Make More Money by Reducing Refund Requests

People want a refund when they think a product isn't worth their hard-earned money so make sure yours is a top-quality product before you even start trying to sell it. An ebook should have a clean layout, be easy to read, and most importantly, be error free. Software should work flawlessly and not have any misspellings either.

Use a good word processing program, like WordTM, to write anything your potential customers will see - it will help you catch grammar or spelling boo-boos but don't rely on it to catch them all...

If ewe thin you can count on MS Word to catch all
you're airs, than you're in four a surprise.

[Yes, I wrote that entire line in WordTMand Word didn't find anything wrong with it]

 
Use the Proofreading Trick Professional Writers Use

Read the sales copy on your site, the pages of your ebook and/or the words in your software out loud. Your ear will 'hear' things that just don't 'sound' right. It will also pick up on common mistakes, like "your" and "you're," "they're" and "their," and "its" and "it's."

Give It a Good Layout

Reading on a computer is hard on your eyes so make it easier on your reader:

• Big chunks of black text are intimidating [remember having to read your 'Social Studies' textbook?] <groan> Break your text into short paragraphs with lots of white space between them.
  


• Reading from one side of computer screen to the other is not fun for anyone so set your left and right margins for 2 to 2-1/2 inches and your top and bottom margins for around 1.25 inches.
  


• Use headings and sub-headings to give your ebook an attractive layout, but be consistent and use the same font and size throughout.
  

 

Only Use PDF

The most widely recognized ebook format is PDF, or Portable Document Format. Some sellers use an .exe format but smart computer users know that an executable file can do anything to your computer, like wipe out your entire hard drive, and will steer clear of them.

 

There are some sites that convert your doc to a PDF for free.

DO NOT DO THIS!!!

They're free because they insert ads in your document so they can make money and your customers will see those ads and that will take away your credibility.

One affordable program that will give you a lot of the same benefits I enjoy with the paid version of Adobe Acrobat Standard at a fraction of the cost is PDF Creator.

[Where were they when I dropped $300 on Adobe?!]

 
Don't Password Protect Your Ebook

Don't put a password on your ebook - they're a huge hassle for your buyers. Let's say you give them the download link for the ebook and send a separate email containing the password, but for whatever reason they don't receive that email. If they can't open the ebook, your irate customer will immediately demand their money back.

Make your product as good as you possibly can. People expect quality when they pay for something and will demand a refund if they think it's...well... crap.

If the sales copy on your site says you spill the secrets to X, Y, and Z in your ebook, or that your software will get their site to the top on search engines within 30 days, your product had better do so or else your customers will feel gypped and demand their money back.
 

Try this on for size...

Let's say someone writes a review about your product and puts it on their website where it'll be seen by thousands and thousands of people, and where, when someone searches for your product on, say, Google, that review will come up on the results. A glowing review will send you lots of buyers, but a bad review would kill your sales.

The same thing would happen if one of your customers posted about your product in a forum or discussion group. That single post could bring you lots of sales, or ruin any chance of you getting a sale from anyone who sees that post.

Things on the Internet, good or bad, can stay there for years. If you put out a product that's a stinker, you might as well start over using a new pen name.

 

People are less apt to ask for a refund if they'll lose out on something they really want to keep. For example, you could offer customers a lifetime membership to a members-only forum. Another great thing to offer is free updates for life. Any time you update your ebook or software, send a copy of the revised version to all the people who already bought it.

Clearly state your offer, the price and how it will be delivered on your pitch page.

For example, you could say something like:

You get the ABC ebook (PDF), Bonus E, Bonus F, Bonus G, and lifetime membership to our exclusive ABC members-only forum for only $XX. Click the link/button below to be immediately taken to our download page and start improving your life/fattening your bank account/growing a thick head of hair in seconds.

This way there's no confusion. They'll know exactly what they're getting before they click the "Buy Now" button.

When you buy something that has a short return policy, you have to quickly decide if the product is what you want and if it does what it's supposed to do while you can still get your money back. The pressure is on and it stays on your mind.

But when you have a longer refund period, like 60 days or 90 days, you don't feel the pressure and you'll probably forget all about it long before the time runs out. As a seller, this means less refund requests for you. But it may not be up to you. The company who processes your payment transactions may stipulate a specific refund period.

Just know: the longer, the better.

State what will appear on their credit card statement. Over time, people tend to forget things and two months down the road when they get their bill they may have forgotten all about this purchase and contact their credit card company about the suspicious charge on their account. Plant what will appear on their statement in their minds now to reduce the chance of this happening later.

Deliver the product and bonuses immediately after purchase. Some sellers think it's ok to make people wait 24 or even 48 hours to get their product. It's not. They want it NOW! That's the whole point of buying an ebook or software online - you get it within seconds and can start using it immediately.

Automate your sales process so your customer gets their product(s) as soon as their payment is approved no matter what time of the day or night it is.
 

If you had your payment processor send the buyer to a page on your site where he could just right-click on a link and save your product to his computer, there would be nothing stopping him from giving the link to his friends or even posting it on the internet. Think about how many thousands of dollars in sales you would lose.

You have to put some security in place to protect your investment.

The easiest way to do this is to use DLguard. They provide a secure download protecting you and your product. It's easy to set up and they have fabulous customer support and tutorials. The one-time fee covers two products, so not only will your first product be protected, but your second one (you are going to create a second one, aren't you?) will be protected too. And it snags your buyer's email address for you in the process and adds it to your 'Already Bought' email list. [We'll talk more about this is a second]

The hard way is to do the coding yourself (ClickBank provides the code here for PHP, ASP, Perl, etc.), or instead of opening that can of worms, you can hire a coder to do it for you at a site, like RentACoder.

 

TEST IT!!!

Once you've got your payment and delivery processes set up, click on your "Buy" button to order your product and go through every step your customer would to make sure the whole process from beginning to end, and even the cancel process, goes smoothly.

If it's not easy and painless, potential customers will give up and leave your site and that means no sales for you.

 

Also, if they need something, like Adobe Acrobat Reader or WinZip, to open it, be sure to include a link to it so your customer can download it if they don't have it installed on their computer already. Here are the links for you:

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

http://www.winzip.com/

Immediately send an email thanking them for buying your product. When it comes to customer satisfaction, this simple gesture goes a long way. In the email, don't give them a chance to second guess their decision to buy it.

• Reinforce why buying it was a good idea,
  


• Remind them about what your product can/will do for them,
  


• Tell them how to get their bonuses, if applicable,
  


• Remind them what will appear on their credit card statement,
  


• Offer to answer any questions (and do!),
  


• Give them the link to your blog, forum, etc., if applicable,
  


• And, if they should have any problems, how to contact you or where they can go to find help (for example, to your After-The-Sale FAQ page). Even if they never need it, just knowing that help is available will make them feel better about their purchase.
  

 

Create an After-The-Sale FAQ page

Having an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page on your site for potential customers to see before they buy is a smart way to get the sale and having a second one for after the sale will be a big time-saver for you. Instead of having to answer the same questions over and over, think of any questions a customer might have after they buy:

• The power went out while I was downloading so I didn't get my product. How can I get a copy of it?
  


• I lost my Internet connection while I was downloading it. How can I get it?
  


• When I try to open my ebook, I get this weird error saying my copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader is too old. How can I get a new version of AAR?
  


• I don't have Adobe Acrobat Reader/WinZip installed on my computer. Where do I get it?
  


• I downloaded Adobe Acrobat/WinZip. How do I install it?
  

Create this FAQ page, add it to your site and give them the link to it when they buy.

 

 

 
If you'd rather have a HelpDesk for your customers instead, most have a built-in KnowledgeBase that you could fill in with the FAQ questions and answers above and a support ticket system that your customers could use to contact you for help if they need to. Three Pillars Customer Support Desk and Ticket Desk Pro are two HelpDesk programs you can check out.

Support tickets are great because they cut down on junk email. When you put your email address on your website, spam robots and spiders will see it and add you to junk email lists and you'll start getting buried in spam. (This is why most sites, like mine, use contact forms instead)

If you want to give customers your email address so they can contact you if they need to, don't put it on your site. Instead, put it in your product and in the email you send them.

If they do need help, respond quickly and professionally. Unhappy customers are the ones who ask for their money back, so if they do contact you, don't make them even more upset by ignoring their plea or by responding in a less than courteous way. Answering a simple question or if they had problems downloading it, emailing the product and bonuses as attachments beats giving them back their money any day.
 

As I mentioned a minute ago - if you use DLguard, it'll add your buyer's name and email address to the 'Already Bought' list you set up on your autoresponder and you can set it to send them this message immediately.
 

Be Sure to Unsubscribe Them from Your 'Haven't Bought Yet' List!

You don't want to keep sending them emails begging them to buy the product they already bought from you or else they'll think you're a moron.

The other good thing about having their email address...

When you come out with new, related products in the future, you'll already have a built-in list of people to market to. You know they'd be interested in it AND you know they're willing to spend money for it. All you have to do is send an email to all the people on this list letting know about it.

Send a surprise bonus two or three days after they buy your product. This unexpected gift will make for even happier customers. Come up with something they'd really be interested in that compliments the product they just bought from you and attach it to a message in your 'Already Bought' list for your autoresponder to send out.

You can find lots of ebooks you can give away at TheBestGenius.com (Click on the Free Members link to find free ones or join to get unlimited access to everything they have).

Or better yet...

Create your own free bonus. You know your target market better than anyone - what problems they have, what concerns they have - so create a mini, 2- to 5- page ebook that your customers would r-e-a-l-l-y like.

And score some free viral marketing out of it by turning your buyer's friends into new customers! Make the last page in it an ad for your main product and tell your buyers to send this mini ebook to anyone they know who'd be interested in it.

 

With a few simple steps, you can cut down on refund requests and keep more of your profits in your pocket where they belong.