Discussion, please, on how

[Equuisize]

Thought I'd introduce a discussion topic of sale board etiquette or maybe it'd be sale board manners on how you approach and respond to potential buyers.

Speaking for myself, I am not a seller at this time, haven't figured out how to separate myself from my babies

but I am looking, now, to add a horse.

However, when I sell other items, say on Craig's List, I responded to each inquiry with a thank you, even if the item is sold and mention that I hope I'll have something. in the future. they'd be interested in..... Seems good manners since they've taken the time to e mail an inquiry....

So you can kind of see where this is going

I e mailed on a mini in California, twice now, in a two week period and have received no response at all. So I thought maybe it had been sold and they just didn't bother to respond. Then the ad was re posted so I thought maybe, as I'm on AOL, my mail was getting filtered. Cheyenne sent an e mail off her non-AOL address, on my behalf and neither she nor I have received a response ........ She also had the same thing happen to her last week when responding to an ad for herself....

****So breeders/sellers or sellers****

I'm probably preaching to the choir here as I'm sure there are a lot of people that list on the sales board that do not participate in the Forum. However --

Do you check spam files or offer an alternative contact other than e mail for customers to get hold of you?

As a matter of course do you respond to each inquiry the same?

Even should a horse not turn out to be the 'right one' do you encourage a buyer to contact you again, or suggest you might have something else they might be interested in?

It seems in this time where we talk about a glutted market and diminishing buyers that everything should be done to encourage people to come to us. Not to make them think we are to busy for a polite response or worse yet that we are irresponsible sellers.

I know I may get to the stage of selling a baby some day and I'd like people to think I'd be a good person to do business with. A happy buyer will likely be a repeat buyer or possibly, at the least, turn to you, first, when looking.

I understand that there may be times when emails just do not reach their destinations, so giving the benefit of a doubt....mainly I am talking about just not responding to emails and letting them go by the wayside for whatever reason.

Your input, please!

 

[dgrminis]

I am with you -- I HATE not recieving a response. When people e-mail me about something I have for sale I always respond thanking them for e-mailing even if the item has already been sold -- if the one that they have inquired about has been sold I will let them know if I have others for sale and that way if they are interested they can say.

I know I e-mailed about a horse last spring and I never heard back -- I had forgotten that I ever even e-mailed and just yesterday the person responded to me saying that the horse was still for sale and the price -- but that has been almost a year now since I e-mailed them -- I didnt even rememeber e-mailing about the horse until I saw the pictures. haha

I do get some e-mails that go into my spam folder for some reason and my e-mail actually sorts them seperatly and delivers all spam in a quarantined file at 10 each night so sometimes I am slow to get them depending on when they were sent and when I check that quarantined file but generally I am still able to respond within 24-48 hours of them sending it

 

[kaykay]

I ALWAYS thank people for emailing even if the horse is sold or not what they wanted etc. I figure if they took the time to email and respond to MY ad I can take the time to respond. I have though had times when I emailed someone and came to find out later they never got the email. Now if I send an email and I dont hear back I pick up the phone and call. I think we all use email so much and we forget that sometimes they get lost somewhere in the unknown.

Also I insist on talking to buyers on the phone if they are really interested in a horse. I have found though in some instances buyers refuse to do this. I just find that really odd?? For me to be comfortable selling someone a horse I have to at least talk to them on the phone once.

 

[dgrminis]

Also I insist on talking to buyers on the phone if they are really interested in a horse. I have found though in some instances buyers refuse to do this. I just find that really odd?? For me to be comfortable selling someone a horse I have to at least talk to them on the phone once.

I wouldnt refuse to talk to someone on the phone BUT I do not call people very often and I perfer e-mail as my communication source as I work nights shift and on a 12 hour rotating schedule so some days that you would call I would be awake and others I would be asleep but if I were to have someone call at night then my husband would get woke up -- so I perfer to communicate via e-mail just because it is simpler for me in that aspect

 

[Lewella]

Also I insist on talking to buyers on the phone if they are really interested in a horse. I have found though in some instances buyers refuse to do this. I just find that really odd?? For me to be comfortable selling someone a horse I have to at least talk to them on the phone once.

In some cases I think some people would rather stick to email because then they have everything in writing in the event something goes wrong.

I respond to all emails on my ponies and thank the person usually at least twice in the email response for their interest. I check my spam filters daily. I've many times sold people a different pony than the one they originally inquired about. Good customer service is very important to me!

 

[alongman]

I agree with everything that's been written, but occassionally I do miss one to the spam filters or trash files. I would say that if I've inquired on a horse and not heard a reply, I'll send another requesting the information again. If I don't hear back a second time, I just move on.

 

[horsehug]

I always reply to buyers and sellers both.

I think it is common courtesy, and also have found that good customer service goes a long way! It also leads to repeat buyers for me.

Susan O.

 

[Millstone Farm]

It's very rude and bad business practice not to respond to inquiries.

How about the people who respond to ads? Some have even asked me to recommend transport companies to them and then POOF -- they magically disappear. I will always send a follow up email to anyone who inquires about a horse I have for sale, since photo files are sometimes too large for others' emails and get lost in cyberspace. I just would appreciate (from a seller's point of view), "s/he just isn't what I'm looking for." At least you know they received your info.

I won't take offense if someone decides the horse isn't for them. Basic courtesy is all any of us can give or ask for.

 

[shalamara minis]

I respond to all that email me about ads. They usually want more pictures and more info. But that is the last I will hear from them. no response of any kind. If its not the right horse at least tell me that. So many of the inquires are not buyers, just people asking questions.

 

[gvpalominominis]

This is actually a really good subject to discuss. I've heard a lot of people complain about not being able to sell horses and yet, they don't advertise enough, use poor pictures in their ads and maybe they are not responding to email inquiries.

I've also been the recipient of no response from a well know breeder (emailed them more than once to make sure it did not get over-looked accidentally)... when they still didn't respond.... I ended up buying over $8,000 in horses from someone else. I was told that that breeder is very bad about responding and it works best to go through someone they know. Well, I guess they really don't want to sell horses then..... Thus, finding out later that they ended up taking their "left overs" at the end of the year to an auction and sold them for an avg. of $100 a horse.

I've even been told by a person (mini breeder) that they view most people who email them as "tire kickers" and don't even bother responding. They also referenced that people from their area, if they contact them are just "nobodies" and not worth their time to even respond.... true statement! Personally, I feel that EVERY inquiry is a potential sale or referral. If I receive a very generic email that does not disclose who they are.... I will thank them for their inquiry, ask who they are (required to get information about my horses), what price range they are looking in so I can better help them find the right horse, or one that fits their needs, etc. It may not be a real informative response, but it does a couple things. It acknowledges them and is a courteous way to let them know you appreciate their interest but they can't be incognito. It will determine if they are serious if they respond back, it also usually gets rid of scammers, it may find out if they have the financial means to afford one of our horses and, if we do not have what they are looking for in the end, I will direct them to another breeder or breeder resource.

I always check my spam or bulk email... but have accidentally deleted (which can never be recovered) wanted emails. So, advice to Buyers.... always follow up shortly after 24 to 48 hours to make sure they received your email if there is no response.

 

[wildoak]

Absolutely - common courtesy should be a given, on both ends of a communication. I always acknowledge emails as soon as I receive them (I check email and spam everyday), and respond with as much information as possible. Pictures or videos sometimes aren't at hand and may take a bit longer, but I'll let you know that upfront. And if I inquire about a horse that ends up not being what I need, I do let the seller know when I make that decision. Just seems like the right thing to do.

Jan

 

[JWC sr.]

I don't know about you folks, but we enjoy just corresponding with other folks with like interests. So we try and stay in touch with people via news letters, emails etc. even if they do not buy from us. I feel like I have a debt of education if you will to the folks that answered all my stupid questions years ago when we got started. By answering the typical questions from new people we feel we can partially pay back the patience that so many displayed when we got started. And in the process sometimes we get a new prospective and/or idea from that contact.

As far as response is concerned, If a person takes the time to respond to an ad or sales list that we have handed out, we follow up with a like response, email to email or snail mail to snail mail. It is easiest for us to contact folks via email, but the other type works too. Our biggest problem is phone contacts, we are out of the house so much that it seems we can play phone tag for an endless period of time. OH!

As far as sales are concerned advertise, advertise and advertise some more. It is the key to sucess for anything you might have for sale. It is also one of the biggest problem we have in the Miniature Industry, we don't step outside our own little community when we do advertise. I am constantly amazed when we do a big horse venue and/or advertise in a big horse spot how many people are not aware mini's even exist.

As far as bad pictures go, I am blessed with a professional photographer in the house (Cindy, durn sure not me) and the old adage about a GOOD picture being worth a thousand words is sure true. And a video for serious buyers is sometimes even better.

If someone loves horses we mini owners have one of the best natured, most beautiful and really attractive horses in the equine world and everyone needs at least 3 LOL.

 

[Firefall]

Some emails just don't get through, so I keep trying.

But what bothers me and this is "Off Topic" they don't have pictures already but will get them and send.......still waiting on several that never sent the pictures.

Oh well thats fine, I moved on.

 

[Kendra]

I try very hard to respond to any inquiries within 24 hours. I generally have additional photos available to send, and it's no big deal to go take more.

I really appreciate any inquiry on our horses, it's always a compliment! I try to treat each as though they are going to buy. I distinctly remember going out to take additional pictures of a horse for someone and saying "there is no way they're gonna buy this horse". The next morning they phoned to say they'd take him!

I wouldn't mind an additional email after a day or two, even if for some reason I just wasn't able to respond yet, I want to be sure I get all inquiries!

I also rarely get a return email after I've sent more information and photos to an inquiry. I don't even need to know if they're interested in the horse, but I would appreciate an email letting me know they received the photos, etc. I worry that they didn't get though for some reason, but don't want to send again and be pushy.

 

[Janis]

I think it's just common courtesy to answer every e-mail whether it's someone just "kicking tires" or an inquiry about a sold horse. COMMON COURTESY POEPLE!

But, how about this one - get an e-mail regarding horses - e-mail back & forth a few times then get a phone call - in the phone conversation an appointment for the next weekend is set up - then get an e-mail saying "how excited they are & can't wait for next weekend to see the horses" - then POOF, they disappear. We've e-mailed back, nothing - stayed home all weekend - NOTHING!

How frustrating!!

Sorry, had to vent

Janis

 

[Equuisize]

Thanks to each of you that read this e mail and to those that responded.

I appreciated and felt so much better having read your responses.

Good manners is not a lost art in selling horses.

I hope everyone came away with something from the discussion.

On a good note I heard from the lost seller today. They

indeed had lost my e mails thru a spam filter with a high setting.

I learned I have some more homework to do before considering

that particular horse - which I will address in another thread -

and I know that I would have no concerns buying from this seller.

I hope that in the not to distant future I will be able to introduce

a new member to our family.....from one of you out there.

Thanks!

 

[Marty]

If anyone inquires about horses of mine, you will find good customer service here. If I can't help you, I'll find someone that can.

That being said, I put out a couple of feelers about a couple of horses a while back and got no response. I moved right on because there are too many nice horses out there and someone else will be glad to take my money.

 

[SWA]

I always try to answer every inquiry. I did find recently though, that when I was on "Individual" with all my yahoogroups, I got many emails from each group that I'm on, and intermittently among those were the inquiries. With so many emails all at once, I get a small dose of "anxiety" sometimes

with getting almost 200+ emails a day... I tried to keep up with them all. I wanted to stay on the "individual" setting with my groups so I wouldn't miss all the pretty horse pictures mainly. But, I just keep getting all flustered with my mail "in" box so full and I cannot read them all, and definately cannot respond to them ALL.

Lord HOWDY!!!

But, I always WANT to, knowing full well that I can't... OH! anyways...in effort to get to the ones that are inquiries of my horses, I "tried" to hold them priority so I was deleting through all the "yahoo group" posts so I could settle myself to knowing which were the "sale inquiries"....and in doing so, I inadvertently would delet the inquiries too.

So...I finally had to tell myself to put my yahoogroups back onto "DIGEST" form so that my "in" box wouldn't be so full, and it would be easier for "me" to keep track of the individual sale inquiries aside from the group topic postings. When I see where photos are being mentioned, I just go to the group yahoo site HOPING they posted the pics there too.

But, because of that, there have been a few inquiries that I have missed, and I'm so sorry!

(It's a weakness I have, I guess,

where I have to have a "clean workspace" to be able to work...and with sales inquiries intermingled with all those others...where my "in box" or "work space", if you will, is piled so high with 200+ emails...I start to "clean up" where I can get to the "priorities" of the day, and before I can catch myself, in the process of that I end up deleting the ones I was trying to get to.) OH!

On another note...there are have been a few inquiries where folks don't "sign" their name. I really do like to know "who" I am talking to about my horses. If you are inquiring on behalf of someone else, just say so, I don't mind, but at least let me know who "you" are that I am conversing directly with. Please?

 

[minih]

I have not had a problem getting people to respond to emails. I do like some of the others have mentioned have a problem getting a good pic to buy from. I do want more than one shot of the horse, and I would like that one from the side standing. Moving pics are very pretty and they do catch your eye, but I want one of the horse standing. What really aggravates is when someone wants you to buy just on their word and that one picture......sorry, it is my money and I would like to make my own decisions. I will pass on one picture horses.

Now when I am selling I do try to help in any way, I had one lady who wanted a video, after tons of pics, I got the video but could not get it on youtube, I need a book digital videos for dummies, I asked her if I could mail it and I never got a response. ??