Lessons From a Recent Online Purchase

I’ve recently learned a lot from a somewhat underground marketer. This guy may be one of the top SEO guys on the planet, smart as anyone I know. Watching him for some time, and reading his material, I decided to go to the next level, and purchase a product. As is the case with many SEO focused people, he is very technical, he also happens to be a skilled marketer. After purchasing his recently upgraded software, I downloaded and installed it.  This is where issues arose… The software I just installed was actually the previous version, not the new and improved one I was sold. Hmm… It doesn’t end there.

Lessons From a Recent Online Purchase

Upon launching the software, I’m prompted for licensing information. Standard stuff with software these days.

Goto my inbox, look for an email with licensing information. Nothing. Found the receipt from 1shoppingcart, but no licensing information in there.

Checked SPAM. Nada.

Canceled the license dialogue box. No option to run in trial mode. Drats.

No support email or website in the email containing the receipt.

Now I’m puzzled. I carved out time to work with this software, and I can’t. Maybe I’m a little naive, but I’m not worried about him getting me the info., I for one, know the challenges technology can give. I’ve also seen enough to believe that this guy will deliver his goods in due time. More on that in a moment.

This causes me to pause and evaluate my own post-sale marketing. Here are my conclusions.

—-scratch that—-

Before discussing post-sale marketing, it makes sense to consider the pre-sale objective.

Pre-Sale Objective

Set expectations. Preparing them for what is to come is essential. Let them know what the thank you page will look like, what emails they will receive, and how soon they can get started with the product, and how they can get support if needed after purchase.

Post-Sale Marketing

The purpose here is to give the customer a good enough experience that they would recommend your company/product/service without hesitation to their friends and colleagues.

1.) Affirm your new customer. You worked so hard to build up trust before the sale, customers are often a bit shaky after a purchase. Work to affirm their decision to purchase. Congratulate them.

2.) Deliver. In keeping that they made a good choice buying from you and not a competitor.
I’ve recently learned a lot from a somewhat underground marketer.

3.) Have a consumption strategy. Be there after the sale. Check in to see how they are doing (can be done easily with an autoresponder service). Share way’s others are using the product, give tips, shortcuts, and ideas to make the most of their customer experience. Encourage them to use and be using it. Let them know where to go if they need support.

Don’t forget to test. If you get some, or all of these elements setup, be sure to run it through it’s paces. Inevitably you’ll have to make some adjustments. Have a family member, or someone who is not an online marketer, go through the process and give their feedback.

I ended up asking for help on his sites “Contact Us” page. An email dialog ensued, and I got the product and the license, and support information I was looking for, as I thought I would.

One other thing… while I’m here.

Be sure to be a pro when communicating with customers, identify their frustration, and promise to remedy it. In this case, while he was certainly responsive, his customer hospitality had much to be desired. I am happy with the product so far.

What say you? What online purchase experiences stand out in your mind? Worth modeling or avoiding? Chime in below.