Do I Have to Provide Customer Service for my Dropshipped Products or Will my Suppliers?

The number one factor in creating a long lasting, sustainable dropshipping business is maintaining a good reputation.  This of course boils down to your customer experience. It can be challenging gaining the trust of customers when running an eCommerce business since there is no face to face time, and as far as they are concerned you could be anyone.  You must take the reigns and responsibility for the customer service of your business. Your suppliers will take care of order fulfilment, but will not have any contact with your customers. As a drosphipper you must provide good customer service to survive. Here are a few Dropshipping Customer Service Best Practices you should keep in mind.

You Are Responsible

The first thing to remember is that no matter what, from time to time things are going to go wrong. This also goes for the biggest and the best most trusted companies out there. Even the most trusted suppliers will have something go wrong at some point and in the dropshipping business you will be the one who has to remedy the situation. It is important to remember, even if it means losing money you must take responsibility and make your customer happy. In fact, losing money to fix an order could, and likely will pay off in the long run ,with a repeat customer and even a good online review where there could have instead been a negative.

Understanding Your Customers

If you can understand your customers wants and needs, that will be a huge factor in providing successful customer service. Your customers no doubt want to feel secure. Making sure you provide your customers with a safe and secure checkout, keeping their personal information safe, is one of the most valuable services you can provide your customers. Building a professional looking website with a user friendly experience and taking the time and cost to provide a safe purchasing environment will undoubtedly show you a great return on that investment.

Once a customer has made their purchase, they are going to be eager for it to arrive. Providing order tracking gives customers a hassle free way to see where their purchase is so they can feel secure knowing its on the way. This will also cut down on customer inquires for you to answer about shipping times, etc.

Know Your Products

Good product descriptions, an informative blog, a good FAQ page on  your website and even a regular newsletter provides customers with a wealth of important and useful information. The less a customer has to ask you, the more comfortable they will feel with purchasing from you. If you are offering knowledge for free, they will both appreciate it and see you as an expert on your products.

Happiness Is Priority #1

Successful, low friction transactions lead to happy customers. Happy customers are almost always return customers and they may also lead to positive online reviews, and loyal brand ambassadors for you. After all, happy customers are the best marketing tools out there. Treating your customers well will get your business out there by word of mouth and create repeat business and repeat revenue.

Customer service is your responsibility alone when running a dropshipping business. Keeping these dropshipping customer service best practices in mind while making your customers your priority will set you up or success and build a sustainable and successful business.