Do your customers waste your time?

I saw a post on a marketing forum a few weeks ago and it was from a chap that had purchased a piece of software from a well known Internet marketer. After purchasing the product, the buyer had sent several emails to the seller with questions about how to install/use the software. These questions were answered and then followed up with several more emails all filled with further questions.

It turned out that the buyer was very new to computing and this lack of experience meant that he needed the seller to educate him in far more than how to use the software that he had purchased (ie. how to use Adobe Acrobat Reader, how to upload files by FTP etc). In the end, the seller refunded the payment that had been made for the software on the basis that he simply didn't have the time to train the buyer on how to use his computer.

The forum post was basically a complaint from the buyer that this was an appalling way to treat customers and that it was outrageous that his money should have been refunded just because he didn't know how to use his computer.

I have to say that I can see exactly where the seller was coming from. When someone buys your product (regardless of what it might be), then they are paying you for the product NOT for hours of consultation in how to use that product.

Of course, I am not saying that you shouldn't offer some level of support with anything that you sell (online or offline) but there has to be a limit, otherwise you could end up spending your day training people to use their computers (or whatever).

I sell hundreds of eBooks every single month and the vast majority of buyers are fully capable of opening and reading .pdf files. If they are not, then most will take the time to read my instructions and within a matter of minutes will have educated themselves as to how to do it. Occasionally, I will get an email from someone who is having difficulties and I will do my best to resolve the issue. But what happens when one email becomes two, five or even fifteen? (yes, it can happen!) Suddenly, my $20 ebook sale is looking far less profitable because of the time that I have had to spend troubleshooting what is most likely a local issue on the users computer or simply that the user is doing something wrong. Both of these problems are very hard to resolve remotely and therefore, sometimes, it is necessary to take a step back and simply refund the payment. $20 buys an eBook, it doesn't buy two hours of consultancy time.

Regardless of what you sell, you should give consideration to how you will deal with long-winded support issues that may end up costing you far more in time than you received in payment for your product. Many large companies charge for support - for example, electrical products often have a 'helpline' that is charged at, say, 50p/$1 a minute.

Your customers are, obviously, responsible for your income but a very small number of them can be a huge drain on your resources. In my opinion, these are the customers that you can do without because you will never make a profit from them, you will simply end up being a personal consultant whenever something goes wrong.

Remember, I am not saying don't offer support - of course you should - I do and wouldn't dream of leaving paying customers without assistance if they had a problem. In fact, I help numerous people even when they have not purchased anything from me and it is this level of customer service that helps me turn subscribers/visitors into customers BUT there is a limit and at the end of the day, we all want to make a profit and you can't do that if you are wasting your day training people for free :-)

Copyright 2004 Richard Grady

Richard Grady has been helping people earn online since 1998. Find out more about Richard at: http://www.thetraderonline.com

eBay sellers: http://www.theuktrader.co.uk & http://www.theustrader.com

 How not to Sell ebooks on Ebay
Over the New Year I spent over £15 on ebay and bought over 25,000 ebooks. Surprised? Don’t be. We did it on purpose. Most of these ebook packages are a complete waste of space and I mean that with conviction – they will sit on your hard drive, never be read, and just eat your hard drive space. Why do we say this?

Well, take a look through the ebay auctions and you will see hundreds of ebooks ranging from just 50p each to several pounds. Then you will get collections of e books advertised at £6 for 10,000 ebooks for example. Too good to be true you ask? The answer is yes, it is. In essence they are the biggest pile of poop you are ever likely to set eyes on.

Out of 25,000 ebooks we ended up with a handful that we were even prepared to give away. That’s it, you heard right – g. . . .
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 An Introduction To eBay Consignment
After I started selling on eBay, I was approached by friends without computers who wanted me to sell their items for them. They had heard stories about the outrageous prices items some ebay auctions brought. They knew I could get more money for them on eBay than they could get selling the items themselves. An added incentive to them was I did all the work. All they had to do is say "I don't want this anymore, sell it for me;" and within a few weeks I converted their castoffs into cash.

I was already selling on eBay, and I had developed a system for listing and dealing with sales that allowed me to list lots of items in a short time. The chance to make a few dollars without any investment was too much to pass up. I made some good money doing this and because I didn't have to tie up m. . . .
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 eBay Auctions - How to Create a Compelling Title
(C) 2005 Ian Stables

Permission is granted for the below article to forward, reprint, distribute, use for ezine, newsletter, website, offer as free bonus or part of a product for sale as long as no changes are made and the by-line, copyright, and the resource box below is included.

This is an excerpt from the ebook
"The 37 Effective Ebay Ad Writing Secrets"

Secret 7
How to Easily Create a Compelling Auction Title
Very effective! Think for a moment the questions that you would like answered. I bet you're really interested anytime you see anything offering the answer. Imagine your question is 'Is there an easier way to get to work?'. You might express it as 'I wish there was an easier way to get to work'. But it means the same thing. You see a headline that says. . . .
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 Ebay And Dropshipping, A Marriage Made In Heaven?
Believe it or not, eBay is the 'BEST' opportunity you can use right now to make money online in the dropshipping business from the comfort of your own home.

Thousands of people just like you use eBay auctions on a daily basis to sell and buy products on the Internet; now it's your time to START your own dropshipping home-based business and succeed in the eBay auctions 'game'!

There are no special skills required for this dropshipping business, all you need is a computer, Internet access and some basic computer / Internet knowledge.

Dropshipping is when you sell products on the Web, forward the orders to the dropship supplier and, in return, the dropshipper ships the product to your customer (buyer).

You act as the middleman between the dropshipping supplier and . . . .
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 Tools for Online Tracking
In order to determine which advertising and marketing efforts are effective you must have ways to measure the results of those efforts. Alerts and instant notifications can be instrumental in monitoring search engine position, trademarked terms, monitoring competitors and staying abreast of online occurrences. And, of course, the notification can be used for "ego searches".

Ego Searches
What is an ego search? Find out where your name or company is mentioned, view forum posts or online articles that mention your name or company.

Trademarks
The best offense is a good defense. By monitoring newsgroups or search engines for trademarked terms, you often head off a future conflict. As a trademark owner, it is your responsibility to actively protect your mark. Otherwise, you . . . .
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