When you buy as much online as I do, you get a ton of after-purchase emails that ask for reviews. Even though I fully understand how important it is to leave reviews for online sellers, I’ll admit I delete the majority of after-sale emails before I read them. Chances are pretty good that your customers do, too. Here’s why.
- Sent Too Soon
If I get a follow-up email that asks for a review the day I receive the package (or one or two days later), it gets deleted. I haven’t even had a chance to break the tape on the shipping box yet, so I’m certainly not ready to leave a review.
Give me some time to use the product and decide what I do and don’t like about it. Then, maybe, I’ll leave you a review.
Instead of sending the email out within a few days of shipping, wait a week or so. If you send the request too soon, it will be a colossal waste of time.
- Badgering Customers With Follow-Ups
Some sellers are so eager to get customer reviews that they end up pestering buyers with endless follow-up messages. Would you want to receive all those emails from a seller? I’ve actually purchased products from Amazon before and had the seller send 5, 7, or 10 follow-up emails. That was annoying, to say the least!
If done correctly, you don’t have to mail an obnoxious number of requests to customers. In many cases, one properly timed and expertly written message can do the job. If need be, send a second message, but I can’t think of a case where I’d recommend more than two.
- Order Number in Subject Line
This is a dead giveaway that your email is the same old, tired, boring (and ineffective) review template that every other Amazon seller is using. Yawn! It’s obviously a canned template that isn’t personal to me at all.
What’s more, lots of spam emails insert a fake order number in the subject line to try to get you to click to their site (or open their virus/malware, etc.). When I see an order number in the subject, my knee-jerk reaction is to delete the message.
Creating a subject line that is enticing and specific to the product the customer bought will go a long way toward ensuring that your emails are opened and read.
- Taking But Not Giving
The vast majority of review email templates used by Amazon sellers ask for something: a review, seller feedback, a video, refer the product to a friend, and so on, and so on. Instead of doing all the taking, give something … and I don’t mean a bonus.
Tips, hacks, and other helpful information can be valuable to buyers. Your efforts to make sure they get the most out of their new product will be appreciated. Your customers will view it as a gesture of good will and excellent customer service.
When you create after-purchase emails, stop thinking about what you need. Instead, put the customer first and brainstorm ideas about what you can offer within the message that will put a smile on their face. This will go a long way toward increasing the number of reviews your products get while also instilling a sense of loyalty in shoppers.
It’s not that hard to create customized follow-up emails for the products you sell on Amazon. In fact, my ebook “Review Advantage: Email Strategies for Getting Amazon Product Reviews (Legally!)” walks you through exactly what you need to do and gives you several templates to follow.
Pick up your copy and save $10 today when you use coupon code revblog10 (lowercase, no spaces).