One of the best ways to increase sales on Bonanza is by building a good reputation. Buyers feel more comfortable purchasing from sellers who have a good track record and oftentimes will choose to buy items from Top Rated Sellers over other sellers. Not only will a great feedback score result in more sales, but it will make your overall selling experience more positive. Foster great relationships with buyers with these tips on earning positive feedback.
1. Communication is key
The most important piece to getting great feedback is to reach out to your buyers immediately after they have made a purchase, and remain responsive until they receive your product. Every buyer appreciates a personal confirmation that their order has been received, and is on its way. Additionally, we recommend that sellers always make a point to respond to all messages within 24 hours. The more you reach out to the buyer and let them know there is a real person working to fulfill their order, the more comfortable they will be with the transaction.
Although the hope is nothing goes wrong with the shipment portion, jumpstarting communication before anything can happen is especially important. If there is an issue with shipment, let the buyer know what’s going on and what they should expect. They'll appreciate it. If the item arrives damaged or they wish to return it for any other reason, work with them to come to a fair agreement.
2. Provide Tracking Information
To reiterate the above point, communication and providing information is the easiest way to provide a positive experience for the buyer. Giving the buyer a tracking number will give them peace of mind, and something to check up on while they wait. Be sure to add tracking information when you mark the item as shipped.
3. Fulfill with purpose
Fulfilling an order is the first chance that you have to give a buyer a positive experience. Doing this in a timely manner and within the timeframe stated on the listing is the best way to show the buyer that you are professional, efficient and want to fulfill their purchase as quickly as you are able to.
A good way to show the buyer that you are moving quickly and sending their order right away is by adding a tracking number as soon as it is available. If possible, always try to do this within 24 hours and have the item on its way. To earn some bonus points for personalization, send the buyer a personalized message with the tracking number and let them know you are available to answer any questions while the item makes it way to them.
4. Package with care
Once a sale is made, it’s time to get that item in the mail! It might sound simple, but always double check that the correct item is going to the correct buyer to avoid any frustration or money lost on shipping costs. When shipping an item, be sure to send it in appropriate packaging. If the item is fragile, take extra care to protect it from damage with protective packaging or special shipping services.
To earn bonus points, add a personal touch to every item that you ship. This could be a special way of packaging or branding the items that you send, a handwritten thank you note or even a little extra present. Personalized touches make a big difference and this added care will be rewarded with positive reviews!
5. Pay it forward
A great way to encourage buyers to leave positive feedback is to write a positive review for them as soon as you are able to. A personalized message is a great way to show them that you truly appreciate their business. If you say something nice about someone, it gives them incentive to say something nice back.
6. Play fair
You have a chance to build a relationship with buyers and create repeat customers. This starts before you ever communicate directly with the buyer with the information provided on your listings. Most buyers want to see that they are not taking a risk by making a purchase, and that if something goes wrong or the item is not what they expected, they have an option to return the item for a refund.
Creating a fair return and refund policy is a great way to show buyers that you are looking out for them before they even make a purchase. In the case that something goes wrong, sometimes it is best to absorb a small loss for the better of the business. A $10 loss is better than a bad review deterring future sales, and could easily be made back with return traffic from happy buyers.
7. Stay Active
Logging into your booth every 1-2 days is a great way to make sure you aren’t missing any messages, sales or offers. Check that you don’t have any pending sales, respond to any inquiries and keep your listings up to date. Not only will logging in on a regular basis ensure that you don’t miss any activity on your account, but buyers can view your last login date on your profile page. When buyers see that you were recently active, they will feel more comfortable making a purchase with you. Increased sales means more chances for you to wow your buyers and receive positive feedback.
8. Don’t be afraid to ask
When a buyer doesn’t leave feedback it most likely doesn’t mean that they are unsatisfied, they probably just forgot. So don’t be afraid to reach out personally and ask them to leave a review if you believe the transaction was a positive experience.
Don’t have time to follow up with each buyer who neglected to leave feedback? Take advantage of the autoresponder tool on Bonanza to send a message a week or month after a sale is made reminding the buyer to leave feedback. To set up an auto-message, log into your Bonanza account and click on Selling > select “Booth settings” > click on “Payments & purchases." On this page you will find a section titled “After Sale Message” where you can type in the message you wish to send out to all your buyers. As a Bonanza seller, it’s important to utilize the tools we offer to help make selling easier, friendlier and more successful!
9. Know your market
Using Bonanza’s Customer Marketing Tool, sellers are able to access information about past buyers, interested shoppers and can even create customized lists. Instead of a generic marketing campaign, you are able to place customers into categories which helps you to further customize the offers and marketing information you send to your buyers. There are fewer sales techniques more powerful than targeted marketing. It’s also a great way to show that you took the time to recognize the wants and needs of the customer, ultimately creating a more personalized and memorable shopping experience.
10. Above and Beyond: Send discounts & exclusive offers
There is no better way to leave a lasting impression on your buyers like staying in touch and offering them something in return. Create your own loyalty program by sending special discounts and exclusive offers to past buyers. Not only does this help increase sales from repeat customers, but these buyers are more likely to leave positive feedback when they feel that an offer was sent specifically to them. Personalization is key!
To create discount codes, log into your Bonanza account and click on Selling > select “Booth settings” > click on “Discounts & coupons." On this page you will find a section titled “Coupons” where you can create a special discount and private code. Once this is created, send the coupon code to your past buyers, thanking them for their business and encouraging them to come back.