Customer Care – A Rare Breed

Customer Care – A Rare Breed

Posted on 06. Dec, 2009 by Michelle in Virtual Real Estate Development

In my last post I discussed the increased cost of re-listing unsold websites at Flippa.com and how to approach things to lessen your chances of having to bear that new cost. Offering up packages stacked full of quality content, unique graphics, premium themes, thought out monetization and SEO, will have you standing out from the noisy low-end crowd and subsequently increase your chances of a higher sell through rate.

Of course if there is pressure to add more and more to what you already offer then what comes to mind next is the issue of how to maintain your return on the time and money you invest into building and selling sites. In my previous post I wrote:

There is more to this business though than the simplistic calculation of the difference between the costs associated with your site sales and the final bid price.

If you reduce your site sales to a simple, “Give me your money, here’s your website, don’t bother me or my return per hour goes down the toilet!” type of business model, then you don’t really understand the value of customer care and what having a loyal following of customers can mean to your bottom line.

I mentioned in my last post that I would next write about some ways to make more money after the sale, well in a nutshell you will make money after the sale by providing a high level of customer care. In fact not just a high level of customer care after the sale, but during your site build, live auction, site transfer and after the site transfer. At every single point in the process I’m focused on caring about my customer.

Of course your time investment and costs must be calculated and controlled however if you look after your customer you are much more likely to increase your profit above the basic calculation of the final bid price minus the costs of doing business. Let me give you a couple of examples.

I recently purchased two domain names with the specific intent of building web property to sell. When I performed the initial keyword research I noticed two related terms that would be a dynamic duo for one webmaster to own. I listed one site for sale and it sold within an hour or two. I took care of my customer by thanking them for their bid, communicating quickly, informatively and politely. We agreed on how the site transfer would take place and then, as a courtesy to the buyer, I offered to sell them the other site which they promptly paid for too.

What I could have done was promote that second site to my list of subscribers (see this post for details about list building), instead I offered it to this individual first as a courtesy. I significantly increased the chances of a sale given the buyer had already purchased from me and they were obviously very interested in the niche, but more so because the sites were high quality, my service was second to none so the buyer had confidence in me.

Another way that a high level of customer care can result in additional profit is to simply ask your buyers what their needs are and be transparent about what you recommend for them and why. Here’s an example of what you could send to a buyer after they’ve placed the winning bid:

The domain name is currently registered with Namecheap who I highly recommend for their high level of service and easy interface, you can set up a free account at:
www.YourNamecheapAffiliateLink.com (affiliate link)

If you require hosting I highly recommend Hostgator. They are my host provider of choice and I’m also an affiliate:
www.YourHostgatorAffiliateLink.com

A number of buyers will already have hosting and or a Namecheap account but not all will, and in those cases you have an opportunity to earn affiliate commissions from your recommendations. Of course with customer care top of mind, you wouldn’t recommend a reseller account if the buyer only needs a baby account. Keep your customer’s interests first and you’ll do well.

dreamstime_2979123

Isn’t it true that bad service is all too common? I know I have almost daily experiences of poor service, where my needs are not important to the very people I’m handing over my cash to! Whether it be paying for gas queued up 10 deep, struggling with a pram in a shop doorway or simply looking high and low for the hidden ‘contact us’ link on a website to ask for help, I see poor service everywhere.

Businesses with customer care as their core focus are a rare breed. If there is one way to stand out in today’s busy world it is to care about your customers and offer them great service!

There are so many ways to take just one site buyer and help them achieve their goals by offering them all kinds of back end services. For multiple buyers who are in need of assistance in marketing their businesses, requiring PLR stock etc, well you can set up a support forum for them either for a small monthly fee or free. You can earn from various affiliate commissions simply from the recommendations you make in the forum. You’re really only limited by your imagination and if you couple that with a sincere desire to help people you’re likely to do very well.

If you have some opinions on customer care and earning more after the sale I’d love to hear them so please leave a comment below. :)

And a quick thank you to all those visitors who regularly comment here, I enjoy reading everyone’s thoughts.

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16 Responses to “Customer Care – A Rare Breed”

  1. JenNo Gravatar (1 comments)

    06. Dec, 2009

    Hi Michelle, I am just starting out with the idea of selling my websites, and I appreciate the advice. I wasn’t sure how I could make my listings better, and this helps. Thank you,
    Jen Pearson

  2. MichelleNo Gravatar (232 comments)

    06. Dec, 2009

    You’re welcome Jen, good luck with your future sales, if you need any help just ask.

    Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. :)

  3. Ruth - Web Career GirlNo Gravatar (14 comments)

    06. Dec, 2009

    Totally agree Michelle, I think it makes so much difference. The hosting is a great boost when they buy through your link. I am developing a members area with FAQ and tutorials already to do just what you suggested at the end there. I think it’ll be a great way to save time for me, but also to offer buyers something extra.

    MichelleNo Gravatar (232 comments) Reply:
    December 6th, 2009 at 8:41 am

    Good to know you have a members area underway already. :) This is one of the advantages of selling start up sites, you will come across people who don’t have hosting, and yes those payments are quite a big boost to your earnings, but also they’re in need of guidance which you can either charge a low monthly fee for or offer it free. Eventually newbies will need other services such as AWeber, keyword research tools etc which of course you can legitimately earn commission on your recommendations and offer your members videos, pdfs etc on how to use those tools. The list is endless. ;)

  4. AudreyNo Gravatar (4 comments)

    06. Dec, 2009

    I’ve given my site buyers a discount on ongoing writing services. Very much win-win because they get quality content from an expert at a cheaper rate, and I pick up another writing client.

    MichelleNo Gravatar (232 comments) Reply:
    December 6th, 2009 at 9:20 am

    Fantastic idea Audrey, very often potential buyers ask where they can get ongoing content from so what you offer would definitely be a good selling point in an auction listing.

  5. SakanaNo Gravatar (4 comments)

    06. Dec, 2009

    Brilliant Post!!! A continuity membership program where you either teach them how to market their business or just offering genuine support in different areas promoting it.

    Worth to mention, setting up your business correctly in front end will smooth the back end offers dramatically.

    At the end, You can’t go wrong providing excellent CS, a happy customer is a retuning one.

    MichelleNo Gravatar (232 comments) Reply:
    December 6th, 2009 at 6:23 pm

    Thanks for your comments Sakana. A continuity membership is worth doing, it’s very important though to ensure you can see a return from it. So either charging a minimum monthly fee and or offer it free if you can be confident in earning commissions and sales from your own products such as a video series on using AWeber.

    One last point is that teaching people is a big responsibility and anyone doing so needs to know what they’re talking about to be able to point people in the right direction.

    Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. :)

  6. TolaNo Gravatar (1 comments)

    06. Dec, 2009

    Hello Michelle,

    Your site is like a huge treasure chest, where I always find golden nuggets of info to ramp up my online earnings and pointers to life in general too.

    I think Audrey nailed it by providing writing services for a small fee (as you know fresh content keeps websites alive). You can also provide ongoing maintenance for the website. Every cent adds up at the end.

    I find it hard picking niches to develop for website flipping. Any pointers?

    Thanks. Looking forward to your next post.

    Cheers!!

    MichelleNo Gravatar (232 comments) Reply:
    December 6th, 2009 at 7:58 pm

    Glad to know you’re finding plenty of useful info here Tola, thanks for the feedback. :)

    Yes, Audrey’s idea is a very good one especially given we all want unique fresh content as you mention.

    I’m close to opening a membership which will cover niche selection and so much more. ;) Meanwhile, you can use some ideas I covered in my free ebook, QuikCash Convertor. One of the best ways to get ideas is view the Just Sold page at Flippa and the New Listings with early bids, this can give you an idea of what’s hot if you take the time to do a little analysis.

  7. Katrina HaliliNo Gravatar (1 comments)

    07. Dec, 2009

    Hello there! I have just visited our site and it’s nice. I am a neophyte “make money” blogger and found this to be very helpful. I enjoy reading your site and getting a lot of lessons from it. Nice one Michelle!

    MichelleNo Gravatar (232 comments) Reply:
    December 7th, 2009 at 8:37 am

    Great to know you’re finding the content here useful, thanks for stopping by Katrina. :)

  8. SunshineNo Gravatar (6 comments)

    07. Dec, 2009

    Michelle,

    Your experiences as a business person are getting richer as time goes by. I appreciate your tips and resources.

    Since I’ve first started reading your blog, I’ve become a bit better a creating niche blogs which rank pretty well, and that does quite ok in earning adsense and amazon commission too. I would like to build up the nerve to begin selling these type of sites.

    When you have a moment, may I show you a few for your feedback to see if they are viable in your estimation?

    Thanks

    MichelleNo Gravatar (232 comments) Reply:
    December 13th, 2009 at 8:40 am

    Sunshine it’s wonderful to hear you’ve been making progress.

    I’m happy to take a look at your sites, I just can’t promise how quickly I’ll get back to you but I’ll do my best to respond within a few days….although I do have a couple of others with a similar request in front of you.

    Feel free to send me the urls, you can do that through my contact page here.

    Thanks for leaving your feedback, it means a lot to me.

  9. KimberlyNo Gravatar (3 comments)

    30. Dec, 2009

    Hi, Michelle
    I sold my first blog in December! Your book was very helpful, and helped me get my feet wet. I have run into a small problem though. Not understanding HTML and PHP is still a problem – are you going to teach about this in your course? I used the Artisteer theme, and the buyer has emailed me that the sidebar drops to the bottom when viewed in IE (but not Firefox). I would love your guidance on where to go for an answer to this problem, as my lack of HTML/PHP knowledge is not good (I have already posted to the artisteer forum and to wordpress.org, but haven’t gotten the help needed. Thanks!

    MichelleNo Gravatar (232 comments) Reply:
    January 1st, 2010 at 1:22 pm

    Congrats on your first sale Kimberly that is fantastic news! Glad to know that my book has helped you.

    My level of HTML and PHP knowledge is quite limited but then you don’t really need to know much to be able to ‘handle’ it, AKA make it do what you want, and that ‘little bit’ you need to know will be touched on in my upcoming program yes. For now how about you send me the link to the site via the contact page and I’ll have a look at it for you. I just need the link at this early stage. Your buyer might be using an old version of IE which is used less and less but I can understand that they are probably worrying about it so I’ll look at it quickly for you. Artisteer can be finicky in IE especially if you haven’t installed their upgrades. Make sure you’ve updated your version which is free as far as I know.

    Congrats again on your site sale, that is so fantastic to hear!