Over 90% of our online inquiries are from start-ups, or those who just plan to establish a business. Honestly, most of the inquiries gave us a headache for different reasons as the following.
Vague description
Among a big half of the inquiries, there are only few words, such as ‘can I have your catalog’, ‘would love a catalog with pricing’, ‘looking for Mother’s Day blankets’, etc. We can’t get any clue from such sentences. Try to provide more relevant info in your first inquiry message, such as images, market position, retail prices, etc. You will get our professional tailored solutions promptly as long as you’ve done your homework for the inquiry. Trust me!
Too many back and forth
You need to answer all the questions one by one when they’re reasonable & useful. Sometimes, we listed several necessary questions to work out the accurate pricing, but ended by missing one or two answers from customers. Then we have to resend the questions. It’s indeed frustrating to move too many rounds when it should be done in one. Low efficient communication will definitely decrease the willing to cooperate.
Tedious emails
The most tedious mail I ever received includes 627 words. Exactly! ‘I will read this mail after all the other work is done.’ I told myself in my heart. I still felt bad when I counted the words just now. A brief, to the point mail can show what types of business people you’re, and save our time.
Too late reply
Once I was pretty happy to get a sample order. Soon I felt unhappy as the customer moved so slowly. We agreed to create the artwork for her. It took over 2 months to get her color numbers. Then after over 1 month, she informed me to change the font. We almost decided to refund the sample cost and give up. People will lose faith in you if the communication is too loose.
No feedback
In our experience, most inquiries asking for catalogs & sharing nothing won’t give us any feedback. The other situation is, many customers paid sampling or courier charge, and just disappeared afterwards. Both types of customers will be blacklisted in our system. How would you feel if you customers treat you like this? Excellent vendors are extremely important for a start-up business. Give timely feedback is a good way to get their trust.
How you inquire is super vital. Avoid above mistakes, and polish each of your inquiry mail or message before sending them out. We will definitely reply to your inquiries with valuable content.
