You
make a $97.00 sale and you say an emphatic "Yes!"
as a smile breaks out on your face. This selling
online thing is cool and it feels good to be getting
sales.
Then,
a few days later you get a refund request. The
$97.00 is gone. And so is your smile.
Or,
worse still, a month and a half later (after you've
spent the $97.00) a chargeback hits you. Not only
is the $97.00 gone, but you've also been zapped
$20.00 in service fees.
Instead
of making money, you're losing money.
Now,
to be sure, that doesn't happen on EVERY single
sale. If it did, we'd all be out of business.
But, it does happen frequently, from 2-10% of
the time depending upon your offer.
Regardless
of how often it occurs, when it does, it takes
money out of your pocket.
So
much emphasis is placed on ways to "make
money" that many people forget to focus on
how to KEEP the money that you make.
In
today's article (with part 2 coming later) we're
going to talk about increasing your profit through
the "backdoor" by identifying 10 ways
to reduce refunds and chargebacks so you can make
the most money possible from your internet business.
The
best part is this: most of them take just a few
minutes to implement and most of them don't cost
a penny.
1.
Be Accurate In Describing Your Product.
Probably
the most common "legitimate" reason
for a refund is when the product or service doesn't
deliver what was described during the sales process.
When you create advertisements and salesletters,
it's important that you be accurate in describing
your product.
This
involves both...
*
"Avoiding hype" which creates unrealistic
expectations that ultimately lead to disappointment
with the order. Your advertising sets the tone
for what "results" the customer feels
they can accomplish. If your claims are found
to be unreasonable (or downright false) then refunds
will often follow.
*
"Correctly Define" the components of
your product including its type (I.E. digital
goods vs physical goods), its size (I.E. 20 pages
vs 200 pages) its delivery (I.E. Immediately after
order vs within 7 days) its required skills or
knowledge (I.E. For beginners vs experienced)
its exclusivity (I.E. Common knowledge vs your
unique offering) its compabibility (I.E. PC only
vs Mac users welcome) and its freshness (I.E.
Updated for 2006 vs last year's news) to name
a few.
Perhaps
the easiest way to turn back refund requests is
to be clear in what your product or service offers
without raising false expectations.
2.
Offer Several Unadvertised Bonuses.
After
the sale has been completed, let the customer
know that you'll be sending them 4 or 5 "unadvertised"
bonuses over the next several weeks via email.
You can even list what those bonuses are and their
delivery schedule.
Example:
In exactly 7 days you'll receive unadvertised
bonus one, an 18-page report entitled "27
Ways to Attract Butterflies Year Round".
These
unadvertised bonuses can be extra reports, articles,
audio/video, interviews, tools, etc. The important
thing to remember is that they should be related
to the original purchase (I.E. an extension of
the base product or service being offered) and
should be desirable enough to add real value to
the order.
I
recommend that at least one of your bonuses be
a "list" report with more than 20 entries
(I.E. "27 Ways to Attract Butterflies Year
Round", "Top 20 Shortcuts For Starting
A Christian Bookstore" or "The 21 Best
Homeschooling Time Savers"). When it's over
twenty entries, it has a tremendous perceived
value.
And
that's the point here: add more value to the existing
purchase. The more bang your customers get for
their buck, the more likely they'll be satisfied
and NOT request a refund.
3.
Clearly State The Billing Name.
For
most people selling goods online, their name or
company name WILL NOT be the one listed on a customer's
credit card invoice or checking account log. Generally,
it will be a third party company such as CLICKBANK.
Unfortunately, many vendors forget to tell the
customer what the charge will appear listed as
in their records.
What
happens is this: A customer buys a product from
Paula J. Brown. In a month or so, that customer
gets their credit card statement in and sees "Clickbank
/ Keynetics" listed. They don't recall doing
business with Clickbank / Keynetics and instead
of investigating to see what it is, they either
refute the charge to their credit card (resulting
in a chargeback - ouch!) or they contact Clickbank
and say "I don't recall ordering this - refund
it now."
Either
way, you're out of a sale.
Always
make sure you clearly state what name the transaction
will be listed under when the customer receives
their statement. Do this on both your "thank
you" page AND in your initial email message
to your customer.
4.
Be Specific In Your Guarantee.
There
is a great debate on how to use guarantees. Some
people argue that given a lengthy guarantee (I.E.
12 months or even lifetime) is the best option
because it shows that you stand by your product
and instills greater buying confidence in the
customer. Bad news is, in six months when Christmas
comes along and the customer needs some extra
money to buy gifts, your guarantee comes to mind.
Other
people argue that a shorter, limited guarantee
(I.E. 30 days or "show that you've tried
to use the product") is the preferred way
to go simply because it gives less time for refund
requests and generally attracts a more quality
customer who is less likely to want their money
back. Bad news is, if the customer isn't completely
"wowed" with your product or service,
they'll likely ask for a refund very quickly after
their purchase to avoid missing out on the guarantee
period. And if you attach too many strings to
your guarantee (I.E. You must PROVE you've tried
to use the product without success), you'll likely
lose some sales.
Truth
is, there is some truth to both options. And I'm
not going to tell you which one is best for you.
(Although, if you use someone like Clickbank,
it takes the debate out - they REQUIRE a limited,
30-day guarantee period. If you process orders
via a third-party, check for their specific terms
on this).
But,
at the bottom of the page, here's the conclusion
that I've come to based on my own numbers: a longer,
liberal guarantee works best overall. That is,
while you will have a few boneheads that ask for
a refund three years after they've purchased it,
generally you have MORE sales (because they have
greater "trust" in you based on your
guarantee) and actually have LESS refunds (because
people forget all about you and your product after
a few weeks).
5.
Create A Frequently Asked Questions Page.
Setup
a special page with the 10-15 most frequently
asked questions (along with detailed answers,
of course :-) and make note of this page in your
initial follow-up message with your customer (You
know, "Hey, thanks for your order...")
AND on the order fulfillment page (I.E. "Download
page").
Just
a few of the things you'll want to include on
this page are...
*
How to retrieve passwords
* Tips for overcoming common errors
* How to download materials
* When "unadvertised" bonuses will arrive
* How to track orders (If applicable)
* Best way to contact you
How
does this reduce refunds?
In
a variety of ways, actually. Just one would be:
considering the reliability (or lack thereof!)
of email these days, you could miss a question
from a customer altogether, resulting in frustration
or a feeling of getting "scammed" which
will result in a refund.
Not
only will you reduce your refunds, but you'll
also dramatically reduce your customer support.
A surefire winner.
Of course, there are MANY other ways to increase
your profit! Check out "The Upsell Report:
24 Ways To Get Your Customers To Spend More Money"
by clicking
here. You'll learn an amazing 24 different
ideas for getting your customers to spend more
money (sometimes 300-400 or 500% more!) Studies
show as many as 1 in every 2 customers will automatically
buy if you just offer one of these items.
