Help Etsy Communicate better with it's Community
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Original Post
Hey guys!
As a company, we are continually striving to keep the lines of communication open with our Community of Etsy members. I would love to hear your ideas about how you think we can improve our communication. Some ideas I can think of and have taken note of that have been mentioned before are sticky forum threads, an admin only forum heading, stars next to threads that have an admin post, and an alert system for major site changes and updates directly in your Etsy.
These are all ideas that we have taken note of and would love to hear more of your ideas and suggestions on how you think the communication lines could open up even a little bit more. This thread will act as an initial brainstorming session in which we can hear what your ideas are, take note of them, and then research them internally.
Let's please keep this thread on topic and stick to offering constructive suggestions for improvements. I think we can all work together in a constructive way to keep the lines of communication open and find some solutions for positive change.
I look forward to hearing your ideas,
Mary
Posted at 3:17pm Jun 16, 2008 EDT
Responses
Free speech improves communication. Censorship does not.
Posted at 11:47pm Jun 18, 2008 EDT
All muting Windys does is tell us that you want us to shut up instead of communicate. Exactly the opposite of what you're trying to say in this thread.
Posted at 11:49pm Jun 18, 2008 EDT
Haven't we been through this before, guys? I'm getting a strong and unpleasant sense of deja vu.
Posted at 11:50pm Jun 18, 2008 EDT
I am not sure what to suggest really. One thing I see mentioned is that people will get emails saying something in their shop is in violation, with no idea of what it is or why. Why not include this in the email? I also see people saying it takes forever for admin to get back to them, although I have never experienced this myself, I do admit. Also, sometimes it seems that many admin will be handling one particular problem a person has, and the person gets different answers from different admin because each admin is not up on what the other admin has told them already, and I am sure this causes much confusion.
Posted at 11:54pm Jun 18, 2008 EDT
Contrary to popular opinion, I think Etsy does communicate very well on the whole. The problem, I think, is that the communication is not quickly and easily available to a large number of users or is shouted down in uber-long unreadable threads that become shout-fests for every complaint anyone happens to think of whether related to admin's op or not. Some of the ideas listed in the op and a few others mentioned along this laborious thread could contribute to changing that. Sticky threads, starred admin posts, ask admin buttons, etc.
Also, I don't think you can rely on the Storque to get information out to the bulk of Etsy users because it is also a promo and feature vehicle. I, for one, have clicked on a few articles that caught my eye from the front page but never 'read' the Storque on any regular basis. I don't read magazines or blogs in general and there may be many others here like myself. Maybe a news/update only page/blog that is readily available (accessed from the front page) might be worth considering.
Posted at 11:56pm Jun 18, 2008 EDT
glittercritter says:
Did I ever tell you how much I love that evil bunny? Tis true.
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I wuv you too, Glitter.
But I DON'T love censorship. If your name was GlitterDon'tCriticizeUsOrWe'llShutYouUp, then I wouldn't love you at all.
Posted at 12:19am Jun 19, 2008 EDT
"We care about what we say to you and would hate to give false hope for a new feature arriving by a certain time and then fail those expectations. This is again something we have learned through example in the past three years! We want to be able to be accountable for what we say."
The solution to being accountable for what you say isn't to only give completely vague statements that say nothing. You cannot have a reputation for delivering on what you say if you don't say anything.
Posted at 12:20am Jun 19, 2008 EDT
tofunutloaf says:
Remember, your sellers are why you're in business. If we're giving you money, the very least we should get is decent customer service in return.
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EXACTLY.
Imagine if my customers (or potential customers) contacted me asking me a question and I didn't respond to them. What kind of an impression would they have of me?
1. They're not important to me
2. I have no intentions of doing/making what they want
3. They're annoying me
4. I don't want their business
5. I don't care about my own business
Now imagine if a customer bought from me and contacted me upon receipt of their package and wrote "The listing said this soap was blue but the soap I got is pink" and I convo'd them back and said "The soap is blue" and linked them to the listing in my shop showing a blue soap. And they wrote back and said, "yeah, i see that the soap in the listing is blue. What I'm telling you is MY SOAP IS PINK." To which I responded with another link to the blue soap listed in the shop.
What does THIS say about me?
1. I'm not listening to you
2. You're stupid, stupid--look at the picture, the soap is BLUE!
3. I don't really care about you now that you've paid me
4. It's not me, it's you. Really, it's YOU. Now stop pestering me
5. I don't have the time to actually ADDRESS your issue, so I'll just keep linking you back to the pretty little picture of the blue soap. See? It's blue. Got it?
What if a seller bought from me and contacted me a week later and said "Where's my order?" And I replied "I'm working on it". A few days later--"where's my order?" "I'm working on it." And so on and so on.
Once again, I'm showing my customers that they're not important to me, I don't value them, and that maybe I'm not even WORKING on their order. "Oh yeah, I'll get to your order right after I finish this article on "Cool Stuff for Curly Haired People" for my blog and then make a video of myself showing my fly dance moves."
You can't provide good customer service to your customers if THEY ARE NOT YOUR PRIORITY.
I bend over backwards for my customers. I don't think it's inappropriate for me to expect the same from the venue on which I sell (and pay money to).
Posted at 12:24am Jun 19, 2008 EDT