Some thoughts on Business Success

Today I want to talk a little bit about customer satisfaction. Yeah, you can have a great products but sometimes that isn't enough. What you really want to do is wow them from the moment they get your package in the mail to the moment where they have your product in their hot little hands. I want to tell you a bit about some of my experiences ordering from various vendors on Etsy, and what I think works and does not work.
For those of you who read this blog on a regular basis you may have noticed that I have been doing some interviews for the Female Photographers of Etsy Blog. Through these interviews and some forums that I frequent, I have met some very talented and wonderful artists. These personal relationships (as personal as internet relationships can be, without being creepy I suppose) have been the basis for some recent purchases from various artists shops.
In part I have been discovering some really awesome work on Etsy that would make Christmas gifts. I've also been trying to decorate a new home that is vastly larger than my previous one! Also, in doing these interviews I fall in love with new work everytime I delve into someone's art. And part of me just has to support what these wonderful artists are doing.

Which brings me to my point:
For a customer, the only thing better than buying a great product is feeling appreciated for buying that great product! The great thing about Etsy is that you can develop a two way relationship between artisan and customer; you don't feel like you are buying from a faceless organization.
I recently bought several prints from M.Fayer Photography on Etsy. Her work is absolutely stunning, and owning it is a joy in itself. However, as soon as she saw that I had ordered from her, she sent me a personalized thank-you email AND reminded me of a gift -with-purchase that I had not remembered to take advantage of. Score 1!
Then a few short days after placing my order, a package arrived in the mail from M.Fayer Photography. I want to share with you some of pictures of my unpacking process, which was like a little mini-Christmas!
As soon as I opened the shipping package I had this lovely package greet me, with a personalized card! The envelope read "Photographs for: Jen." Seeing your name on a card always makes you feel special right? I loved the vintage touch of the brown paper wrapping and the cute ribbon. That right there made me grin and hum a few bars from "The Sound of Music!" As soon as I opened the package I found a business card and a postcard with gorgeous images from M.Fayer's shop. I felt like I had gotten some excellent freebies in the form of mini-prints! The back of the postcard had a handwritten thank you note from the artist herself!
Now maybe you don't sell art. Maybe you sell clothing or soft goods or toys or soap? Going this route of including some sort of sample or coupon is definitely a great technique that will make the customer feel taken care of.
Lastly her prints were carefully wrapped and signed and, of course, well printed! I smiled to myself and felt that I had spent my money well. Based on this interaction, I will always keep her shop at the top of my list whenever I feel like investing in new artwork for myself or if I want to give a friend a wonderful gift.

I have also had the exact opposite experience!
After buying from a few sellers (with whom I already had an established relationship) all I got was a perfunctory "Your item shipped" email. Not even a confirmation email after purchase. This left a slightly sour taste in my mouth.
Then upon receiving the various packages, I found that contents simply fell out. There was no care in packaging nor was there any sort of "thank you" note. What I did find in some was that there were coupons for return customers, which had a sort of sad irony to it. Despite the fact that the products were nice, I couldn't shake the overall feeling of buyer's remorse.

So keep in mind that the beauty of sites like Etsy, Artfire and DaWanda is the relationship between artisan and customer. It is the same reason why we like to go to certain restaurants and shops in the non-virtual (yes, real) world! We go for the atmosphere - the ambiance. And, often, we go for the people we will find there as well! On a virtual shop, one of the biggest things you can do to enhance the ambiance is to cultivate a buyer's experience!