This post will help you learn how to improve customer service on Amazon with customer service insights, a new set of performance metrics for providing better customer service on Amazon. Amazon recently launched Customer Service Insights which are educational metrics for how merchant-fulflled sellers can improve their customer experience. Customer service can often be a sign that something went wrong in the process. By improving your customer experience you can actually turn this into a value proposition and delight customers by preventing issues from arising in the first place and keeping customers satisfied with their experience. If they have a great experience, they can even come back and buy more which bolsters your sales. This post will cover why customer service is important on Amazon, the new customer service insights metrics, and how to improve those metrics.
Why Customer Service Is Important on Amazon
Customer service is important on Amazon (and all sales channels for that matter!) because customers are the lifeblood of your business. They are the ones that are trusting you with their money in exchange for what you are selling. When customers have trust in your products and business it directly impacts their loyalty to your brand which can lead to improved conversion rates, repeat purchases, and advocacy for your business. Customer Service is the piece of the operation where if something breaks down from normal operations, how do you as the seller respond and make it right for customers? If you go above and beyond in customer service, it can actually turn a negative experience into something positive and turns a disgruntled customer into a champion and lifelong customer. The new Customer Service Insight Metrics can help you and your business improve in that area.
New Customer Service Insights Metrics
There are three new customer insight metrics including: preventable contact rate, average contact response time, and buyer dissatisfaction rate. Amazon provides a 4 week window to share your performance, average seller performance, and top performing sellers metrics in order to have a baseline for your comparison. These metrics do not directly impact your account health, but as we have discussed improving the customer experience can lead to increased sales for your business.
Preventable Contact Rate
Preventable contact rate is the metric that tracks customers reaching out to sellers “seeking a refund or replacement due to a product quality, fulfillment, or shipping problem related to their order, excluding buyers who simply change their minds.” The metric is calculated by taking the number of preventable contacts divided by the number of items you shipped. In an ideal shopping situation, a customer can go onto Amazon, make a purchase and not require any contact points with the seller. Amazon currently states the top performing sellers maintain a 0.25% or better rate and the current average seller maintains a 0.01% preventable contact rate.
Average Contact Response Time
The average contact response time is the metric that calculates how long it takes for you as the seller to respond back to customers. It is calculated by the total number of minutes between a message sent to you and for you to respond divided by the number of messages received. Amazon states a minimum response time requirement is within 24 hours but states that the top performing sellers maintain 6 hours or better. The reason this metric is important in customer service is because the customer is reaching out because there is an issue or needs something from the seller and if they are left waiting on an answer it can be frustrating and leave a bad experience for the customer.
Buyer Dissatisfaction Rate
The Buyer Dissatisfaction Rate is the metric that tracks the total number of “No” responses to a survey question of "Did this solve your problem?” that is sent to customers divided by the total number of surveys sent to customers. Maintaining a low metric shows that when you contact Amazon customers you are actually resolving their problems. It shows you are not just responding, but you are responding in a way that gets to the root cause of the issue and solves it.
How to Improve Amazon Selling Performance Metrics
Now that we have discussed the new metrics for customer service insights. Let’s look at how we can improve the performance of each.
Preventable Contact Rate
Improving the preventable contact rate comes down to how you can be proactive or fix any issue before they even become an issue.
Merchandising - Shopping on Amazon is different than in person because you can’t physically touch, test, or hold the product, so it is vital that you merchandise the product as best as you can so sellers have a clear understanding of what they are purchasing. This can be achieved through product descriptions, product details, photos, videos, A+ content; all areas that help customers understand the product and if it is right for them.
Condition - Ensure the product you are selling is in proper condition. For example, if you list the product as new, then be sure not to ship a used or refurbished condition product.
Shipping Plan Speed - A major point of contention is managing the expectation of when the product will arrive for customers. Handling times and shipping speeds allow you to align when you will be able to deliver the product to prevent customers from reaching out asking “where’s my stuff!?” This also includes ensuring you have a tracking code included on all orders.
Average Contact Response Time
Keeping a low average contact response time shows that you are fast when it comes to answering inquiries from customers. Here are a few tips to reduce the average contact response time:
Notifications - make sure the individual responsible for responding to customer questions has the right notifications that a customer has reached out.
Scheduling - schedule responsibilities on your team for who is responsible and the expectations for when to respond. This is especially important around holiday times if your store is not on vacation mode, then you are still responsible for responding to messages
Templates - if you find you are getting the same questions over and over, you can build messaging templates to speed up your actual response
Buyer Dissatisfaction Rate
The speed at which you respond to customer messages is one thing, but you need to provide quality feedback and resolutions. This is where the buyer dissatisfaction rate comes in. If you are responding fast, but not actually solving the problem then you are not providing amazing service for your customers. Here are some tips for providing better customer service to reduce the buyer dissatisfaction rate:
Meet or Exceed Return Commitments - you are required to meet or exceed Amazon’s current return policies in order to prevent A-to-z guarantees
Be empathetic - try to understand and put yourself in the customers shoes for the situation they are in. Make it right for the customer if there are situations that are extenuating
Empower Customer Service Team - build out processes or guidelines for what are appropriate responses for customers. For example, have a rule that says if the cost of resolution is less than $100, than move forward with solving that issue no questions asked
FAQ
What are the new customer service insights metrics?
The new customer service insights metrics are preventable contact rate, average contact response time, and buyer dissatisfaction rate
Do the New Customer Service Insights impact my account health?
No, the new customer service insights do not affect the account health, but they indirectly affect sales, product review, and seller feedback.
Who are the new customer service metrics applicable for?
These new customer service metrics are applicable for merchant or seller-fulfilled sellers only. Amazon FBA sellers do not have metrics as Amazon handles these buyer messages.
How do I improve the preventable contact rate?
Improve the preventable contact rate by improving your merchandising, ensuring the correct product condition, and having accurate shipping information.
How do I reduce my average contact response time?
Improve your average contact response time by ensuring the correct notifications are provided to your customer support team, scheduling correctly for answering, and creating templates for commonly asked questions.
How do I reduce the Buyer Dissatisfaction Rate?
Reduce the buyer dissatisfaction rate by meeting or exceeding return commitments, empowering your customer service team, and being empathetic to situations that happen with customers.
Conclusion
Sellers should always be working towards improving customer service. The new customer service insights can help you track and monitor your performance in order to be accountable for improvement. These metrics are geared around preventing issues before they occur, reducing the response time for buyer-seller messages and providing quality resolutions. If you are successful in providing exceptional customer service you can turn unsatisfied customers into advocates for your brand. If you would like help in implementing ways to improve your customers service experience on Amazon, please reach out through our contact us button below.
About the Author - Reed Thompson
This post was written by Reed Thompson, the CEO at Goat Consulting. Reed helps lead the Goat Consulting team and their clients sell on Amazon by increasing sales, mitigating risk, reducing costs, and solving problems. Reed has experience and expertise in Amazon policies and reinstating downed listings that help Goat Consulting clients maintain a positive and active account health status. If you want help troubleshooting the Plant and Seeds compliance topic, or assist with other aspects of selling on Amazon, please reach out through our Contact Us form.