I never get customer questions or chat-Are You?

[Wildart]

I would love to know why, despite being a member since 2007, I have never had any kind of interaction with a customer. Is this a Good or a bad thing do you think? Does that mean they have never had issues with my products( I doubt this, but who knows?). Would love to know what  others are experiencing(long standing members  or otherwise)

What kind of interactions do you have, is it related to being a mega seller, that is selling many products per day?

Thoughts?

[Cat]

I think it might have to do with the sorts of things you design. I do mostly weddings and events, so people tend to message me quite frequently. I probably get at least 3-4 per day.

The vast majority of the requests have to do with shipping for day-of-event items like programs, seating charts, etc. People are usually in a bit of a frenzy by the time they're that close to their big day, so there's lots of concern about getting their stuff in time.

In the planning stages I get a lot of questions from brides-to-be wanting me to match an exact color so the invitations will match the bridesmaid dresses... yadda, yadda, yadda. Sometimes people need help finding matching items like RSVP cards, envelopes, or enclosures to go with their invitations. 

I also do backgrounds and frequently get questions about those, though they're rarely things that actually apply to the background image. They usually want help with the design process, so I point them to either the original designer or to the LIVE service.

I don't think I've ever had communications from a customer regarding a product that's a straightforward piece of art or something that requires very little in the way of customization. For that sort of stuff, I think people just buy it if they like it or skip it if they don't, though I think people who do a lot of fabric or home decor probably get the same sorts of color matching inquiries as the wedding stuff provokes. 

Don't know what sorts of questions other people get, but that's my experience!

[KeegansCreation]

Yes, it's definitely about what you design. I don't have wedding suite designs so I don't get those kinds of customer messages. But I do have a lot of those your-photo-here designs for Mother's Day and Father's Day. People message me to ask if I can reassure them it will arrive before that day. Which of course I can't. Sigh. I can only hope. And direct them to actual customer service.
I'm not a mega seller.

[Barbara]

Absolutely. Customers don't (or rarely) need help with a design that has one or two text templates. I've had a couple instances where a customer wanted something specific, but that's it.

[Artsiren]

I have only ever had one interaction. A message from a potential customer asking if one of my products (with a white background) was available as the inverse, black background variant. I created and published one, then replied back with the link. No reply, no sale. But no worries - I ended up with an extra product for sale! Lol.

[Caprice]

I had the same exact thing happen.  "I love X design. Does it come in white?"

Made the thing in white.  No sale.  Never heard from them again, lol.

[Windy]

I have been here since June of 2005 @Wildart  I have had one chat, and that was from another Designer.  When I read in the forums about all the communications wedding suite designers get, that starts to sound like real work to me, and makes me not want to venture too far into that territory!

[Cat]

Ha! It's definitely a job, not a hobby!

[Wildart]

thanks guys I amfinding this all very interesting. perhaps I don't want the interactions LOL

[JLynnW]

I have had only one interaction since early 2020.  It was an inquiry if gift cards could be add to the actual packaging along with the merchandise purchased.  I directed them to customer service.

[Cat]

Actually, it would be great if Zazzle could offer that! 🙂

[waterart]

I only had one interaction with a customer who wanted to put text on one of my designs. And I had one other message from a customer but I think they messaged me by mistake because I have no idea what they were talking about.

[A_New_View]

I have only been a member since 2020 and have had only one interaction with a customer.  It was a question about a unity candle design. They were asking me about making some adjustments to a unity candle design that I had. We worked together and I ended up designing one just to their liking. I guess it was kind of like a Zazzle Live thing. I really enjoyed it and hope to have more customer interactions like that in the future.

[randysgrandma]

I don't get many but I have had a few. Most were about shipping, cancelling an order, or arrival times for an order. Only a few have been about designs. 

[BKMuir]

I have only ever had "chats" from other designers stating they like something I designed, or that they have some product or promotion scheme that I might like. I have never had any messages from customers.

I try to check at least once a month for any possible messages, as I have never seen any indicator that I receive any.

[Baylee]

 I do get quite a few chat messages. Not as many as Cat mentions in her reply, but probably one every two or three days. Since your question made me curious, I did a little research into m6y stats for these messages. Of all the messages I received, only 63% were legitimate design questions. The rest should have gone directly to Customer Support. 

Of those who requested actual custom design work done, including color matching or layout revisions, I'm was happy to discover that 75% actually resulted in a sale ...that's a number that I can live with. 

Just over half of the legitimate queries were related to my wedding designs. The others broke down as follows: 

13% Birthday & Sweet 16 designs, 6% business cards, 4% Christmas designs, and 26% all other products ...everything from binders to cornhole games. 

[Wildart]

thanks everyone, I guess that rounds it a little, some queries are landing  in the right place and resulting in genuinly helping the customer with a design.