eBay...It's still "retail"...And that's ok with me

Years ago I worked in "retail". I managed several sporting goods stores and several bicycle stores, before moving onto restaurant management. Besides not enjoying working for "the man", I tired of the customers.

In retail, and in a management position especially, there is a lot of butt kissing that goes on. And sadly, some people just plain take advantage of a good business. Sometimes customers are just unreasonable.

But, I knew the game and I played it pretty well. I read all kinds of books on how to deal with people, how to relate, "How to win friends and influence people". And in the end, I was able to get along with just about everyone, nearly all the time. :o)

But I'd be lying if I said it didn't get old sometimes. And when I first started my eBay business, I naively thought I was leaving that world behind. Little did I realize at the time, that a business that isn't run face to face with your prospective customers, needs more good customer service than most others. There is no phone, no face, no voice...there's mostly only a picture, some words on a page and what you say in those emails.

Now as I said, I learned a lot about relating to people along the way. But it takes a whole different type of knowledge to be able to write an email that will please everyone and doesn't imply a 'tone'. And believe me, I've flubbed this before.

All it takes is the slightest bit of sarcasm in an email to really upset a customer. The reason - they can't hear you. They imagine your smart *ss mouth running off at them and you raising your voice. When that wasn't your intent at all. Then they shoot back a snotty reply and then you're bitching at each other and it can get out of control quickly.

Ever get one of these emails? "WHERE'S MY PRODUCT, IT'S BEEN OVER A WEEK". What does that say to you. Well it's all up to your interpretation. But many people see the "CAPS" as "Yelling" in the email language. And the simple word "OVER" seems to imply they believe it's late getting their.

So you reply "You just paid on Wednesday, and I shipped it Thursday. It's not my fault, the Post Office is late!". Or something nice like that. And it quickly can get out of hand.

I can't tell you how many times I've typed, backspaced....typed, backspaced then re-typed only to read my reply to try to make sure there is no implied "tone" to my email.

It's really an interesting phenomenon, the interpretation of words on a page. I answer literally 100 to 150 emails per day for my current eBay business. And to do that, I have about a dozen "canned" emails that answer 90% of the questions that are asked. I've tweaked and tuned them over time based on customer reactions and questions. And I think they're pretty darn good. And just when I start thinking like that, someone will fire back a harsh reply stating "WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT? I WAS ONLY ASKING A QUESTION! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO HELP ME FINE!" Then it's two or three more emails to smooth over the hurt feelings that I never intended to step on.

So, my advice is, take it easy. Remember the recipient of your email can't hear your "tone" like when you speak. They will think the worst, so write the best. Because eBay is still basically "retail"...and that's ok with me.