you’ll sell. In particular, seek out niche marketplaces for those special products. If you sell on eBay, don’t be afraid to use Bonanaza or amazon … be more visible on the internet.
    5. Use social media. Research shows the vast majority of people buying and selling online also have multiple social media accounts. Social media users and e-commerce buyers are the same people. Using social media is another way to connect to buyers. Use your account to promote your sales and get to know product and service communities. It’s free!
    6. Join eRated. Of course, we have to stick in a shameless plug. eRated is free for sellers and has proven to increase conversion rates 10-30%. It’s so easy to adopt and use. There’s just no way we can’t help you.If you would like to get paid to tell us what it’s like to be a seller, get in touch now: [email protected]. We can help you help yourself.

 

eRated, meet World. World, meet eRated

Hi everyone,

We are thrilled and excited to bring to life our passion and creation, eRated.

creates a single identity for e-commerce sites, allowing online buyers and sellers to utilize their already existing reputation everywhere they go.

By using a universal identity, you will now be able to operate in more marketplaces, reach more customers and increase your conversion rates and sales as you no longer need to re-build your reputation (ratings, reviews and comments) in each site you operate in.


eRated uses a reputation widget which is displayed in our partner sites. This widget aggregates and summarizes the ratings and feedbacks you have earned across various marketplaces, ultimately increasing your potential buyers’ trust.

We are launching our full system in a weeks time, working extremely hard on building the beautiful and intuitive widgets you will be able to utilize as your one and only e-commerce identity online:

Stay tuned!