A growing number of entrepreneurs are opting for dropshipping, a model in which products are shipped directly from the supplier to the end customer. While it is an efficient business model, strong customer service is essential to long-term success. So how does one maintain an excellent level of service with a small team? Below are a number of tips to help optimise your dropshipping customer service.
Content, Content, and More Content
Many customer enquiries can be prevented by ensuring that your webshop contains clear and comprehensive information. Make sure that pages covering shipping, warranty terms and return policies are easy to locate. It is also advisable to create a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page. Use the questions received through your customer service channels to continuously improve this page. Doing so can significantly reduce the volume of support requests..
Should You Offer Live Chat and/or Phone Support?
Consider offering a live chat function on your website. Unlike telephone support, where one agent can only handle one conversation at a time, a chat agent is able to assist multiple customers simultaneously. This makes your service more efficient without sacrificing the personal element of customer contact. Should an issue prove too complex for the chat channel, the agent can always offer to call the customer back.
Dropshipping Customer Service: Investing in Automation
Allow software to support your customer service agents. For example,
Zendesk Guide can suggest relevant FAQ articles to customers before a chat conversation even begins. You may also wish to explore
Answer Bot, which uses a self-learning system to index your knowledge base. When a customer submits a question via chat,
email or social media, Answer Bot responds immediately by presenting relevant content. This works best for tickets that occur frequently and are typically straightforward to resolve, yet consume a disproportionate amount of agent time. As a result, agents are relieved of unnecessary workload and are able to dedicate their attention to issues that genuinely require human intervention.
Consider Outsourcing Your Customer Service
Outsourcing your customer service can be a highly effective decision, freeing up time to focus on product development and marketing. It is important, however, to partner with a reliable organisation that has genuine affinity with your product category. It is also possible to outsource only a portion of your
customer service, such as evening and weekend hours. For smaller webshops, Virtual Agents are available. These are self-employed professionals who assist with customer contact and administrative tasks.
Expectation Management is the Key
Customers are generally willing to accept longer delivery times when a product is offered at a competitive price. It is essential, however, to communicate this clearly and transparently. Delivery delays also occur more frequently in a dropshipping context. As a customer service team, it is equally important to be honest about product quality and the country of origin. All of these measures contribute to a positive customer experience, encouraging customers to return and recommend your business to others.
