If you are an author, you are in business. You have customers. You must work toward enticing more customers. And you have an obligation to all of those customers. <\/p>\n
I still meet authors who do not treat their publishing ventures as businesses. And this is okay, unless they expect to sell lots of books and make lots of money. I actually met a hopeful author once who insisted that he did not have to do anything to sell his book because it would sell itself. He told me this on several occasions. He was convinced that people would flock to buy his book without any effort on his part. <\/p>\n
Some authors believe that their stories are so fascinating\u2014they are so attached to their memoirs or their novels\u2014that they won\u2019t need to go to the trouble of marketing them. <\/p>\n
Others are out promoting their books, but they don\u2019t connect with their customers. <\/p>\n
There certainly are all categories of authors. Some take their published books so seriously that they build companies around them, create brands and spend many hours and dollars promoting.<\/p>\n
No matter where you are on the author spectrum, one of your primary considerations should be your customers. Customers are the steam for your engine. They are the measuring stick to your success. And they should be acknowledged, appreciated, heard and utilized. <\/p>\n
\u2022\tAcknowledge your customer at the time of purchase and let him\/her know that you are available to address their questions or concerns.
\n\u2022\tThank your customer verbally and possibly through some sort of add-on gift or premium.
\n\u2022\tListen to the feedback you receive from your customers. It can be valuable to your marketing efforts and future books.
\n\u2022\tUtilize your customers. Keep a customer directory or database and contact them when you are offering a new service or product, for example.<\/p>\n
What about the dissatisfied customer? We all get them. You may receive accolades all over the place, get numerous 5-star reviews and hear scores of complimentary words with regard to your book and then get one customer who dislikes it. He may complain, ask for a refund, spread dirt about you and your \u201cpoor excuse for a book\u201d and\/or find a reason to take you to court. This can be an awful experience. Why would anyone do this? It could be jealousy, sour grapes or the irate customer might be just an angry, negative individual who has a habit of causing trouble.<\/p>\n
I once attended a seminar on how to handle the irate customer. One thing I remember from that seminar is that all the customer wants is to be heard. It\u2019s recommended that you provide them space in which to give their complaint and express their emotions. Once they have that out of their system, commiserate with them. Say, for example, \u201cI don\u2019t blame you for being disappointed. If I had to wait 3 weeks to have my package delivered and then it was damaged, I\u2019d be upset, too.\u201d And then ask them what would make them a satisfied customer again.<\/p>\n
Most of the time, they will request something far less than you would imagine. You might be ready to offer them a free book, free shipping and access to your upcoming online course on creating tasty appetizers at a moment\u2019s notice, when all they want is for you to pay their shipping costs.<\/p>\n
This makes it sound easy to appease an unhappy customer, doesn\u2019t it? But we\u2019ve all met the customer, client or organization member from hell\u2014the one who is so outrageously unreasonable that there is nothing on earth or in outer space that would satisfy him or her no matter what. What can an honest, hardworking, conscientious author do in this circumstance? Consider this his or her problem and move on. Hopefully, they will move on, as well, and not stick around stirring things up just for the sport of it.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d love to hear about your most difficult customer or client. Leave a comment here. Perhaps we can start a movement against bad behaving customers. You know, I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if there isn\u2019t a website covering this. Maybe there\u2019s even a support group we could refer the bad customers to.<\/p>\n
If you haven\u2019t done so already, visit my website. It is completely revised and updated. We had an open house at Matilija Press recently. Stop by and view the wide array of articles. The article that gets the most hits, by the way, is one on how to be a better conversationalist. Isn\u2019t that interesting? Look at all of the books I have for sale. Study my resource list for authors and freelance writers. It\u2019s pretty massive and completely updated. (Let me know of other links I should add.) Learn about my online courses\u2014oh, a heads up. We\u2019re offering two of my courses at a discount for SPAWN members starting July 1 and August 1. http:\/\/www.spawn.org<\/a> Sign up for our free enewsletter. Click on \u201cFree Newsletter.\u201d<\/p>\n