Who is responsible for sales: the client or the agency?

21.06.2019 | Marketing Strategy, Useful Tips

Dmytro Romanovskyi, CEO and founder of the «Destra» internet marketing agency

Yesterday, we placed three test orders on the website of one of our clients’ online stores. The product was a mass-market item — nothing exclusive and something that was also available from competitors. And there were plenty of competitors.

We waited for 24 hours and collected the data. Now we can share what we found.

Nobody called back about this order at all. It was simply overlooked in the admin panel. Can you imagine? They missed a customer who was ready to buy and bring revenue to the company.

The second order went a little better. At least someone responded to it — eventually.Time the order was placed: 17:07. Time of the operator’s call: 18:03

Our impressions of the conversation with the operator:The operator didn’t introduce themselves or mention the name of the store, website, or company. This could have been absolutely any store operating in this niche. What’s more, a customer may place orders with several stores at the same time, so mentioning the store’s name is important for reinforcing the brand in the customer’s mind.
The customer was told that a UAH 250 prepayment was mandatory, even though the website stated that the minimum order value was UAH 200. So apparently, every customer has their own threshold at which a prepayment becomes mandatory.
No additional offer or upsell was made to increase the order value and qualify for free delivery.
The operator didn’t mention any current promotions or the loyalty program. And why tell customers about promotions? Surely that’s not what they were created for?
When the customer said they would think about whether to place the order, the operator simply told them to call back. They didn’t ask when would be a convenient time to call the customer back — they just said, “Call us back.”

ORDER #1

The order was marked as “completed” in the admin panel, but in reality, the order was not completed. There is a good chance that the managers will never follow up on this order again. Most likely, that is exactly what will happen.
The overall impression of the conversation with the manager was: “Let’s make this quick,” as the end of the working day was approaching.

Verbatim quote:
— Well, when you decide, give us a call. Tomorrow.
— Which number should I call? Who should I ask for? What’s your name? Or should I give you the order number?
— Just call us on this number. There are four managers here, someone will answer.

ORDER #2

ORDER #3

Time the order was placed on the website: 17:12
Time of the operator’s call: They called back at 11:09 the following day.

Our impressions of the conversation with the operator:

Once again, the manager didn’t introduce themselves and opened with a generic phrase without mentioning the website or company name.
This time, they did mention a promotion (which is certainly a good thing) and offered an additional product at a promotional price.
When the customer said they would think about it, the manager again told them to call back when they made a decision. When asked which number to call, they simply said to look for it on the website.
The order was marked as cancelled in the admin panel, even though a follow-up call and another reminder could potentially have resulted in a purchase — after all, the customer had already placed an order on the website.
Managers are unlikely to return to a cancelled order.

The text published on the website in the “Delivery and payment” section:

Online store “XXX” cares about its customers, which is why we offer convenient payment and delivery options. You won’t have any problems with these steps, as an online store manager will contact you shortly after you place your order and explain in detail what to do next.

We can only bring customers to the website and encourage them to add products to their cart. From there, your company’s employees take over — they need to follow up promptly, communicate with customers effectively, offer additional products, and make sure the customer buys from you rather than a competitor.
The lack of sales scripts, fixed salaries that aren’t tied to sales volume, and a lack of understanding of the importance of customer service — the list of factors that negatively affect sales could go on and on.
As an agency, we can’t influence your internal business processes. We can only occasionally check how they work from the outside, so to speak, and provide our recommendations.