Workshop Format

The workshop content is directly below. After you’ve read through today’s workshop, we’re here to answer your questions about product sourcing best practices, how to apply them to your business model, and how to provide a customer buying experience that will facilitate strong DSR ratings.

We look forward to talking with you over the next hour!

Lisa Suttora, WhatDoISell.com
Colette Marshall, WorldwideBrands.com

Why the Products You Sell Influence Your Customer’s Buying Experience

When people think of a positive customer experience, most people automatically think of customer service.

But customer service really begins with the products you sell.

In its most basic form, what it selling?

It is servicing the customer’s wants and needs, both conscious and sub-conscious.

Selling is not about pushing products.

Behind every buyer purchase is a person with a want or need that they are looking for you to fulfill.

Having the products your buyers want.

Offering people quality, value and selection.

And doing so in a manner that makes it easy to shop with you!

When your buyer comes to your eBay listing or store and finds a well thought out assortment of products, you’ve already taken that first step towards meeting their wants and needs.

So let’s talk about product sourcing best practices and get right to finding out how to give your buyers what they want and inspire them to rate 5 stars for each transaction with you!

Product Sourcing Best Practice #1: Offer Levels of Products

One of the most important building blocks for good product sourcing is to offer your customers different levels of each product.
This would include:
- Entry Level Versions
- Mid Range Versions
- Deluxe Versions


For example, do you sell espresso machines? Offer your customers models and brand names in entry level versions, mid-range models and high end deluxe models.

This accomplishes three things:

1. It allows people who are new to your business to “try you out” by purchasing a moderately priced product and then come back to purchase additional higher priced products from you at a later date.

2. It enables you to attract a broader range of customers

3. Offering your customers an assortment of moderately priced products up through deluxe versions will allow you to offer products that better meet your customer’s needs.

This is called up-selling and we’ll talk about it later in this workshop.

How does this impact your buyer’s experience?

Well the studies show that when a buyer has choices and options within the same product line, all featured in one store, they are more likely to comparison shop and make a purchase in that store.

Using the scenario above, you are now the eBay seller who has thought ahead and anticipated what types of products different buyers will want.

And that sets the tone right up front for the first step to solid feedback. Making your customers lives as EASY as possible.

Now let’s move on to best practice #2 and see how you can build on the first step and make your offerings even better…

Product Sourcing Best Practice #3: Cross-sell Products

Cross-selling brings us back to giving your buyers what they want, all in one place. It also means thinking ahead and sourcing add-on products that they never even knew they needed!

Until that is, they came into your eBay store.

Stock your eBay store with those additional add-on or cross-sell products for your customers to choose from.

For example, if you sell baby clothes, a cute snuggly stuffed animal might be the perfect item for cross-selling.

Selling electric razors to guys? ... Carrying an assortment of great selling after-shave or even an anti-fog mirror for the bathroom makes that additional purchase almost a no-brainer for your customer.

The key here is that you are doing the PRE-SHOPPING for your customer. You are thinking through what products are a complementary fit for your product line.
You’re getting into the mind of the buyer and going through the shopping process in their head.

“If they buy product A, what other products might they also be interested in?” Then you make these products available to them.

This way, when Joe/Jane holiday buyers come to your eBay store and buy ‘product A’, products B, C, and D are right there waiting for them and you’ve made the cross-sell!

Product Sourcing Best Practice #5: Know Your Drop Shipper

With the increased importance on DSR ratings it’s now more important than ever to establish a good relationship with any companies who drop ship single item products for you.

When you ship your own merchandise, you have control over exactly when it will go out the door. With drop shipping, you are relying on someone else to get that product to your customer.

And if you use a hands-off approach with your drop shipper, you’re likely to run into trouble with customer satisfaction.

Therefore before you start working with a drop shipper, here are a few quick tips to make sure that everything is setup for the best level of customer service you wish:

1) Make sure to read the policies and procedures of your suppliers to learn about their payment and shipping requirements

2) Match the shipping times accordingly with your supplier’s shipping ranges. For example, you don’t want to say the product will ship in 24 hours if the suppliers minimum shipping time is 48 hours.

3) Be alert to the time zones that the product is being shipped from and where your supplier resides. If the supplier is waiting on your payment and you don’t send it to them after midnight in their time zone, then your order will take another day to process. Take the time to streamline the ordering process with your supplier as much as possible.

Product Sourcing Best Practice #7: Offer a Guarantee on Your Product

Selling on the Internet has many advantages for buyers and sellers alike. But the one thing working against all Internet retailers is the inability for your customer to see and touch the product AND to know who they are buying from.

Every time a buyer orders online from a new seller, they are making a leap of faith. As an eBay seller, you need to meet your buyer half way and guarantee that they will be satisfied with your product.

MOST customers will never find reason to invoke the guarantee. But just knowing it’s there sets you apart in your customer’s mind from other sellers whose listings scream “All Sales Final”

Bonus Best Practice #1: Welcome the Questions

It’s easy as a busy entrepreneur to feel bogged down by incoming customer questions about your product or service.

But a simple mindset change can make the switch between viewing a question as simply a question and viewing it as an opportunity to turn a potential customer into a paying customer!

When a customer takes the time to write to you with a question about your product, this usually indicates a strong interest on their part in your item and this is your opportunity to take that question and turn it into a sale!

Be generous with the answers about your product, how it works, how it can benefit your customer. Use your reply email, not just as an opportunity to give a quick reply to a customer, but to SELL your product.


For example:

“Thank you for your inquiry on our SweetHeart patent leather shoes. These adorable white patent leather shoes do run true to size. We’ve been selling this line of shoes for several years now and have found that both the width and length are a standard fit.

With Easter coming up, these shoes are perfect for an Easter dress and all the spring and summer dresses ahead.

Please let me know if I can answer any further questions about these shoes or help you with your purchase.

Thank you!
Sheila
Sheila’s_ShoesLet’s take a look at what’s just happened here…

You’ve demonstrated a thorough knowledge of your product, given your customer further ideas on how to use it, offered to help them with their purchases on eBay and established trust and credibility by sharing that you are a long-time seller of this brand.

You’ve used that customer question to sell your product, to service your customer and to set the stage for a higher DSR rating once they make the purchase.