Affiliate Articles

Making Customer Service a Priority in Your Business

Customer service can be a tricky and taxing skill to hone in your business.

We as Equip-Bid support you, our affiliates, and we know customers can be pesky at times—especially those repeat troublesome customers! But we encourage you to make sure you are doing what you are supposed to for the customer.

If there is an issue where the customer is absolutely wrong, do the math. How much is your time, energy, and the item worth? Consider also whether you could lose/damage a valuable customer relationship. As long as you make these decisions with integrity, you know your bidders—the good, the bad, and the ugly—best.

That being said, stick to your guns. Once a decision is made that aligns with Equip-Bid’s terms and conditions, you need to follow through and make sure everyone is held to the same standards. We’ve standardized affiliate-specific terms & conditions to help everyone recognize the auction-specific details surrounding inspections, pick-ups, refunds, and more.

This helps not only your business, but also the businesses of your fellow affiliates. Customers will better know what to expect, and we will curb disruptive bidding behavior for smoother, more successful auctions. By sticking to the rules and regulations outlined, you have the ability to lessen your refunds, assist your brother & sister affiliates in not causing additional issues, and save yourself some headaches.

Here are some topics that come up again and again.

Item Descriptions/Refunds

Part of our responsibility in good customer relations is offering and processing refunds in a timely manner when there has been a listing error or issue out of the customer’s control. Make sure you are listing correctly with the proper product titles, descriptions, pictures, and use the correct product identifier:

1. factory sealed,

2. appears new,

3. open box, or

4. damaged.

(To cover your bases on refunds, view this article on proper listing descriptions.)

For example: You have a coffee pot that is listed as damaged, but there is no picture of the damage. What is damaged? Is it usable? Did you take pictures of all that is included in the box? Transparency—especially on broken or missing items—will help you avoid disputes.

When you put anything in written format, remember that the person reading it cannot hear your tone or read your body language; everything is subject to interpretation. Keep this in mind when writing descriptions, and try to include sizes, dimensions, colors, and materials in your descriptions whenever possible.

You can also mitigate questions and problems by communicating the importance of inspections. Let bidders know this opportunity is for their benefit. Some of the items we sell on Equip-Bid are incomplete, damaged, or just well-loved. But that doesn’t mean they are not of value to the right buyer. Many bidders do not understand this, so it is our responsibility to make the item’s condition clear. It may take a bit more time on the front end, but it will definitely help you in the long run.

LATE PICK-UP

You might get theses question regularly: “What happened to my items? I know I am a week past my pick-up date, but I couldn’t make my scheduled pickup time. How do I get my stuff?” No matter how much we try to communicate the rules of bidding, we continue to hear these excuses. It’s the same old song and dance. We suggest giving bidders options, but don’t let them lead.

In response to, “I cannot make my scheduled pickup time,” let bidders know…

• Someone else can pick up items for the bidder.

• You (the affiliate) can charge a late fee for holding items.

• You (the affiliate) can designate a locker or storage space and charge a fee if you have the space and availability at your warehouse.

• Ultimately, bidders must abide by the schedule.

LOAD OUT

Are your load-out procedures beneficial and fair for the customer, or are they what is easiest to get the job done and over with? Working people cannot pick up their items mid-day, so try to provide evening and weekend pick-up times when possible.

The scheduler is there for a reason, so run your load out efficiently and stick to the scheduled appointments. If your bidders take advantage of a hectic load out by arriving late or whenever they please, it will harm those who try to abide by the time they picked. We want to respect the time of those who arrive on schedule, rather than penalize everyone to take care of the outlier troublemakers. Our bidders are just as busy as we are, with crazy schedules of picking up kids, doctors’ appointments, work calls, and whatever else goes on, and if we are not following a schedule, they are now in jeopardy of being tardy; that is not on the bidder but on you. They are relying on us to take care of their customer needs within their scheduled time.

COURTESY

It might go without saying, but do not make jokes, badmouth, or voice anything negative about your customers, especially while other customers are within earshot.

At the same time, don’t hurry your customers or dismiss their issues. Having empathy and sympathy does not mean you change the rules, just that you care. It is important to remain firm but always kind.

AVAILABILITY

What’s the best form of communication to reach you? Whether it’s email, phone call, or texting, let your bidders know. Always communicate, even if the news is bad. Many tricky situations can be alleviated when communication is clear.

Make sure your customer can reach you during the day to ask questions about scheduling pick-up or inspection times. If you do happen to miss them, let them know your preferred method of communication in an auto reply so they know when to expect to hear back from you.

We highly suggest double checking the contact information included on your auction page and on your invoices. Are the email, phone number, and address listed correct for your business? Please update them should you have a better way for bidders to reach you with auction- and item-specific questions. This is especially important if you altered your email from your bidder profile to create an affiliate account (for instance: emily@equip-bid.com and 1emily@equip-bid.com). It is preferred that you create an email dedicated to your business. This adds a level of professionalism as well as keeps bidders out of your personal inbox!

REVIEWS

Unfortunately, you really can’t make everyone happy. There is always going to be someone who doesn’t think you are wonderful, but we also receive positive reviews for those customers who have had an excellent experience! We include reviews in our monthly reports, and we will let you know if a review is left on Equip-Bid that needs to be addressed at the affiliate level.

TAKEAWAY

As a takeaway, we’d like you to block off some time to write out a brief statement about your customer service standards and make it available to your staff and customers. In writing this, consider the following to be included.

1. Transparency – Let your customers know the quality of service they can expect. Display it on your website, Facebook page, and at your load-out area. Be proactive and provide information that is:

• Simple, clear, timely, and accurate.

• Available on all communications with your rules and regulations included.

• Up to date on all platforms (socials, site, etc.).

2. Consistency – Make sure that your team members treat everyone fairly. Make sure everyone on your team knows your policies and upholds them.

3. Timeliness and Courtesy – Deliver quality service with courtesy, sensitivity, and minimal delays. This will help to develop a mutual respect between you and your customers.

4. Complaints – Again, make sure those rules and regulations are not only available to your customers, but applied to all equally. What is your system for dealing with complaints? If you do not feel that an issue can be resolved, who is your contact that you use to get assistance? Do you give the customer another avenue to follow if they are still dissatisfied?

5. Choices – Give your customers some choices. As long as they do not disrupt your business or conflict with your business policies, this will empower your customers.

6. Improvements – Always look to improve your systems and business approaches – include your team for ideas!

7. Internal – Make sure your team is always recognized for their support and service in all areas.