Saturday, February 26, 2011

Rush Orders and Keeping those fan's coming back!

 What do you do to keep your fans happy? I've been blogging about incorporating fan suggestions into my shop policies, item styles, etc., but I'm looking for some reader input here. I have a few tips on how to keep your shoppers happy and coming back for more. Please comment with some of your own!

  1. Create easy to understand Etsy shop policies detailing your turn around time, shipping policies, etc. This makes it super easy for shoppers to know what they are getting when they make a purchase from your shop. If you will offer express shipping to get items to a purchaser in a hurry specify, and specify the price. If you don't ship on weekends, specify this. If you have a specific turn around for items not in stock specify, and if you have a sort of rush fee policy to get an item quicker specify this as well.
  2. Create listings with pictures of your items in use, if applicable. For my hats for example I think a shopper likes to see what a hat looks like on a person. This is something I can improve on is having photo models representing my hats in all of my listings. 
  3. Answer Convo's and emails in a timely fashion. Let's face it, if a person is trying to decide on an the same type of item from two different stores, the person who responds the fastest to a question will more than likely get the sale. 
  4. Aim to please. If your customer needs something in a hurry try and work with them. If its something you custom make and they need it to match something, ask for a picture of the item. If they are unsure if the item will work with their need, be honest. Don't just tell them something they want to hear, honesty is key.
  5. Send tracking info when your items ship. As an avid Etsy shopper I love to know when my purchase is on its way. Paypal makes it very easy to enter a tracking number for a purchase, and then sends an email to your customer with the number and information.
  6. Finally, treat other shop owners the way you want to be treated. Leave feedback when you purchase an item, leave feedback for your customer's. Sometimes when I go into an Etsy shop I won't buy an item if they don't have many reviews/sales. I like reading good feedback about an item I'm interested in, makes me more likely to take the plunge.
This whole thought came about when a customer contacted me about a rush order yesterday. I don't do a lot of them but she was a dear to work with. I only had a few little Owl's in stock and she needed something for her son's picture appointment early next week. When she asked if I thought what I had in stock matched the picture of the outfit she sent me I was honest, it did but it wasn't a great color combo all together. I had some time and offered to do a rush order on a custom hat to match her little boy's outfit much better. It shipped out this morning, and I can't wait to see the little guy! Hope she posts a fan picture! Here is his little hat:


Hope these help all my fellow Etsian's out there. At least give you something to think about!

2 comments:

  1. I agree with your ideas and suggestions. In particular #2 is often the key to making the sale! Keep up the great work. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Christine, and thanks for reading!

    ReplyDelete