| LED Digest 2646: Packages not Received |
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The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom http://www.AudetteMedia.com : the LED's Publisher Boutique Internet Marketing: SEO, SEM, Social Media http://www.SEOToolSet.com/training/ : the LED's Premier Sponsor Bruce Clay's Search Engine Optimization Training & Certification ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. May 15, 2008 Issue no. 2646 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ====== NEW ====================== --== Ad Networks for Newbies ==-- ~ Barrett J. Rossie "Can anyone suggest some great resources for learning about ad networks?" ==== CONTINUING ================= --== "Delivered" Packages not Received ==-- ~ Philip Scriver "In the 5 years of trading on eBay no book shipped has ever 'not arrived'." ~ Jackie Monticup "...we did a cost analysis involving the actual cost of insuring our packages..." ~ Eldon Sarte "So I switched to UPS shipping only." --== SEO Standards ==-- ~ Michael Linehan "...fossils don't change shape and the Mona Lisa doesn't morph into a Warhol." ========= NEW ===================================== From: Barrett Rossie Subject: Ad networks for beginners Can anyone suggest some great resources for learning about ad networks? More specifically, I have a client with an interesting idea for his well-established business. He wants to be the first in his category to go to "free services/ad revenue" online model. He asked me to learn about how he would go about monetizing his site with advertising. I've never done anything like this before, so a quick pointer or two would be great. Thanks! Barrett J. Rossie Communication Strategy http://barrettsbook.wordpress.com/ ======== CONTINUING =============================== From: Philip Scriver Subject: Shipments > Every so often we have a package, sent by > USPS, which has been scanned as having been > delivered, and yet the recipient says that > they did not receive it. - Nancy Schettler, LED 2645 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/2060/190/ Nancy I suspect you are the "victim" of a small number of people who make a living buying products, claiming it hasn't arrived and then getting a refund. With or without written guarantees from the mailing or shipping companies our laws state if the client hasn't "received" the item the person mailing is liable to refund them (they inform their credit card company, the credit card company removes the amount from your account until YOU prove that the client actually received the item). How do I know this? Well I regularly ship in almost equal amounts books from my premises to clients having received the order through two different media. Ebay and Amazon. In the 5 years of trading on eBay no book shipped has ever "not arrived". In 5 years of trading on Amazon we regularly get about 2 books a month which "we haven't shipped". Ebay we COULD blacklist any potential client we want and on Amazon we have no method of doing that. So the fraudsters take advantage of this. Amazon tells us to be "customer orientated" and we HAVE to refund the client and they end up getting the book for free. They then change to another email address so you can't easily detect a pattern. Business is a game of them against us. Fortunately there are far more honest people out there than "rogues and crooks" - for the moment! Cheers Philip Scriver Explore Britain http://www.xplorebritain.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Jackie Monticup Subject: Shipments (Response) > Almost all of the time, when this happens > it is to an address around New York City or > Long Island. - Nancy Schettler Nancy, you've pinpointed a problem that many of us with online stores share. We use the US Postal Service almost exclusively to deliver our packages. Because we ship a wide variety of package sizes and weights, and because the packing materials are provided free of charge, USPS is by far the most economical of the carriers for us. And they are pretty darn reliable, for the most part! Yet, occasionally a customer will report that a package was not received, even though it shows in the USPS system as having been delivered- with the time of delivery noted, by the way. And yes, most of the time this happens, the customer is located in the New York City/ Long Island area, the Los Angeles area, or the Miami area. The cause? We believe that the package was indeed delivered as noted by USPS. Then the package was stolen by a neighbor or a package thief. Many New York addresses share a common delivery area (a front lobby, a hallway) which makes it easy for someone to simply take a package left for someone else. In Los Angeles and Miami, it seems to be a problem that thieves drive around looking for packages left on porches. We have a solution that seems to appease the customer, mitigates our losses, and even provides a good PR opportunity. First and most importantly- we replace the order immediately for the customer. We even make a "big deal" about it with the customer. Remember, the customer is upset- he thinks that he has lost money, will not get his order and worst of all, may have to go through a hassle to get satisfaction. We immediately take him by surprise with our "Problem? No problem!" approach. It's about the first thing we say as soon as the customer states the issue. It's amazing how quickly an angry customer turns into a happy repeat customer when he feels his problem has been quickly acknowledged- just like magic! Our customer service policy is "There's never a problem when you shop with MagicTricks.com". Period. We guarantee that each customer will receive his order (it's part of our written guarantee, posted online), which means that we occasionally have to replace orders that are lost in the mail. We keep in mind that a lost package is our problem, not the customer's. He ordered in good faith, paid for his order, and has been patiently waiting for delivery. He does not deserve to be burdened with the details about why the package is missing or how it will be replaced. We make the customer the priority, and we just get the package out. (And we don't stress about whether the customer is lying about not having received the package. It's better to take care of all customers quickly and satisfactorily, giving the rare lying person some free merchandise, than to treat all customers suspiciously and unsatisfactorily just to make sure the rare lying person doesn't take advantage. That rare person just isn't worth the price we'd pay in stress or lost customers). A few years ago, at the prompting of a very successful retailer friend, we did a cost analysis involving the actual cost of insuring our packages through USPS versus self-insuring. We looked at the amount we were spending on insurance versus the actual losses that were happening (and of course, the hassle of filing and recovering the losses from USPS or other carriers). The result, for us, continues to be that self-insuring most packages is much more cost efficient. The losses just aren't that high, in reality, and we overpay if we insure every single package with the carrier. (Caution: think before simply passing the cost of insurance on to the customer. This may raise shipping costs uncomfortably high for the customer, noticeably higher than your competition, and may cost you sales). Are there losses? Yes. Some packages, as you observed, never make it to the customers. We plan for that circumstance. We buy USPS insurance for all orders above a certain dollar amount (we determined a breakpoint for orders we did not want to have to pay out of our pocket to replace). We put a Signature Confirmation on all orders going to apartment addresses as well as any address in cities or areas where we've had experience with packages vanishing from residence porches. The Signature Confirmation requires that the USPS carrier physically hand the package to the recipient and get a signature from that person. The Signature Confirmation eliminates the possibility that the package will be left unattended and ripe for stealing. And we put a Signature Confirmation on any order that we are replacing. Not only does this assure that the replacement package will reach the customer, but also the customer feels that we are taking an extra step just to solve his problem. Bottom line: if you do your own cost analysis, you may find that this problem is not as costly as you fear, and that it can actually give you a great opportunity to promote yourself as a "no problem" retailer. Jackie Monticup MagicTricks.com Magic. For magicians. http://www.magictricks.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Eldon Sarte Subject: Shipments When I used to sell a lot on eBay (golf equipment), this happened too frequently for my taste when I used USPS, even when I paid for signature required service. So I switched to UPS shipping only. Although this did NOT completely eliminate the problem, UPS's customer service was far superior, making the occasional snafu easier to deal with for me, and more importantly, for the customer. Unfortunately, UPS Ground is pricey enough that it's often not an option for lower-ticket merchandise. Although one possible way to deal with that is to work in a percentage of your shipping costs into your product pricing calculations, thereby allowing you to set lower published s/h charges. Just a thought. Sorry, never really cared to track problems regionally. What I did often see were specific problem _customers_ who consistently claimed they didn't get shipments. Hope that helps. Eldon Sarte Wordpreneur: How to Make Money Writing! http://www.wordpreneur.com -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Michael Linehan Subject: SEO - simple explanation wanted The following may be a reason that contributes to Al Toman not being able to find "INFO relative to Web Page Optimization for Search Engines, that is presented in a manner in which he can ingest"....... If scientists are elucidating something new, or developing a product based on already known information, they don't have a constantly moving target. The gravitational constant does not whip itself on its head, from one day to the next. New physical forces don't suddenly come into being, like algorithms to target link farms or duplicate content. And inertia doesn't fade away from prominence in the universe, like the meta-keywords tag. A similar analogy could be made with other fields of human endeavor - art, geography, history and more. We might find new information, but once it's found, fossils don't change shape and the Mona Lisa doesn't morph into a Warhol. Doing the best optimization might be a bit like trying to do brain surgery where the brain is changing under the scalpel, moment by moment. Those controlling the search engines changes are not revealing the detailed and fundamental workings, nor when and how they will change. So I'm not surprised that Al cannot find a nice clean, clear explanation of how to do the best optimization. I think there will always be room for confusion and debate on the precise interaction of this soup of constantly changing factors. Michael Linehan, Marketing Alchemy www.marketing-alchemy.com (c) Copyright 1995-2008 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "Better than a thousand hollow words is one word that brings peace." - Buddha |
