seller central

The upside to negative feedback on Amazon

July 28, 2020 Leave a Comment

How to view negative feedback as a tool to improve your business

By: Emanuela Elias

Getting negative feedback with no chance to remedy the situation can be frustrating. The truth is, trolls exist, adults throw tantrums and Amazon won’t always remove unfair feedback. Some people love to leave negative feedback and are unresponsive to you when you reach out to resolve the issue. To add more salt to the wound, Amazon does not recognize your effort to make things right. As frustrating as some of these situations are, here are some ways to combat the impact of negative feedback.

Focus on the Positives

Don’t allow negative feedback to steal your joy. Keep your sights on the brand you are building and the company you are running (i.e. the bigger picture).The more you grow and continue to do things right, the negative feedback will be drowned out by the positive feedback. When consumers look to reviews to determine their purchases, one negative comment in a sea of positives holds little to no weight.

Is it me?

It’s tempting to gravitate away from a “customer is always right” mentality, especially when you have been burned by customers. But if you notice a trend in your feedback, then an adjustment in your process and business may be necessary. It’s always a good idea to check in with things on your end first.

Build it into your Budget

Part of focusing on the bigger picture includes building into your budget a fund for returns, lost or damaged items, or those items that cannot be re sold once they are returned. There are too many possibilities where you will not be able to recover your money in these instances. If you do not build this into your budget, every time this situation pops up, it will feel like a loss more so than just a part of your business. This negative energy can come through to your customer if you try to nickel and dime them for any mishaps on their order. It is also super important to diversify your offerings. Your listings should include as many high margin products as possible to increase the overall profitability of your company which helps to create a budget for the uh-ohs.

The Golden Rule

Avoid negative feedback by taking care of your customers the same way you would want to be treated. Make sure you are staffed enough to keep up with customer messages throughout the day. There are plenty of virtual assistant services (ours included!) that can help with the burden of keeping up with customer messages.

Remember, if you receive negative feedback, always message the customer right away to see if you can remedy the situation. You are absolutely NOT allowed to incentivize a customer to remove the feedback, but you are always welcome to ask them if they would consider removing it. When you respond to a customer, regardless to who is at fault, always remain positive, apologetic for their experience or inconvenience, and be ready to help in any way you can.

If you have questions or concerns about your Account Health, give Riverbend Consulting a call. 877-289-1017

Emanuela Elias, Monthly Account Manager
Emanuela leads the monthly services team. She stays on top of critical performance metrics and ensures we secure every owed reimbursement, to keep our clients ahead of game. Emanuela’s background in e-commerce includes leading and empowering teams to work more efficiently. She loves to see a team take off on its own, become independent thinkers and problem solve together.

Recession-Proof Your Amazon Business

July 1, 2020 Leave a Comment

Ways your Amazon business can power through the pandemic

By: Sanam Hakam, Guest writer

Forward-thinking entrepreneurs can add real value to people’s lives and will be monumental to the way this economy moves forward, both during and post-coronavirus.

Since the global outbreak of COVID-19, the economy has taken a significant downturn. Although experts were raising some red flags earlier in 2019, COVID-19 has shocked the system with unforeseen problems. Recessions are a part of the churning economic cycle – a devastating time with years of recovery to follow.

Even now, business owners are finding themselves bracing for more potential economic ‘unknowns.’ The prudent entrepreneur should make sure that they are prepared and properly positioned for any impact that this pandemic might have on their Amazon business.

How can you recession-proof your business?

First of all, let me start off by saying that no product or business is 100% recession-proof since there are so many moving pieces that can impact the health of your business. However, I’ll be sharing time-tested (and Great Recession of 2007-2009-tested) strategies to help you plan for and safeguard your business.

Protect your Supply Chain

It’s no secret that the outbreak has affected global supply chains, especially manufacturing that takes place in China. Communicate with your suppliers! Your suppliers should have an idea of how this might affect you. Talk to them and see how you can work together to mitigate the disruptions. You can also discuss what products are more crucial to your business and should be placed on priority. In this way, if there is a delay, you are at least equipped with your best sellers. In tandem to this, look for alternative suppliers. You should understand that your suppliers may hit more road blocks that are unforeseen right now.

Diversify Your Selection

Broadening your line-up may be the key to surviving during this global health crisis. If you are still not selling items in some of the recession-proof and COVID-19 trending categories, now is the time to look into it. Also, be sure to review your inventory management. See if there is anything you can do to lower inventory expenses without sacrificing the quality of your products. Ask yourself is there a drop-shipping alternative that will work for you so you can eliminate shipping and warehousing costs?

Communicate with your Customers

Make sure you let your customers know what is happening and what your plans are for the coming days, weeks, or months. Practice transparency by publicly addressing common customer frustrations like delivery delays, stock outs, and share internal sanitation procedures.

When this is all over, business owners who continued to connect and engage their buyers will come out in a better position than those who decided to stop, drop, and hide when business got tough.

Maximize Digital Channels

Use social media to communicate, educate, and understand your customers’ needs and challenges during these unprecedented times. Ensure that good information about who you are and your brand is still out there and attracting some followers. If your brand is well presented, when “normalcy” returns, you’ll be able to get the ball rolling with your business.

What thrives during recessions?

While a lot of businesses across major industries struggle during times of recession, there are a handful of business that are sustainable during these times.

Investopedia lists the top 10 companies that did well during the last Great Recession of 2008.

Company Name (Ticker)	1-Year Total Return	Industry
Dollar Tree Inc. (DLTR)	60.8%	Discount Stores
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX)	30.8%	Biotechnology
H&R Block Inc. (HRB)	25.8%	Personal Services
Amgen Inc. (AMGN)	24.3%	Drug Manufacturers-General
Old Dominion Freight Lines Inc. (ODFL)	23.2%	Trucking
Walmart Inc. (WMT)	20.0%	Discount Stores
Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (EW)	19.5%	Medical Devices
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST)	17.6%	Apparel Retail
Alaska Air Group Inc. (ALK)	17.0%	Airlines
Hasbro Inc. (HAS)	16.8%	Leisure

Source: YCharts

Key Takeaways:

Even when times get tough, and consumers are earning less, they need basic, staple products like food and household supplies. To save money, people turn to cheaper alternatives – hence, the discount stores do well. And the Walmarts of the world make the cut as an affordable alternative.

Recession or not, you need healthcare. Especially amidst COVID-19, this recession is more in need for healthcare and medical supplies than any other economic downturn. Who could’ve guessed that we’d be hit by a global pandemic the same time the economy was projected to spiral downward?!

The trucking or airline success in the 2008 recession is not so relevant now. In these weird times, even travel and freight is taking a hit.

Product Tips:

List discounted essential items, preferably those with a longer shelf life – such as canned goods, dried fruit, kid-friendly snacks, and pet foods.

Sell health-related goods such as saline solutions, toilet paper, baby wipes, towels, gloves, masks, sanitizers, cleaning supplies, and first aid kids. With the current pandemic, don’t be lured into driving up costs for these in-demand goods – Amazon has slapped many with price gouging suspensions.

Offer affordable entertainment and learning opportunities. At-home learning items like jigsaw puzzles and board games have been top sellers on Amazon in the last month. More kids are learning and gaming at home.

DIY, gardening, gaming, home gym equipment, arts & crafts = everything that people can do while they are at home. That being said, when you list products in these categories you’ll be catering to the new “COVID-19 at-home trends” and may be able to power through this pandemic and hard economic time.

Ways to Power Through This Recession

Although, you may feel the urge to huddle up and ride out this economic storm, it’s prime time to take some action, make some changes to your Amazon product line, and let the sales slowly follow.

If you need help streamlining your Amazon business and want to intelligently manage your inventory and restock in these times, the SellerMobile team is available to guide you through the process. It’s more important than ever, to manage your cash flow, prevent over-purchasing, and plan around your suppliers’ new lead times!

Special thanks from Riverbend Consulting to SellerMobile Marketing Director Sanam Hakam for being our guest writer.

About SellerMobile

SellerMobile is an advanced cloud-based software solution, created to help Amazon merchants gain a more competitive edge in the marketplace. They offer a full suite of mobile and web-based tools and analytics. Their tools include: automated pricing; inventory and order management; analytics and reporting; buyer/seller messaging; feedback and reviews and more.

Think like Amazon – prioritize the buyer experience

June 26, 2020 Leave a Comment

Customer service, insert cards and avoiding suspensions

By: Kayleigh Cockerill

“Amazon aims to provide an excellent buying experience for all of its customers.” If your ASIN has ever been suspended for a single complaint, you know this to be true. Amazon will oftentimes side with an unsatisfied buyer, even if a seller has processed hundreds of sales with a perfect track record. In the world of Amazon, the buyer experience is paramount. This platform gives customers multiple opportunities to express their dissatisfaction through Buyer-seller messaging, returns, product reviews, feedback, and the dreaded chargebacks and A-Z claims. Furthermore, customers are more likely to leave a review for a negative experience than they are for a positive experience, making it much more likely to hear from all your dissatisfied buyers. So how can you, the dedicated seller, prevent a small buyer issue from turning into an ASIN or account suspension?

Buyer-Seller Messaging Service

MFN Sellers know how critical Buyer-Seller Messaging is in resolving buyer complaints. Before leaving a negative review, buyers often try to resolve their issues with the seller directly. A delayed response or poor resolution will frequently lead to negative feedback, a chargeback, or A-Z claim. Too many of these and your account is at risk for being suspended for a High Order Defect Rate.

To mitigate this from happening, here are some helpful tips:

Designate an employee with strong customer service skills to handle Buyer-Seller Messaging. If you are a one-man operation, block off time and dedicate it to communicating with your buyers. Prioritize your customer service; don’t let it be an afterthought. Many sellers forget these communications make up their Customer Service Rating. Amazon surveys buyers who contact sellers via buyer-seller messaging asking, “Did this solve your problem?” Yet, another opportunity to rate their experience.
Check and respond to buyer messages regularly – ideally once in the morning and once in the evening. Buyers value a quick response, a fast resolution, an apology (if necessary and even if only for their inconvenience), and a follow-up message to ensure the issue is resolved.
Create template responses that require minor personalization, like the customer’s name. This will cut down on your response time and allow you to give each buyer a helpful, friendly, grammatically correct, and complete message every time.
Always give the buyer the benefit of the doubt and ask the buyer what resolution would be satisfactory. You have every right to ask for photos if the buyer is willing to keep a defective item at a discount. But decide ahead of time if the extra steps add value to your resolution or if the buyer is even willing to take a partial refund.
Follow through on your agreed-upon resolution quickly. If you wait to process a refund you’ve promised through Buyer-Seller Messaging and it is not issued quickly, impatient buyers will file a chargeback or A-Z claim.

Never ask a buyer to remove negative feedback or incentivize them to leave positive feedback. This is a violation of Amazon’s Code of Conduct and can lead to account suspension. Therefore, never direct buyers to a site outside of Amazon. For obvious reasons, Amazon wants to keep all traffic within its platform. Don’t forget, Amazon has visibility to all buyer-seller communications so follow all rules and policies without fail.

Insert Cards for MFN orders

Insert Cards prompt buyers to contact a seller directly in case there are problems with their order. Language like Happy with your product? Things not going as planned? Problems with your order? followed by your store’s email address and phone number encourage buyers to contact you if they have issues with their order. Instead of contacting Amazon, you become the first solution they are presented with. If you sell in a category where buyers often order the wrong item for their needs, like automotive parts, this tool can make the difference between an ASIN suspension for condition and a replacement product or discount.

As with buyer-seller messaging, the insert card cannot direct the customer to a site outside of Amazon, incentivize the buyer to leave a review or ask for only positive reviews.

In conclusion, prioritizing the buyer experience will decrease your incidents of negative feedback, poor product reviews, chargebacks, and A-Z claims. Not sure how you’re performing in these areas or need advice on specific problems your store faces? The Riverbend team regularly assesses and consults with sellers on these very issues and more. Let’s talk 877-289-1017 or visit our website.

Consultant Kayleigh Cockerill, relentlessly fights for clients with suspended Amazon accounts. With a degree is in Criminology and Criminal Justice, Kayleigh is inquisitive, process-oriented and pays close attention to detail. When she isn’t being a superhero to Amazon sellers, she enjoys crafting, reading, baking, taking voice lessons or participating in races and obstacle courses.

What is the Amazon Captive Team?

May 22, 2020 Leave a Comment

When Seller Central isn’t helping, there is another option.

By: Caitlyn Way

Working through issues in Amazon Seller Central can be exhausting.

It is not uncommon to run into issues in Seller Central. From inventory issues, technical errors, or listing problems that only Amazon Employees can fix. You can find yourself in an endless loop of phone calls, emails and unanswered questions. The Amazon Captive Team is exactly what you need to get over this hurdle.

The Amazon Captive Team?

Amazon Seller Support Captive Team is a team of internal Amazon employees that have access to tools and knowledge that not all front line or partner associates have. There is a common misconception that all Captive associates are North American based. This is not true as a large majority of Captive Amazon Seller Support Agents are internationally based in India, Costa Rica, North America and the UK.

Escalating Cases

If you continue to have issues, even after working with a member of the Captive team, never be shy to “escalate” an issue.

Escalating the issue can do two things:

It will bring it to the attention of the direct manager (or advisor, they will refer to themselves as a member of the ‘Amazon Leadership Team’) who will hopefully be more knowledgeable and retain the case until it is resolved.
It can eventually be transferred, if necessary, to the Amazon Escalations Team. This escalations team is a highly trained, typically North American Captive Team, who will resolve the issue at hand or bring it to the attention of the appropriate internal team. Escalation associates are specifically trained to handle aged and more complicated issues that have fallen through the cracks of the front-line agents

How do I contact the Captive Team?

You can open an email case with Amazon Seller Support here.

However, please note that this is one of the slowest ways to receive support, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Once your case is created, request that it be transferred to the Captive team. This may take a few attempts. Another, faster option is to request phone support.

What is the Seller Support phone number?

Unfortunately, there is no direct phone number for Seller Support. The best way to contact Seller Support by phone is through your seller account and requesting a contact.

To do this, follow the instructions given below:

Step 1: Open the Contact us page of Seller Central at this link.

Step 2: At this page, it is important to first choose what your problem is associated to. You will normally see two options:

Selling on Amazon – Select this option if you have queries related to selling or listing on Amazon.com.

Advertising & Stores – Select this option if you have questions related to sponsored brands, stores or sponsored products.

Step 3: The next page will be a list of common issues and questions. Choose your concern from this list, or select ‘Other Issue.’

Step 4: This is where you can create either an email, phone, or chat-based case. For these purposes, select ‘Phone.’

Step 5: Enter your phone number, select whether this issue is urgent, and then include a short description of your issue. Whenever you contact seller support, it is important to address each concern separately and clearly. This will ensure the fastest resolution and the least amount of pushback and confusion.

Step 6: Select the ‘Call Me Now’ button. You will be in the queue for a phone call right away. Be prepared to be on the phone. Have your Seller Central account open, your account details and billing information handy as the associate on the other end of the phone may ask you for it.

Step 7: Request to be transferred to the Captive Team.

Have questions about your Amazon seller account, the Riverbend Consulting team is ready to help you. Let’s talk 877-289-1017 or visit our website.

Caitlyn Way provides support to our clients and our operations team. She creates meaningful monthly reports that help us identify trends in client accounts. In addition, she helps manage workflow and ensure everything runs smoothly. Cait spent two years in Amazon Seller Support, where she specialized in feeds, variations, escalations, product compliance and gating. In her off time enjoys baking and exploring with her two daughters.

The Top Five Trademark Registration Options for Amazon

May 21, 2020 Leave a Comment

What is the best way to get a trademark registration for Amazon in a timely manner?

By: Preston P. Frischknecht

If you sell online, getting a federal trademark registration to protect your brand can be an important tool. For example, eligibility for the Amazon Brand Registry generally requires a federal trademark registration. Many eager sellers are surprised to learn that it may take months or longer to obtain the trademark registration.

So, what are the best trademark registration options for Amazon and how do you get it in a timely manner? Here are some options compared:

1. Do it Yourself (DIY)

Like many things, it’s possible to get a trademark registration by doing it yourself—you will save some money if you pull it off. But, one Stanford study shows that pro se applicants are less than 50% likely to succeed. Delays, failure, wasted filing fees, and costly rebranding can be painful. Unsurprisingly, the USPTO “strongly encourage[s]” use of a U.S.-licensed attorney who specializes in trademark law. So, trying to get a trademark registration by yourself is probably not the best option.

2. Online Trademark Filing Service

There are many online trademark filing services (think Legalzoom.com) that are DIY+, offering to file trademark applications for between ~$100 and ~$500 (not including government fees). Unfortunately, many of these sites skimp on upfront due diligence and work. They also aren’t great at gleaning and analyzing the information necessary for preparing a well drafted trademark application. Problems during trademark examination like added costs and delays are still common in this approach. While online trademark filing services are slightly better than DIY, they are usually not as good as a traditional law firm.

3. Law Firm

Using a traditional law firm is the tried and true way to do trademark registration. Again, if a firm has good trademark attorneys, your chances of success go up dramatically (as mentioned above). The problem is that this is a very costly route: according to the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) 2019 Report of the Economic Survey (“2019 AIPLA Survey”), the median cost for trademark attorney work (like a trademark clearance search and opinion, trademark application, and trademark prosecution) is $3,230, not including government filing fees. For many folks, this is just too expensive.

4. Amazon’s IP Accelerator Referral Service

In a variation of the law firm option, Amazon advertises a list of trademark attorneys to obtain trademarks for the Amazon Brand Registry at pre-negotiated rates. However, these rates are still relatively expensive. For example, an Amazon IP Accelerator attorney charges $2,400 for a comprehensive trademark search and trademark application (not including government fees). According to the AIPLA Survey, this is higher than the median cost of around $2,000 for the same services by other trademark attorneys. So, Amazon’s IP Accelerator referrals are better than DIY and online filing services, but close to traditional law firm expense.

5. Solo Trademark Attorney or Small Firm

Solo trademark attorneys and small firms are usually less expensive than larger law firms and they can perform as good or better than them. This is the case because bigger firms have larger overhead to cover. In fact, according to the 2019 AIPLA Survey, solo attorneys are typically 32% less expensive than their peers at larger firms. So, using an experienced solo or small firm trademark attorney is a great option. You will do much better than you would on your own or with an online trademark filer, and with less expense than a regular law firm or Amazon’s IP Accelerator Referral Service.

Contributor Preston P. Frischknecht is the principal trademark attorney at Brand Registry Trademark. Brand Registry Trademark is a small intellectual property law firm specializing in legal services for online sellers throughout the United States and abroad.