by N. Robbins
http://www.NDR-HomeBiz.com
©
2008 It's a double edged sword, this thing we call refund.
By offering the same, we could actually strengthen relationships with our clients.
They would trust us easier if they would be assured that they could always return
a product that would not meet their expectations. On the other hand, refunds have
been abused by some quarters. Since we're dealing with digital products, they
could easily make a copy of the items they'll buy, and then, request for a refund.
In effect, these people would be able to get our products for free, which would
mean a diminution of our profits. So should you or shouldn't
you offer refunds? Well, you should know this much. Offering
refunds is the professional way of doing business. It's your way of telling your
customers that their patronage is valued and that their trust would never be compromised. The
trick is not in refusing to offer refunds. It's in finding ways on how to reduce
refund requests. For this purpose, let us enumerate six amazing ways that would
help you limit the incidence of refund requests. - Provide quality products.
This, of course, is very elementary. Refunds are borne out of customer dissatisfaction.
If the customer is satisfied, there would be no reason for them to request for
a refund. Providing excellent products truly worth their time and hard-earned
money would remove from their minds any possibility of considering a chargeback.
- Provide for an excellent customer support system. Many online
businessmen believe that customer support is unnecessary for an online enterprise.
This is a false notion. On the contrary, a customer support system would increase
the value of your product and drastically reduce your refund rate. Knowing that
their grievances can be coursed through a given channel would dissuade your customers
from resorting to refunds.
- Provide lifetime updates. You may
have noticed the preponderance of offers with lifetime updates as of late. There
is more psychology to this strategy than what is readily apparent. By providing
lifetime updates, you will be giving your customers something to look forward
to. In the event that your products would fail to meet their expectations, they
would be hesitant to return the same because of the coming updates you have promised.
Updates can enhance the value of existing products, and offering such, for a virtual
eternity at that, would be too good an offer to pass up.
- Provide
bonuses. Bonuses have long been used as come-ons to sweeten the deal and make
them easier to sell. Bonuses, however, would also serve as an anti-agent against
possible refunds. By packaging your products with a bevy of other items, your
customers would feel that they will get more than what they will pa for. The sheer
variety offered by bonuses would make them think twice about requesting for a
refund.
- Give the best guarantee that you could muster. Guarantees
are different from refunds, of course. The former is more concerned about customer
satisfaction. The latter is focused on security of investment. Guarantees can
range from the good word of respected people, or actual reparation of the products
in the event that they are susceptible to breakdowns. A guarantee is promise to
your customers that you have done your best to deliver to them a product that
you truly believe is the best, and that you would be by their side whenever that
very product fails them.
- Offer loyalty rewards. Acknowledging
loyal customers would go a long, long way in curtailing the rise of refund rates.
Rewarding them would build lasting relationships that would make the need for
refunds almost obsolete.
No businessman would want
to receive a refund request. It's both disappointing and downright demoralizing.
But keep your spirits up. Refunds are a part of the game. They are something we
have to live with. And fortunately, they are something we could actually control.
Credit:
About the Author: Nial Robbins owns
the work at home directory website located at: http://www.NDR-HomeBiz.com
Come by and visit us today! Also, be sure to check out our "top pick"
work at home opportunity at: http://www.NDR-HomeBiz.com/pips.html
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of this article does not constitute an endorsement by the National Business Association;
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