Amazon Seller Support

A Tale of Two Orders, Part I

Great customer service can save the sale when things go wrong.

Last month I ordered an item, I'll call it Item X. I eagerly awaited its arrival.

In a couple of days, the seller e-mailed that she would not be able to send Item X right away. It turned out to be slightly damaged when she pulled it out of storage to pack it up for shipping.

Worse still, her supplier would not be able to send another Item X for one to two weeks. (Item X is not mass-produced and the supplier already had plenty of orders to fill.)

Was I disappointed?

Yes!

Did I leave negative feedback?

No.

Why not?

Even though a double whammy happened—an item damaged in storage and a backlog at the supplier—the seller did everything right:

• She told me right away what had happened.
• She was polite and she apologized.
• She told me when the supplier would be able to send another Item X.
• She asked if I would prefer to wait or cancel the order.
• She offered a different, more expensive item, but at the same price.
• When Item X did finally arrive (I decided to wait for it), it was perfect!

Buyers want great stuff and great service, but we know that every single order cannot go perfectly from start to finish. An order shouldn't go sideways very often, but when one does, customer service makes all the difference.

Next month
A Tale of Two Orders, Part II: Lackluster customer service can lose a customer forever

Are you monitoring your contact response-time metrics?

Timely responses to customer e-mails are important to customer satisfaction.

See the following chart on the Customer Metrics page in your seller account for greater insight into how responsive your business is to customer e-mails:

The metrics are based on how quickly you respond to customer messages you receive through the Buyer-Seller Messaging Service.

Remember: Customers who do not receive timely responses are more likely to leave negative feedback or file A-to-z Guarantee claims, which impact your performance metrics.

To learn more, search "response" in Seller Help.

Communicating with customers

As an Amazon seller, you communicate with customers both directly and indirectly. Here are a few reminders about appropriate communication with Amazon.com customers.

Direct Communication

Do
Do respond promptly to buyer inquiries.
Do contact a buyer to complete an order when appropriate.
Do respond to customer inquiries about your listings, so they can make informed purchases.

Don't
Don't contact customers for marketing or promotional purposes.
Don't include any of the following in permitted communications with Amazon.com customers:

• A link to any website
• Seller logos that contain or display a link to any website
• Marketing messages or promotions
• Promotions for additional products or referrals to products or promotions

Indirect Communication

Do
Do confirm shipments promptly. (We notify the buyer about the shipment.)
Do issue order refunds when appropriate. (We notify the buyer about the refund.)

Don't
Don't send shipping notifications to buyers. We already have that covered, and we don't want buyers to get more than one notification for a shipment.

Be a Star this Holiday Season - Give Great Customer Service

Sellers who provide great customer service can see results in good feedback and repeat sales to buyers. Here are some buyer-pleasing selling habits that can bring buyers back for more:

• Make a point of responding to customer inquiries within 24 hours.
• It goes without saying that communication between you and a buyer must be courteous. Customers remember sellers who treat them well.
• To add a personal touch, include "thank you" notes on packing slips.

Learn more about providing great customer service and managing refunds, returns and cancellations.

Dealing with negative feedback

When you sell at Amazon.com, you should work with buyers to resolve any differences. Communication is usually the key--simply explaining a delay or reassuring a buyer puts most issues to rest. But sometimes an order results in the seller receiving negative feedback from the buyer.

If you receive a feedback comment that you are not happy with, we encourage you to contact your buyer, and work with them to resolve any order issues. Your buyer could then remove the feedback if they feel it would be appropriate.

If the buyer has indicated that they're willing to remove the feedback, here are simple instructions to give them. They are also available on our buyer Help page, Leaving Feedback.

1. Go to http://www.amazon.com/your-account
2. Under "Personalization," in the "Community" column, click "Seller Feedback Submitted By You."
3. A list of all of the feedback left by you will display. Click the "Remove" link next to the feedback would like to remove.

(If there is no "Remove" option next to a comment, this means the 60-day removal period has expired.)

Amazon will remove feedback only in the following cases:

• The feedback includes obscene language.
• The feedback includes personally identifiable information.
• The entire feedback comment is a product review.
• The entire feedback comment is regarding fulfillment or customer service for an order fulfilled by Amazon.

When you receive negative feedback, put it in perspective. A 0-2% negative feedback rate is great! If your negative feedback rate is greater than 5%, you may want to review your business practices. Remember that you can do a lot to avoid receiving negative feedback by providing great customer service!

What is acceptable feedback?

We understand feedback is an important cornerstone for you and it directly reflects the service you provide for any order you fulfill. Most of the time, buyers review previous feedback received by sellers before they complete their orders, so it is essential for you to maintain a clean feedback rating.

Occasionally, buyers leave feedback that may not reflect the quality of service they received on a particular transaction. Regardless, most of the time, feedback has an effect on a seller's reputation. It is because we want you to be successful that Amazon will remove feedback that meets certain criteria. Amazon will remove feedback only when:

• The feedback includes obscene language.
• The feedback includes personally identifiable information.
• The entire feedback comment is a product review.
• The entire feedback comment is regarding fulfillment or customer service for an order fulfilled by Amazon. (Feedback which qualifies for removal under this rule will not be removed, but a line will appear through the rating and the statement, "This item was fulfilled by Amazon, and we take responsibility for this fulfillment experience" will be added.)

Apart from the above mentioned criteria, any other feedback will not qualify to be removed from your seller account. We at Seller Support (Technical Account Management) are often contacted by sellers requesting removal of feedback which contains comments such as “Okay,” “Received the item” or “Satisfactory” to name a few. However, since these ratings do not meet any of the removal criteria, we will not be permitted to remove them.

You may still have this kind of feedback removed from your selling account if the buyer chooses to remove it. We encourage you to contact the buyer to request they review feedback you believe was left in error. Some buyers may not know how to remove their feedback, but you can direct them to the Help page at the URL below for instructions:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=537774#remove

If a buyer does not remove their feedback, you may want to post a response with your own account of the transaction in your feedback profile. To post a response, log in to your seller account, and under Reports; click "View your Ratings and Feedback." This will display the most recent page of feedback ratings. Find the feedback in question and click the button to respond. We wish all our sellers on Amazon success in procuring good feedback ratings for all orders they fulfill.

Buyer Feedback Matters

Before customers decide to buy a product, they often want some assurance that other customers have been well served by the seller. A seller's high feedback rating can give customers the peace of mind they want before buying.

When you review your feedback, you'll notice that buyers care a lot about the answers to these questions:

• Was the order delivered on time?
• Was the item packed appropriately?
• Was the item exactly as described on the website?
• Did the seller respond promptly and helpfully to inquiries?

If you can answer "yes" to the above questions for almost all of your orders, congratulations!

Many sellers get negative feedback at some point. If it happens to you, don't take offense, but do take action:

• Investigate the feedback to figure out the root cause of the problem.

• Work with the buyer to solve the problem and improve the experience, by issuing a refund, shipping a replacement item, or even sending a complimentary gift certificate.

Remember, if you solve the problem, you can ask the buyer to remove the feedback. The buyer is under no obligation to do so, but it can't hurt to politely ask one time.

Monitor your feedback regularly to keep on top of issues, and try to maintain 95% positive feedback and a 4.5 or higher overall rating.