[May 8th, 1999]

See Also   How to Build a Web Store for FREE   How to choose mailing list management software   How to Grow Your Web Business   How to Accept Credit Cards without a Merchant Account   How To Develop Online Products That Sell   How to Change Your Web Hosting Service (ISP)   How to Deal with Disgruntled Customers   How to Get Top Search Engine Positioning   How to Beat Credit Card Fraud   How to Design an Affiliate Program   How to Accept Credit Card Payments   How to Choose a Shopping Cart

[This is the third part of a three part article. The first part can be read here].

My responses to these two letters illustrate why I believe that negative feedback is always at least 10 times more useful than positive feedback.

People love to give praise. It's nice to get, and it shows you're doing something right -- but it rarely helps me improve. Not many people like to complain -- the odds are that there are others with the same complaint. It ALWAYS causes me to reassess things, and OFTEN to improve something. For example...

If there's a problem that requires tech support, a complaint always causes me to improve the system. Customers should simply not experience problems. Obviously, you can't cover all the possible glitches. However, *as each instance occurs*, you must improve the process to prevent recurrences.

But if it's a complaint about subjective judgments like "not enough graphics" or "too many words" or "too hard sell," this requires a whole lot of thought. There's no iron-clad "right or wrong." You have to decide whether this customer might be relecting a common thought. You can hurt yourself making changes to suit the tastes of a single respondent.

Here are the guidelines I used when dealing with these two complaints:

1) First, these are only two complaints that we have had to date. Despite the fact that I know that the site is doing most stuff well, there is always room for improvement. That's what I look for in letters like this.

2) The second major goal is to turn a lemon into lemonade. My minimum goal is to prevent bad-mouthing. My maximum goal is to convert these people into raving fans. This has already happened several times on our first Web site. (I give one great example in MYSS! of how a very doubting sceptic turned into a raving fan. He subsequently was featured in an article in Canada's national newspaper -- his mention of our software brought us thousands of dollars of orders.)

3) Despite the tones of these letters, I assume that they are decent people, and treat them with respect, never with anger or sarcasm. After all, they took the time to write and there is usually some gold in even the nastiest of letters. Mine the gold and reply respectfully. If they're really bad people, they'll be nasty when they reply to my response. Those people no longer deserve my time.

4) Notice the ongoing sales efforts in both e-mail responses. I can't resist trying to close even the hardest of customers! :-)

5) Yes, these two letters were a lot of work to write. But on the other hand, if the person is reasonable, the goals (1 and 2 above) make it worthwhile. And, if there's ever a next time, it's simple to cut-and-paste my answer.

6) Despite sitesell's terrific conversion rate, the site suffers from a unique disadvantage. On our first site (before sitesell -- this is the one that taught me everything that appears in MYSS!), visitors simply go through our sales process. They buy or they don't. *They don't think about the site.* And that's true for most typical Web customers.

But the sitesell site is a site that sells a book about how to design a site that sells (phew!). So naturally, people judge the site instead of going through the process. Despite this, the site averages an excellent 5% conversion rate.

Of course, that means that 95% don't buy -- some, of course, just aren't interested. But many people think that they are Web experts. So when they spot a point that they think is weak (i.e., not glitzy enough, or too many words, or too much hype), they make the mistake of thinking that everyone feels like them. And so they don't buy the book -- too bad, for both that visitor and us!

7) Unlike subjective judgements of the site, usability problems are objective. So when Mr. Vxxxxxx does not see the Adobe Acrobat warning, we make an immediate change. If he replies that he never saw the ORDER button, I'll have to make a judgement call. First, is this the truth? His story does not hang together very well, so I'm not sure. Second, if I believe him, should I "glow" the ORDER button so more people notice it, or will I lose others who think that we're trying too hard. I'll probably re-test with 20 brand new people, then decide.

8) Since Mr. Vxxxxxx refers to me as Mr. Envoy ("Evoy" is actually the correct spelling), I keep that formality by using the "Mr." title. Since the Net is generally friendlier, I stick with "Phil" for the first letter, since he used no title at all. Remember, talk the language that your customer uses. Which leads into the next point...

9) The first writer, Phil, is obviously very bright and more tech-oriented. He is turned off by the hard sell. I have no fear talking about standard deviations and bell curves with him. It gets him on my side. I would never do this with Mr. Vxxxxxx.

10) I offered Mr. Vxxxxxx a free download, but not Phil. I want Mr. Vxxxxxx's help and he is obviously frustrated. Phil, though, just did not like our approach.

Ken Evoy is the author of Make Your Site SELL! . MYSS! will show you how to sell on line like no other book or program ever has before. Just to learn how MYSS! can boost your online sales.