The 4-Hour Workweek, Expanded and Update - Timothy Ferriss [84]
Call the companies at the end of the chapter to research costs. Plan and budget accordingly to upgrade infrastructure at the following milestones, which I measure in units of product shipped:
Phase I: 0–50 Total Units of Product Shipped
Do it all yourself. Put your phone number on the site for both general questions and order-taking—this is important in the beginning—and take customer calls to determine common questions that you will answer later in an online FAQ. This FAQ will also be the main material for training phone operators and developing sales scripts.
Is PPC, an offline advertisement, or your website too vague or misleading, thus attracting unqualified and time-consuming consumers? If so, change them to answer common questions and make the product benefits (including what it isn’t or doesn’t do) clearer.
Answer all e-mail and save your responses in one folder called “customer service questions.” CC yourself on responses and put the nature of the customers’ questions in the subject lines for future indexing. Personally pack and ship all product to determine the cheapest options for both. Investigate opening a merchant account from your local small bank (easier to get than with a larger bank) for later outsourced credit card processing at higher roll-out volumes.
Phase II: >10 Units Shipped Per Week
Add the extensive FAQ to your website and continue to add answers to common questions as received. Find local fulfillment companies in the yellow pages under “fulfillment services” or “mailing services.” If you cannot find one there or at www.mfsanet.org, call local printers and ask them for recommendations. Narrow the field to those (often the smallest) who will agree not to charge you setup fees and monthly minimums. If this isn’t possible, ask for at least 50% off both and then request that the setup fee be applied as an advance against shipping or their other fees.
Limit the candidates further to those who can respond to order status e-mail (ideal) or phone calls from customers. The e-mail from your “customer service” folder will be provided as copy-and-paste responses, especially those related to order status and refund requests.54
To lower or eliminate miscellaneous fees, explain that you are a start-up and that your budget is small. Tell them you need the cash for advertising that will drive more shipments. If needed, mention the competitive companies that you are considering and pit them against one another, using lower pricing or concessions from one to get larger discounts and bonuses from the others.
Before making your final selection, ask for at least three client references and use the following to elicit the negatives: “I understand they’re good, but everyone has weaknesses. If you had to point out where you’ve had some issues and what they’re not the best at, what would you say? Can you please describe an incident or a disagreement? I expect these with all companies, so it’s no big deal, and it’s confidential, of course.”
Ask for “net-30 terms”—payment for services 30 days after they’re rendered—after one month of prompt payment for their services. It is easier to negotiate all of the above points with smaller operations that need the business. Have your contract manufacturer ship product directly to the fulfillment house once you have decided on one and put the fulfillment house’s e-mail (you can use an e-mail address at your domain and forward it) or phone number on the online “thank you” page for order status questions.
Phase III: >20 Units Shipped Per Week
Now you will have the cash flow to afford the setup fees and the monthly minimums that bigger, more sophisticated outsourcers will ask for. Call the end-to-end fulfillment houses that handle it all—from order status to returns and refunds. Interview them about costs and ask them for referrals to call centers and credit card processors they’ve collaborated with for file transfers and problem solving. Don’t assemble an architecture of strangers—there will be programming