Do you provide a customer service phone number for your customers?
I see a lot of sellers online these days with no phone number for customers to contact them. Is that a good move?
Why would you do it?
I see the following reasons for this:
- You are an independent (sole) trader doing reasonable volume who doesn’t want to be tied to a phone all day
- You get too many questions about your products, and phone time is annoying
- You don’t want to take ‘tough’ customer service calls
- You don’t think it has any effect on customer trust/conversion rate
Supplying a phone number in our eBay listings is something we decided to do from day 1, and the decision wasn’t based on months of research. We asked ourselves and our staff some simple questions…
- If you were buying a product from someone you hadn’t heard of before, would you want a phone number to be able to call them on?
- Would you be more likely to buy from someone that had a phone number and looked more like a ‘real’ business?
The answers were both yes, so the phone number went up.
I think having a phone number present on every eBay listing and online store page would have benefited us early on, and I think it still does as nearly all of my competition has no phone number at all. In fact, they only have email support (and even that isn’t very good sometimes).
But getting back to the points above, sure, I had my reservations about putting a phone number on our ads.
For points 1) and 2)
We weren’t a big seller at all initially, and I was a bit worried about volume. So we made sure that
-
- We put in as much information in our ads as possible. This is important. Customers want to be able to make an educated purchase decision. Don’t stop them by leaving our information!
- Keep track of the questions people ask, and if there are commonalities, address them by adding information somewhere in your advertising to answer their question before they call or email.
Point 3)
Yes, we get the odd customer who isn’t happy. Mostly about shipping (which is predominantly out of our control). But talking to a customer on the phone, having empathy for them and resolving their problem may get you a happy customer for life.
Point 4)
You really think NOT having a contact phone number helps your business? You think you have a better chance of getting higher bids for your eBay auctions without one? really? Then you are reading the wrong blog!
Walmart recently announced they were removing their phone numbers from customer contact points and only leaving their website as the contact point.
This strikes me as a cost justification decision, not a brand or customer service decision.
Sure, they probably have some pretty neat FAQ software on their website (I notice dealsdirect.com.au have the same idea - no phone number, but decent FAQ), but at what expense?
What impact will this have long term?
It will be interesting to see if there is any further mention of this in the American press. All I know is I will be providing a phone number. As a small retailer trying to develop brands, trust, loyalty, and provide great customer service, I NEED to show a phone number.
In fact, the next one will be a national freecall. Do you have a phone number in your eBay ads?
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Comments
‘Even a disgruntled buyer is an opportunity’
I couldn’t agree more Max. One of my product ranges gets some great feedback, and extra sales due to word of mouth.
I have found that satisfying a disgruntled customer can lead to an even more vocal fan of your product and business.
Great point on allowing buyers to call you. It may not make sense for every product but in general you want to give your customers an option to reach you — and build a better relationship (increase Customer Lifetime Value).
Even a disgruntled buyer is an opportunity.