E-commerce Dilemmas for Beginners: Customer Service Issues and Website Policies

When starting up an e-commerce home business one of the things you should consider is the fact that you might have to talk to strangers. Having a website tends to lend itself to a bit of anonymity, but eventually, if you want your business to grow, you will need to know a little bit about customer service. What do you do when customer problems arise? For example, you will discover that your products are great for most people, but some will have problems. Let's say a customer purchases that really great G.P.S system you sell, but when they receive it, it's just not the one they wanted or maybe it's damaged.

When working from home, most times the only one answering the phones is you, so how do you handle problems such as this? Do you really need "customer service experience" to know what to do? I would like you to realize that you do have customer service experience even if you've never been behind a switchboard. You have been the customer many times over, and sometimes you've had problems that needed to be handled. So refer to your own experiences as a customer in order to handle problems when they arise.

Some things you can do:

First, in the case of the example above, returns, it is most important to know your established policies. They must be in writing and clearly stated somewhere in your website, preferably on the Checkout Page and referenced to on your Home Page in a prominent spot. If you drop ship, keep in mind that not every drop ship company has the same return policy. Also, there may be a different policy for damaged merchandise than there is for items not damaged. Some companies even charge a restocking fee on their returns if no damage is reported.

If you are not sure of the specific policy on a problem item, when issues come up, do not panic. Keep a smile on your face and simply explain to the customer that you would love to resolve their issue and will contact him/her once you speak to the returns department (which, of course, is you). Remember that smiles come through on the phone---as do frowns. After you hang up, get your policy straight in your mind according to how it has already been laid out on your website, perhaps having it right in front of you when you return the customer's call, and go from there.

Ultimately, your policy is what rules, but if you decide, you can be flexible depending on the situation. There are times when giving a little will get you more in the long run. Always remember to treat the customer courteously, even if they are rude. (Since I've started my own business, I have not had that experience yet, thank God, but I know it is bound to happen.)

When I decided to open a home business, I was completely uninformed about what I had to do. I truly started from scratch. Perhaps you are in this situation right now. Don't worry. It's definitely a learning experience and comes with a big learning curve, but starting an e-commerce business and getting things off the ground is possible.

How about those website policies? What type of policies do you need to establish on a website? Well there is the privacy policy, the return policy, the terms and conditions, the shipping policy, the damaged goods policy and whatever other policy you can think of that you'd like to place on your website. Remember, it's your website, so you can decide, but the basic policies to establish are the ones listed above.

Now, I'm no expert, so please do as much research as you can on this before you begin, but I can tell you what I have done. You will find that most large company websites (and even small companies) have all of the policies I mentioned a little earlier already in place. In fact, when you decide what you are going to sell, the manufacturer or supplier of that product, if it is not you, will have their own policies already established. You can either use those already established policies laid out by your suppliers and build them into your website, or, if you need to start from scratch, you can simply go to a few websites and print out a few of the policies already written and then use them as templates for your own policies.

You might like something that one company says, so add that to your policies. Remember not to obligate yourself to something you can't promise or fulfill. Read through your policies carefully before you place them on your websites so that you are aware of what you have committed yourself to. Believe me, customers do read your policies and expect you to hold up your end of the bargain.

Finally, one last suggestion is to remember to have a policy in place that allows you to change your policies at any time should the need arise. When you review other websites for their policies, you will find that this is a standard sentence in most, if not all, policies. You could say something like, "SITE POLICY: We reserve the right to make changes to our site and/or policies at any time without notice."

Well, that's it for now. Happy building!