How To Lower Your ClickBank Refunds

Whether you’re a ClickBank affiliate or vendor, once you begin making sales you’ll sooner or later be met with the unfortunate reality of refunds. Despised, loathed, and even downright hated, refunds are a natural part of the ClickBank world. Refunds can be extremely discouraging and even lead some people to give up and quit all too soon! There’s nothing like experiencing the exhilarating highs of making your first few sales only to dip back into the doldrums of struggle and distress as one or more of those sales are refunded.

What can you do about it? In order to lower refunds you’ll need to understand why they typically occur. Refunds almost always have one common denominator, an unsatisfied or confused customer. Customers can be unhappy for numerous reasons, but a large majority of the time they are unhappy because the product did not live up to their expectations.

As an affiliate you can do one of two things…

You can switch to promoting another product.You can change your methods of promotion. If you’re making exaggerated claims in your advertising you’ll need to tone it down. Make sure the customer expectations you’re setting are meeting the reality of the product you’re promoting.

As a ClickBank vendor you have a wider range of options to lower refunds. Assuming the product has been delivered to the customer successfully your refunds will occur due to one of the following issues…

Your marketing isn’t in alignment with what you’re selling.Your product is too complicated or complex.You have poor customer support or no customer support.You have an affiliate who is making claims that are not fulfilled by your product or service.

Let’s discuss each one in a little more depth…

Your marketing isn’t in alignment with what you’re selling.

This is one of the largest reasons for refunds, especially in the Make Money Online niche, but it also applies to all other niches. If your product is making bold claims and promises but isn’t fulfilling those promises then chances are people are going to be unhappy. Your goal should be to please the customer BEYOND their expectations. It’s alright to set high expectations in your sales copy, just make sure you’re over delivering on those expectations. Don’t over sell, over deliver. This will ensure your customers will be thrilled with your product.

Your product is too complicated or complex.

Customers don’t want to work hard to understand your product, and many customers are not very technical to begin with. Understanding your customers will help you to make sure that your product is being explained and presented appropriately. Since digital products are so easy to refund it’s essential that not only are your customers happy with their purchase, but you’re attempting to make it as simple and easy as possible for them to use it.

You have poor customer support or no customer support.

Excellent customer support can go a LONG way to lowering your refund rate. Not only should your customer support be over the top friendly, supportive, and helpful, but it must be timely. Customers are impatient, and just as they received access to their product instantly, they will expect support in a timely manner as well. It is recommended that you check your support tickets and emails at least once a day, never going longer than 48 hours without responding. Going too long without support can result in customers getting antsy and going straight to ClickBank for their refund.

Having a customer support system in place can not only aid you in providing great support, but it can alleviate many support requests all together. By providing a customer support system which allows customers to find answers to frequently asked questions, your customers will be able to resolve their issues on their own. One such system we recommend is ClickDesk which integrates directly with ClickBank’s ticketing system and offers an FAQ section which proactively helps customers before their tickets are even submitted.

You have an affiliate who is making claims that are not fulfilled by your product or service.

If this is happens to you, reach out to the affiliate and ask them to make the necessary changes. If they are unwilling to change or you cannot reach them contact ClickBank. ClickBank will be able to contact them and request they make changes and if necessary even ban their account.

Keep in mind however, that no matter how much you work to prevent refunds they will still occur from time to time. There are things you cannot control and for a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with you or your product people will still request a refund. The good news is that ClickBank keeps track of refund requests and those who begin to abuse the refund policy (known as serial refunders) are prevented from making further purchases on ClickBank.

Overall the power to lower refunds is in your hands. Use these tips to not only improve your refund rate, but increase your overall customer satisfaction, resulting in positive word of mouth, happy customers, and repeat sales!