WISMO? 6 Tips for Dealing with “Where is my Order” Queries

Order tracking is one of the most common reasons for customers reaching out to retail businesses. And with the increasing expectation that orders should be handled, processed and shipped as quickly as possible, the responsibility of updating, tracking and keeping the customer informed throughout the delivery process falls to customer support teams.

But when customers continuously bring their order queries to the various communication channels you have open, it can be difficult to keep track of everything while also meeting their growing expectations. This is often referred to as an influx of WISMO enquiries, which can harm your business and the relationship you have with your customers.

Understanding WISMO, its potential impact on your business, and how to reduce these types of queries is essential for any business to get to grips with. We’re exploring all of that and more in this comprehensive guide to dealing with WISMO queries.

Why Does WISMO Matter?

Without proper management, WISMO enquiries can quickly overwhelm your customer support staff and leave your CSAT down in the dumps. Not only will your agents be spending the majority of their time responding to the same kinds of questions for different customers, but they’ll also be wasting a considerable amount of time pulling data and information about their orders from across different communication channels and your order systems.

WISMO becomes a big problem when teams can’t easily access delivery performance insights that can help them proactively handle post-purchase issues and keep customers adequately informed. It’s also equally as much of an issue if customers don’t have access to the delivery or returns insights they need.

All these issues indicate that your post-purchase customer experience is less than ideal and is in desperate need of a makeover.

As we’ve mentioned, “Where is my order?” enquiries can be directed at your team through any communication channels. Below are a few of the most common ways that customers will contact a business with their WISMO enquiries.

Below are six of our top tips for cutting down the number of WISMO queries your customers need to make.

Most WISMO queries are on the topic of order timeframes, and in today’s world dominated by next-day delivery and express shipping, customers want real-time tracking information to be provided directly by the sellers.

At every stage, the customer should be updated on their order status in a way that works for them, whether that be via a self-service portal or a page on your website. Link your tracking directly with the company that ships your orders but be sure to include your own branding to show authority.

It’s worth setting up order alerts based on customer communication preferences. This way, it’s far more likely that the updates are reaching the customer at the right time, rather than being missed on a platform they don’t tend to check.

This is a great way to reduce WISMO if you already offer real-time tracking, but it doesn’t appear to be being utilised. Alerts can be linked to the self-service portal or page to direct customers to the information they need without contacting your team.

The post-purchase experience can make a huge difference in whether customers feel the need to contact your team with WISMO queries. Directly after an order, customers should receive a confirmation including their order number for tracking, the shipping address for the order, expected delivery times, and anything out-of-the-ordinary they should be aware of.

The more information you can give them immediately, the more satisfied they’re likely to be with their post-purchase experience and the less likely they’ll be to have questions or concerns regarding the whereabouts of their order. It’s also recommended to collect feedback on their CX to find out what could be improved and what works well. This can be incredibly helpful for deciding the next steps when trying to reduce these types of communications.

Automation can be a great tool for reducing WISMO since you can set up automatic updates for customers through one or more of their preferred communication channels. This frees up time that your agents would normally spend on the phone, emailing or directly contacting your customers about their enquiries. Instead, information can automatically be sent out via text or email before your customer has a chance to think of a question about the status of their order. Automation helps you stay ahead of the curve, rather than falling behind with slow and outdated systems.

If your orders typically take a certain amount of time to reach customers, be sure to let them know. Similarly, if you’re experiencing delays that are out of the ordinary, it’s important to keep your customers informed as soon as you know.

By setting clear expectations for when orders should arrive, you can reduce the need for customers to contact you because you’ll be ahead of the game.

An updated FAQ or knowledgebase on the topic of shipping can be an invaluable tool when it comes to minimising the number of WISMO contacts. This can be linked to various times during the post-purchase window, alongside being highlighted in any additional alerts or updates sent out to customers. This can help them find the answers to their questions themselves, creating a more efficient process where the most accurate information is readily available.

Tracking the volume of WISMO queries your contact centre is experiencing is vital. Without regular monitoring, it’s difficult to determine whether your team are dealing with a high or low volume, never mind being able to do something about it.

Therefore, it’s best to set up analytics and insights into the reasons for inbound customer communications and find out what proportion of these are regarding WISMO. You can do this in a variety of different ways, including integrating your contact centre with third-party systems or implementing communications software that can offer real-time analytics and bespoke reporting.

Gnatta can transform the way you handle WISMO enquiries and boost your CSAT scores for the post-purchase experience. How do we do it? Let us show you.

With the right technology and a good understanding of why WISMO queries can pile up, your business should be able to keep these inbound communications low and maintain high customer satisfaction.