By Maesz
I recently ordered a slow cooker from an individual merchant on Amazon. I know, I know, a crock pot is not a very high tech item. However, the interaction delivered by the merchant was, I thought, instructive from a “how-to-do-business” aspect. (All email addresses, street addresses and phone numbers have been removed by me.)
I placed my order on 28 June 2010 at 10:40am CDT. This then appeared in my inbox:
On Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 11:08 AM, AUSTINTATIOUS wrote:
Order ID 002-1129187-2569809:
1 of Hb 3Qt Oval Slow Cooker With Gasket And Locking Strap [ASIN: B0026R7V0M]————- Begin message ————-
MY PLEDGE
Hello! Your item is packed and I am shipping your order USPS MAIL Tuesday morning. I would like to take a brief moment to explain my merchandising philosophy and promise to you, the customer. As a teenager, I was taught from early on that all a man really has to sell is his time and his reputation. My name and reputation in the community is far more important to me than the monetary gain on any sale.
I continually strive to advertise and sell products to you as represented. Your item was carefully packed and I hope it arrived safely, and that you are happy with your selection. However, I am not a professional merchant or expert. If there is any problem with your order, I would like the opportunity to make it right before you consider another course of action. Hopefully this will never happen, but if anything is untoward with this order, I ask you to contact me before you leave less than positive feedback, and give me the opportunity to make it right. A lot of misunderstandings are resolved by a simple communication. I promise to be honest, fair, and respond quickly to all customer inquiries. Please complete the transaction by leaving Feedback for me. Your Feedback lets me know there are no problems. Thank you for your business, trust, and confidence.
Austin Hoffman
The cooker arrived on 3 July 2010 via USPS at about 11am and I sent this email:
3Qt Oval Slow Cooker received 3 July 2010 in good shape. Thank you.
This then followed:
From: AUSTINTATIOUS
Date: Mon, Jul 5, 2010 at 11:28 AM
Subject: Re: Order information from Amazon seller AUSTINTATIOUS
To: Glenna Mae HendricksGreat, just the way I like it. Check me out at guerillagaragesales.com Click on Special Events Link and scroll down to see my PBS Television debut. Austin
*************** “According to most pundits, entrepreneurs only want to maximize their profits. However, the puny motive of profit maximization barely explains anything at all. There is the will to conquer, the impulse to fight, to prove oneself superior to others, to succeed for the sake, not of the fruits of success, but of success itself. Finally, there is the joy of creating, of getting things done, or simply exercising one’s energy and ingenuity. Capitalism is not simply a matter of counting coins. Capitalism is a romance and an adventure.”
–Joseph Schumpeter
A little heavy on the verbiage, perhaps, but I certainly felt secure. And, I felt any problems would be resolved expeditiously and to my satisfaction.
Isn’t that how you want your customers to feel?
Maesz also blogs at The Old Feminist and Wild Eyed Liberal, where she indulges in occasional outbursts of domesticity, like sharing recipes. I’m sure that’s why she got the slow cooker.
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- About the Author
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Glenna Mae Hendricks. She is an entrepreneur and income tax consultant, so we get lots of good tax tips from her. She is an oenophile (“look that up in your Funk and Wagnall’s,” she says), and a wine enjoyment teacher/guide who also writes wine notes at the Allen’s Retail Liquors site. Her political thoughts (and occasional outbursts of domesticity) appear at Old Feminist and Wild-eyed Liberal.
