In April of this year, ClickBank added some new enhancements that – when appropriate for your business model and when used properly – can help our customer service team prevent refunds on your products! The new enhancements include additional fields for publishers to add a customer service phone number, a customer service email address, and product titles and images for all of the products listed in their account. Information on all of these additions can be found in the 2008-04-15 ClickBank Release Summary.

Recently, I asked our customer service representatives to name the number one thing they felt publishers could do to help them save sales when customers call in. Unanimously the response was that the addition of a customer service phone number would be the most helpful! They said they hear from customers all the time that are discouraged by not being able to contact the publisher by phone. Often, they are frustrated by not receiving a response by email, so they decide to just have the purchase refunded instead.

We understand that a customer service phone number doesn’t work for all online businesses, and that helping customers by email is sometimes more streamlined and efficient. However, keep in mind that the customer service phone number that you provide in your ClickBank account is only given out to customers that contact ClickBank directly for assistance (typically when the customer states that they have been unable to get a response from the publisher by email). It is not provided to the customer during the order process, and you do not have to list the phone number on your Web site. However, when a customer calls ClickBank, and we are able to provide them another avenue to get the help they need, that gives your customers confidence that you are committed to their satisfaction!

You should also be sure to add product titles for each of the products that you offer in each account. The product title not only offers the opportunity for you to provide clear information about the products your customers are purchasing before they buy, it also gives our customer service team the information they need to clearly describe the purchase that was made if customers call in and are unsure why ClickBank appears on their statement. If you don’t include a product title by listing one in your account or by passing a title through your sales link, the default “title” is [CB-nickname-item#], for example CB-test1-1. Think about how much more effective a conversation with a confused customer is when our customer service team can immediately provide them with the title of the item that was purchased, compared to the customer service person trying to figure out what the item is by looking at your Marketplace Title or Description.

Every little thing you do to lower your return rates can have a big impact on your profits! Take a few minutes to check your account and make sure you have as much information in place as possible to help us help you.