¿Are you a professional hoofboot reseller? ¿are you facing returns or bad comments in social media? Then… Keep on reading, you’re in the right place!
I’m sure that you’re selling more than 1 single hoofboot & that you’re focused on reaching as many customers as possible, making them come back as soon as possible and selling them some extra products that they didn’t knew about their need before buying from you like hoof care oinments, dietary supplements… It’s quite easy that if you have been managing your hoofboot business for a while you had end up feeling that in general, business is quite easy but customers can be quite difficult. In fact each customer has it’s own preferences, limitations, realities, personal situations and problems… and also hoofboots are not as easy to sell online as other products and might need some extra attention from your part for different reasons… hooves comes in a huge variety of shapes, horses have an enormous different ways to reach the ground, and owners have different expectations.
In this article I’ll forward you 10 tips for your hoofboots business that will help you to reduce the amount of returns that you’re getting, and increase the satisfaction of your end users so they leave good comments on the social media and help you build trust that will materialize in an increase in your sales.
1.- Create a strong bond with the manufacturer of the products you offer.
We, manufacturers, put a lot of effort and love on the products that we create. At the end of the day we created what we though that will help to improve some aspects of the people’s real and daily life. And believe me when I say that all manufacturers start from the same point of view.
So! Learn to know your providers, their reasons underneath the creation of that specific product… they’re the only one that can really transmit you with passion, honestity and clarity all the whys and all the hows… their dreams and their aspirations, their vision of the market… See the manufacturer as a companion as somebody who is helping you in your journey and who also needs your support, feedback and help to stablish a long term win win alliance.
Behind every company and especially in our sector, so specific and so special, there are people… never forget about it!
2.- Show as much as each product as possible.
Each product has different perspectives, sides & details. Althought it might not be of vital importance for you, your clients, because are unable to touch or directly test the products you’re selling, needs to accumulate as much visual information as possible to convince themselves that it’s the right product and that the money will be smartly spend.
For that reason, I recommend you to use 360º product imagery for each of the hoofboots that you’re already selling. If right now you’re unable to invest in that, make sure that you show sepparated images of each perspective and that they can easily zoom in and out to examine the small details. So… when talking about hoofboots, side, front and rear views are simply NOT enough! you should also provide the customer with outer sole views, inner sole views, inner walls details, fitting details between parts or pieces, fastening system, product finishes… It’s also useful for them if you show some shots of the boot fitted on a hoof so they can get the feeling on how they will actually fit their own horse and the proportions and space between their horse’s anatomycal parts.
3.- It’s imperative to also provide your prospects with some videos.
I’m sure that there’s no need to explain you how powerfull are videos when talking about product sales and closing ratios. But the sad reallity is that our current resellers rarely produce them by themselves… they have a big tendency to ask us for that resources. Let me explain you why you should do your own hoofboots videos and NOT only use the video provided by the manufacturer or brand. The answer are the next 3 words, authority, bond and trust. If you have done any seminar or training in sales, you should know that those 3 words make magic because more authority you have, easier will be for you to gain the respect and admiration of your prospects. Stronger bonds or relationships with your potential clients are the basis for the 3rd word, trust. Nobody will buy a product from you if they don’t trust you previously! So making your own videos will get your business and your brand to a totaly different level.
But… Which should be the content of the videos that are related with hoofboots? From my perspective you should touch at least the next 5 topics in one or more videos:
– Unboxing: The customers like to see how they will receive the goods and what they can expect to find in the box. Also, you can transmit them the feeling that the whole product generates ones arrives to it’s new destiny. It’s NOT about making a list of contents, which is already important, it’s also about emotions and feelings… The smell, the touch, the feeling of the care that the manufacturer has put while creating it’s product… all those things are what converts a potential client to a buyer.
– Sizing & Fitting: Once you have covered the unboxing part, your prospect wants to know how to select the size and how to use it properly. So it’s very important to show them how to make a good sizing, because every hoofboot has it’s own sizing chart, but also is important to show them how to fit the boots on their horse’s hooves step by step, focusing on the position, the state of the hooves, important details to make it safer or easier… Your own experience and personal touch will make to your prospect to always buy this type of products from you.
– Maintainance: As I have said before, hoofboots are a special product to sell online. Hoofboots have to endure a very hard work. They have to deal with mud, stones, sand… under a heavy animal that goes at fast speeds and does fast direction changes and movements with not always the best of footfalls… So… no matter which brand are they using or which material are they made of. All of them needs some sort of maintainance. So warning them on what to do and how to do it is one of the best ways to have a happy client, because they also knows what to expect if they do not do it!
– Conclusions: If you do the things right, your clients will trust you. Said in another way… your opinion matters for them! This is a good and a bad thing because in order to create long term relationships it’s imperative to be TOTALLY honest with them. From my point of view, the ONLY approach possible is to test every product that you sell prior offer it to others. Then you have your own conclusions based on your own experience and your history using boots. So… explain them the strengths and weaknesses of each boot from your perspective and your experience and rate it! Give 3, 4 or 5 stars depending on how deeply you believe on the product (I’m assuming that you will not think about selling a product that for you have 1 or 2 stars).
– Testimonials: And finally if you want to really empower your prospects to buy the type of hoofboot that you enjoy the most, give them some real testimonials between your clientele.
4.- Write amazing descriptions using copywritting techniques.
There’s people that before taking a decision wants also to read and make sure that they’re buying what they need in orther to solve their problem. Use the power of the words and create a compelling description that not only talks about the features of the boot, but also talks about the advantages over other boot models and most important, the benefits that they will receive from it. Write it as if your prospect was totaly blind and make sure that you’re transmiting emotions through your words. As you have realized, this is ONLY possible if you have tried personally the product and if you’re totatlly honest.
5.- Show how to size the boot unequivocally.
When I analyze some of our reseller’s webpages I realize that this aspect is greately forgotten despite being one of the most important aspect to cover deeply if you really want to avoid returns. Yes… every reseller outhere has the sizing charts attached to the product BUT I see 2 bad assumptions underneath…
- The first one is to think that the end user will get the measurements of their horse’s hooves right.
- And the second one is to assume that the end user is prepared to use the sizing chart properly understanding that the hoof is a 3D object and not 2D and that every material have it’s own giving margin.
So when hoofboots are in place, my recommendation is to use one of the next 2 strategies:
- Create an automatic form that your prospect can fill and that once is finished sends them an automatic email with the best possible option.
- Offer them a prepaid personalized choosing & sizing service.
I cannot stress enough how important it’s to address this point in as much detail and precision possible. From my point of view this is the KEYSTONE for selling hoofboots online.
6.- Offer a voucher or a discount in exchange of their testimony.
Encourage your current clients to share with you and your possible prospects how have they felt once receiving and using the boots. Offering testimonials is the best way to convince somebody that is still undecided.
7.- Make returns only possible if a form is filled up and sent to you.
The best way to not falling into the same mistake over and over again is to understand the reasons underneath the returns that you’re receiving. Knowing the reasons gives you the power to take action and make those approppriate changes that you need to do to give the best of the products you offer.
8.- Offer live chat for real time support.
This point is slightly different from what I already explained before about the sizing and choosing personalized help which is an authomatized form or a prepaid service. The function for a real time support chat is that the prospect feels accompained during the purchase process and can solve their most immediate doubts.
9.- Pack the goods as if they were going to war.
Hoofboots are not an item that can broke during the shipping BUT the package or the item box can be heavily damaged due to bad handling of the carrier. All the items that the manufacturer has created and that accompanies the hoofboot itself are there for a reason. And normally the reason is to offer an extra experience to the end user during the whole unboxing process. If those items are damaged, then the end users experience will NOT be the same!
10.- Be totally clear about your REAL delivery times and your tracking system.
Customers are getting used to receive their products the same day or the next day after they have bought it due to amazon’s efficiency. If you cannot provide this speed, be clear about it! Explain when they will receive their goods, which carrier are you using most of the time and obviously provide them with a tracksystem to localize their parcel anytime they’re in need for it.
¡Congratulations! If you have reached this point means that you’re really interested in improving your business results and creating happy end users! In Evo we love the people with your mindset! So come in, click the button below and check how can we have fun working toghether!
