Send a notecard?

[Sally Audebarn]

Some merchants receive a lot of sales on a daily basis (especially freebies) and it is VERY easy for the IM message to be lost in all the sale notification emails. So for them note card seems like the most efficient method of having customer complaints delivered to them. Also from their perspective it would be better to wait until they log on to get the note card than have the message lost in the barrage of sales emails which could have dire consequences if the customer believes that the merchant is ignoring him/her when he was really just unaware of its existence.



[Paul Hexem]

Sales emails and messages from residents have different subjects. Most modern email software can filter for that, and Windows Mail even does it by default.

[Sassy Romano]

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Mickey Vandeverre wrote:

Hello Gadget -

I have my marketplace sales set to issue a message when a sale has been made.  On each sale, an IM is sent to email.  Doing that, causes your IMs to get capped.  It helps a bit to keep an eye out for what is going on with sales all day - what's selling - what time of day - if your blog post just got some action - if twitter just prompted a sale - that kind of stuff.

A merchant who has it set that way to watch sales would have to go in all day long to clear that out in order to keep messages from being capped, and I think that a lot of people have other jobs. 

Sometimes the IMs do get through.  I don't mind getting a notecard plus an IM - on an IM I can respond immediately while sitting at the computer for another job - but might not be possible for most. 

Some merchants do prefer an IM for that reason, so you need to read their profiles to see what they prefer.

When sending a notecard, it helps a ton to put the issue and your name into the title of the notecard. 

eta:  in fairness...I used to believe the same thing about merchants not taking care of business with IMs...but then, once the marketplace sales started rocking...figured out why the IMs can cap within a couple of hours, and just not feasible for most to tend to clearing those out all day.

so now understand that it is a shortcoming of the system and not the merchant.

 

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Yes but... knowing all this, why not send IM's to email, which was Gadget's question?

[Sassy Romano]

Plus one vote for IM's to email, it's a no brainer for me.  Easier to be contacted, easier and more efficient to respond to.  I cannot understand one single reason for not doing it that cannot be addressed very very simply, as others have pointed out in other messages here already.

*shrugs*

[Chelsea Malibu]

Yes, what Sassy said, not to mention that fact that you can organize your emails if you use Outlook into task and follow up tracking.  I've used this many times to remind me when I log back in.

It also allows me records which are backed up and kept to both my PC and my Mobile.

Technology Businesses don't use post-its anymore...wake up and smell the Cafe Latte you notecard addicts!  :matte-motes-big-grin-wink:

[Catwise Yoshikawa]

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Gadget Portal wrote:

 

Personally, I hate notecards. I get an email saying I got a notecard, and then I gotta wait until I get to my computer, log in, and go and find that notecard, read it, and if the person's not online, send them a notecard, wait for another one back... 

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You could also reply to inventory offer from email. I do when I got notecards, and ask customer to tell me their problem in the IM window

[Pamela Galli]

I have Vacation Mode on -- every email receives an automatic message reiterating what my profile says: give me a detailed description of the problem/question and the name of the item, and if you sent a notecard, I cannot read it and it may get lost. Sometimes they respond with the requested info, sometimes not. But cuts down a bit on the time I spend playing 20 questions to figure out how to help them.

 

[Mickey Vandeverre]

I do.  Some are not coming through.  Sorry if I didn't explain that properly.

eta:

Actually, I did explain that.

[Mickey Vandeverre]

Not everyone has the same lifestyle as you do.

People make choices on what the most preferred contact for communication style is, and they posted that on their profile.

As I said earlier...I used to have the same concept about business owners who had the "My IMs get capped" phrase on the profile, and someone in forum with a ton of experience straightened me out on that real quick.

Just trying to pass on that enlightenment.

And yes, I do pay for email...so not a deadbeat merchant.

[Rya Nitely]

It's a personal choice that I respect. Whatever works for you and whatever you're comfortable with.

I like reading the email, discusssing it with my partner and deciding how important it is for me to log in and sort it out. Not all IMs require logging in straight away to respond. Especially with some failed deliveries, where I can simply hit redeliver and problem solved. Sometimes I'm at rl work and I can ask my partner to log in and talk to the person, if necessary. So to do this I need to know what the issue is.

I very often go back to the email junk folder (where these messages end up) to read the message again, like if I need to get a name. It's my short term record.

And my profile says IM me in the first line. 

I use hotmail and I've never had a problem, and if I have I am blissfully unaware of it.

I don't have anything against notecards. They are just not as convenient for me.

[Lyra Blackthorne]

I have my im's sent to email...and I still request people send me a notecard and an im, I use my email notifications as a heads up to look for the customers note.  I do it so can provide better service to my clients.  Here are some of my reasons:

• It is easier for me to organize service issues by having all the information inworld where I am actually going to provide the help
• I keep the notecards so I can see if there is an ongoing problem
• People seem to ramble in im's but, when they do a notecard the it seems to help clarify the thought process somehow and I can much better understand an issue that was not so understandable in the im's they sent
• Some people do not put their entire issue in one im...they will send 6 one sentence im's making the use of email to understand the complete problem even harder

 

[Nefertiti Nefarious]

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Mickey Vandeverre wrote:

I

have my marketplace sales set to issue a message when a sale has been made.  On each sale, an IM is sent to email.  Doing that, causes your IMs to get capped. 

 

 

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If your account is set to have your IMs sent to an e-mail account, you will not have the problem of them being "capped". You also will not have the frustration of seeing that you have been offered inventory and having to log in to read it. If it's a problem, you will know.

I can tell when things are purchased by looking at the time stamps on the e-mails.

[Mickey Vandeverre]

.ok, for the fourth time....I have IMs sent to email.  When I log in...it almost always says that messages are capped.

I miss IMs - missed 3 last week that I know of.  That's why I specify notecard.

I have a paid email account that I don't recall ever missing an email in 15 years.

I use notecards for the same reasons that Lyra spelled out and a few more reasons.  Mainly because the whole conversation is on one note, and there is plenty of room to write on it, and with a name in the title of the notecard, can pull up in a second.

not really sure what the problem is here.  just popped in to answer a question.

eta:

I just read Sassy's comment in another thread about notecards being a cop-out.  I thought the same thing (as I have said several times) - - and that's not the case.  It's a form of guarantee for some and it's a form of organization for some.  To want to be assured and to want to be organized when responding back to a customer is not bad service.  It's also more efficient for some.

We all have different stuff going on during the day - different type jobs and lifestyles.  Not every plan works for each person. 

 

 

[Pamela Galli]

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Lyra Blackthorne wrote:

I have my im's sent to email...and I still request people send me a notecard and an im, I use my email notifications as a heads up to look for the customers note.  I do it so can provide better service to my clients.  Here are some of my reasons:

• It is easier for me to organize service issues by having all the information inworld where I am actually going to provide the help
• I keep the notecards so I can see if there is an ongoing problem
• People seem to ramble in im's but, when they do a notecard the it seems to help clarify the thought process somehow and I can much better understand an issue that was not so understandable in the im's they sent
• Some people do not put their entire issue in one im...they will send 6 one sentence im's making the use of email to understand the complete problem even harder

 

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The rambling in IM is a good reason for notecards.For me, not good enough to not specify IMs but still a big one.

I think the most important benefit of IMs, besides being able to handle problems without logging in, is that I can type their name in search on my computer and see what other conversations we may have had (I remember convos but not names). Also, when I receive an IM inworld, any previous conversations are shown in the IM, so I have a context.

 

@ Mickey -- you are right that the more IMs you get the more they will be capped.  You will still get the IM to email, but the IM will not appear inworld if it is capped. It will not go to the IM log.But you will have the email record.

What I usually do to see if I have had any previous contact, is type the name in my computer search and it will tell me if I have had communication from the person logged as an IM and/OR as an email.

 

There are advantages and disadvantages either way, just depends on what is most important/aggravating to you.  And in any case, whatever preference you specify, it will be ignored by some.

 

 

[VonGklugelstein Alter]

I get a gazzilion emails from SL and I never missed a IM while I was offline. Hell I have lengthy conversations with people via IM while I am offline. 

Yes people send notecards even though I request them not to.. they have been trained this way by merchants who insist that only notecards will get  a response. I usually delete the card and then IM them and ask them " what did your nc say?"

 

I think that any merchant who insists on Notecards does this hoping that most people will not bother to go through the effort to write one and therefore not be bothered by a customer after the sale. Its a how dare you want support attitude from what i have experienced.

 

[Mickey Vandeverre]

And you're wrong.

 

[VonGklugelstein Alter]

whaaaaaahhhhh... go take a big fat happy pill because you need it badly.

[Lyra Blackthorne]

I don't ask that people not im...I ask that they just back it up with a notecard.  I also use this notecard to respond to them as more often than not the person needing aid is offline..  And I can still see our conversation history, I just look at the notecard creators profile to access ims.  For me it works and all my contacts with clients have been happy ones, so at least my clientele do not seem to have the same drama surrounding them that I see here.  So whatever works best to deliver superior customer service is a good thing.

[Innula Zenovka]

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Pamela Galli wrote:

The rambling in IM is a good reason for notecards.For me, not good enough to not specify IMs but still a big one.

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I guess it depends on the product (and maybe the customer base), but I find people tend to ramble far more in notecards than do they in IMs.  

The sort of customer service issues I have normally boil down to "how do I make the device do such-and-such?"  (from people who haven't read the notecard instructions), in which case I can answer it very simply.  

If there's a more complex problem, then I almost certainly need to ask them two or three specific questions to identify the solution.  In that case, I far prefer simply to get a brief IM, "It won't do such-and-such" or "It won't do such-and-such when I do this-and-that" to  receiving a notecard, because I find usually when people send me notecards they put a lot of effort into telling  me all sorts of stuff they think I might need to know and I end up going through the card and finding I still need to ask a few things before I can help.

That's no criticism of the notecard writers, of course; it's just I wrote the scripts so if I know what the problem is, I've usually got a good idea of what's causing it and just need to ask a couple of questions to narrow things down.   

[Mickey Vandeverre]

not unhappy, just totally mystified 

but that happens often here.

[Pamela Galli]

Of course the more ways you can get them to contact you the better -- how do you get all your clientele to send both?  I would be happy if they just consistently sent the one I prefer.

[Dresden Ceriano]

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VonGklugelstein Alter wrote:

I get a gazzilion emails from SL and I never missed a IM while I was offline. Hell I have lengthy conversations with people via IM while I am offline. 

Yes people send notecards even though I request them not to.. they have been trained this way by merchants who insist that only notecards will get  a response. I usually delete the card and then IM them and ask them " what did your nc say?"

 

I think that any merchant who insists on Notecards does this hoping that most people will not bother to go through the effort to write one and therefore not be bothered by a customer after the sale. Its a how dare you want support attitude from what i have experienced.

 

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You mean to tell me that you would honestly delete a person's notecard without even reading it, then turn around and expect them to retype everything again just because you didn't feel like reading it in a notecard?  How is that good for your customer?  If you IMed me with that attitude, I'd type it out again, sure... but I'd also never buy anything from you ever again.  And you have the nerve to speculate on other merchants attitudes?  Pfft.

...Dres

[VonGklugelstein Alter]

its not an attitude, but I make it pretty clear on my profile to only send IM's and if people refuse to read the top line of a profile I wonder what their attitude is if they do the exact opposite of what I requested.. lol

 

and I do not clear trash at that point so if I really wanted to I could read it ..

[Medhue Simoni]

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Pamela Galli wrote:

I hate notecards.

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Yep, me too. It's annoying. In almost 5 years now of selling products, never once can I remember my IMs getting capped. To me, waiting for anything, when you just paid good money for something, is SUPER annoying. So I tend to rush to fix issues as soon as reasonably possible. For every minute that you make a customer wait, you are losing confidense and important word of mouth benefits. At least, that is how I tend to think.

[Pamela Galli]

Yes, when they just bought a new thing, and didn't get it, they need to get it fast. And if they just want a footprint of a house or something, then at least they will hear from me fast that I will send it when I log in and that makes them happy AND tells them about the type of service they can expect.

 

I just went on vacation (to lovely chilly San Francisco) and handled all my customers service through email on my iPad -- I only logged in briefly (on a dinky laptop) so that as many of my IMs as possible would not cap (and would get into the IM log).  I put the IM log in Dropbox so whichever computer I am on, the messages get logged there.