Today I learned a valuable lesson in Etiquette. I lost a sale from a fellow Etsyan ( Is that a word). I was scolded for my lack of friendliness during a conversation through Etsy. The person decided that I was so unfriendly that she would rather buy from someone else. Ouch such a hard pill to swallow. I looked back at the email exchanged and did see where I wasn't exactly friendly. I don't believe I was Rude but I wasn't friendly either.
Below is the exchange (minus Names):
(Fellow Etsian)
Hello and greetings from XX. I don't recall ever seeing Shea butter priced so low and I want to know if I purchase tonight when will you ship it out? No worries because I always pay immediately...I am thinking of 1-2 lbs...........thanks
Hello and greetings from XX. I don't recall ever seeing Shea butter priced so low and I want to know if I purchase tonight when will you ship it out? No worries because I always pay immediately...I am thinking of 1-2 lbs...........thanks
(Me)
Yes That will be no problem also I ship Priority
(Fellow Etsian)
Ok, but once you receive payment how long does it take you to ship out if i paid tonite?
(Me)
If you paid today I will ship tomorrow.
(Fellow Etsian)
I decided to go with another Etsy seller because you don't seem friendly at all. You never included any sort of greeting, didn't say your name and most of all you never bothered to thank me for stopping by...I consider all these factors before buying on or offline.Sorry
So you see here folks it is not enough to have a good product or good prices but you also have to have good customer service skill also. Looking back at this exchange I wanted to think that the person was being unreasonable, but really is it too much to ask to be treated well and feel that the shop is grateful for your business or even the least bit happy that you stopped by. I did not show that in any of my exchanges.
I know my reasoning for the quick responses. I was getting a large order finalized, finishing cleaning up for company and preparing my sons school supplies for first grade. So when I answered the email I wrote quick responses and sent them off. Looking back now I realize that I could have taken a couple of minutes (At most 2 min) and wrote a nice appreciative response.
Posts
4 comments:
Hey Sha Marie, don't beat yourself up over that email convo. Jeez! I get the point, it's always nice to be thanked for dropping by etc but people have busy lives, families etc.
To me, that response sucks, you are offering great products at great prices, do they want you to lick their buts too?
It just bugs me :(
Keep your chin up Sha, there will be more orders and loads of them :D
Thanks. Talk about busy my son just had his first day of first grade today and ended it by getting 6 stitches. Poor guy.
My impression is this person wasn't a serious customer anyway - you gave them an answer which was prompt.
Sure you could have said more in your conversations however what you did say wasn't really bad.
If this person was looking for "bells and whistles" then in my opinion they would have turned out to be one of those customers who would/could never be happy with whatever service you gave them...
A complete nightmare, so maybe you should be happy that you are rid of this person and they are off bothering someone else - for minimum return on investment too I'd say.
I agree with the other commentors. To play Devil's Advocate, you didn't end with "xoxoxo" or smiley faces BUT you were professional and not in ANY way rude.
In my opinion, you probably were spared some real aggravation by not dealing with that person. She obviously wanted a song and dance out of you and she is also obviously hard to please. I have had difficult buyers who aren't worth ANY amount of money.
And I know you're great so nothing else matters! :)
Renee
Post a Comment