Tuesday, August 2, 2011

A Word About Customer Service

Aside from having great products, the most important aspect of any business is superb customer service. This is especially true of the small, independent arts/crafts based business. People want a personal experience and they want that experience to be a pleasant one! Nobody wants to feel ignored if they express a concern about a purchase. Nobody wants to feel ripped off by shipping prices. People know when they're being over charged. It's one thing to charge a little extra to cover shipping supplies and gas prices for the trip to the post office, but in my opinion, anything over a dollar above the shipping price is just taking advantage. One of my own shipping policies states that any difference of more than a dollar above the shipping cost will be refunded. As Always Angela believes in combining honest business practices with outstanding customer service. I also like to communicate with my customers... letting them know I've received their order and also keeping them updated on when I have shipped their order. People like to know what's going on! And in the spirit of great customer service, if their is ever an issue with anything someone purchases from me, I will do everything I can to make things right. I want to be someone people feel comfortable purchasing from-- not just once, but over and over again!

Now that I've shared some of my basic thoughts on customer service I want to give a mention to someone I recently dealt with who I think exemplifies fantastic customer service. When I recently decided to purchase my Zutter products I found this etsy shop and purchased the Bind It All and wire cutters. I then made another purchase of the DreamKuts, the Zutter Kutter and the Round It All. When my order arrived my Round It All was damaged and defective. I contacted the seller and she immediately set out to make things right. She had me send the item back, but she reimbursed me the shipping cost. When my new Round It All arrived she had included the little pouch for free! Also, the listing for the Bind It All said the Bind It All Around the World book would be included as a free gift, but it didn't come with my BIA. When I contacted her about this she apologised-- it had been an offer for the previous month and she had forgotten to take it out of her listing. However, she made good on the offer and sent it along with the new RIA. Let me tell you... it seemed like something was always happening, but every time an issue came up, she went out of her way to make things right! To me, that is customer service at its best. It would have been so easy to have a negative experience in this situation, but because the seller was always willing to make things right and was also always on top of communicating with me, I ended up having a pleasant experience and a very high opinion of her as a seller. (Thanks, Niki)!
As always
Angela

1 comment:

  1. Angela,

    Thank you so much for this post! I am so glad you enjoyed your shopping experience and hope to see you back soon.

    Your work is stunning, and it is always so good to see what my customers create!

    All my Best,

    Niki

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