Although no online store likes the thought of dealing with complaints, you can minimise the impact they have with a few simple ecommerce marketing strategies. For many e-tailers, complaints are associated with lost sales and even lost customers. Complaints can actually end up helping your store, however. Knowing how to deal with complaints proactively is essential. Today, we’re sharing a few ecommerce marketing strategies that help you act proactively.
Ecommerce Marketing Strategies for Handling Complaints
The secrete to avoiding the fall-out of complaints is to act proactively. Waiting until complaints are made or letting customers reach full ‘Karen’ mode on social media is the worst move you could make. Being proactive is essential. Some of the ways that you can use ecommerce marketing to handle complaints proactively include:
Listen to your customers
That means really listening. You should be making it as easy as possible for customers to tell you how they feel. This could be through feedback surveys, social media comments or an open-door policy that welcomes all feedback. It’s not just the good you want to hear. In fact, the bad is far more valuable. Look at campaigns designed to encourage feedback. Make it easy for customers to talk. More importantly, take the time to respond to constructive criticism. Small, preventable problems turn into big problems if they are ignored.
Identify potential problems
On the topic of problems, it is essential to identify these before they arise. This is why it’s so important to listen to your customers. You may find that customers bring up the same challenges again and again. You might get comments on your social media posts about shipping policies or website issues. You might get constant poor or so-so ratings on your surveys. Identifying any and all problems customers allows you to resolve them before they result in complaints.
Turn complaints into compliments
In the event of complaints, it doesn’t have to be the end of the world. After identifying solutions, skip the automation and respond personally. Be open to criticism – even if it hurts. Own up to mistakes and work with your customer to find out how to move forward. You can look at bonuses and offers but remember that these do not always work. You need to back that up with actions that show customers that they matter. Asking how you can help goes a long way. Dealing with customers as a store owner or upper management goes even further. You want complete transparency and honesty. If complaints are made online, you want to show your customer and your followers that you are ready to help. A cookie-cutter apology and a request to contact customer services can frustrate customers, aggravating the situation. Instead, you could look at elevating the comment to management and then responding publicly and privately.
Ecommerce Marketing and Complaints
Just as poor reviews can be turned into something good, complaints also have the opportunity to help you grow and learn. With a few strategic ecommerce marketing steps, you can deal with complaints proactively and smartly.
