Questions! Questions! Questions!

If you sell online for any length of time you are going to get questions. They can be routine, nice or weird, but you're gonna get them. And they can make you nuts.

This week I got a gal asking me what guarantee I could give her that the garment she sewed would match the picture on the pattern. And she wasn't very nice about it. But I was nice back. Because you have to be if you want to keep customers. She might be back to buy that pattern, she might not, but if I am rude or ignore her then for sure she's not coming back. So you grit your teeth and write something polite and helpful. (And then vent to a friend!) The best advice I heard about answering questions was that especially with online sales they are buying "blind", they can't see you or touch the item. So sometimes they are emailing just to touch base and make sure there is a human out there. And they might be testing your system; do they get a personal reply in a timely fashion? Is the tone of the email welcoming and helpful?

It's especially hard to take the high road when those questions are covered in your listing. Yes, I combine shipping. Yes, I ship international, or No, I don't. But sometimes it seems that even if you have it printed in big red letters several times somebody is sure to ask again. If you are getting a ton ask a few friends to look at your listing. Is it as clear to them as it is to you? If so then grit your teeth and answer nicely. But if there is confusion or room for improvement consider a change. Sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees. And, if you do make a change, it's a great idea to go back and credit the person who caused you to re-think something, ie: "I looked at the wording of that and changed it. I hope you think it's better" which can win you a loyal customer.

Of course there are truly awful folks out there and they can ask insulting or nasty questions and you have to decide how to handle them. But wait a day and think it through if you want to answer back the same way. Often if you really can't be nice it's better to ignore them. It they are that off base you may not want to fuel that fire. But there is also the idea of killing them with kindness. If you end up getting their business, well that can be a sort of revenge. I think they call it sweet revenge.

[Tina Sutherland, owner of What-I-Found Sewing Patterns on Main Street Mall Online lives, and travels the U.S., with her husband in their RV from where she runs her online business.]

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