Can you Recreate the Personal Connection of Tea Buying in China through Online Retail?

I run an online business. I have a site and a blog. I used to hold chat sessions once a month – sometimes more often – sometimes less often. I found my clients (customers) to really love these chat sessions, it made them feel more connected to me, my services, and it was fun for me as well.
I have not done this for ages now as life got really busy when my daughter had her neurosurgery but maybe I need to considering doing them again.
I believe if you held such chat sessions that you would find it mutually beneficial to both your customers and yourself.

Having read the article, I applaud your efforts to replicate what sounds like a truly fantastic tea experience. I have only experienced a few tea shops in person and a few more online. Never have I had the chance to “do tea” in China – however, I must admit I get more sense of personality from your online only store than I do from many other retailers that I frequent in person. As you say, the sales associates are there to sell and their time is divided and all too brief. There is rarely an opportunity to talk tea for more than a few minutes.

In terms of continuing the conversation, I don’t know that it would be practical but maybe you could try to set up a set time where one could go on your site and “ask the tea expert” in live chat – along the lines of the “ask a librarian” chat windows that some public libraries have. It would make interaction more real-time than e-mail correspondance and might spark some live-action tea discussion with multiple customers rather than just the one customer. Of course that would necessitate you or one of your co-workers/employees being tethered to the computer on occasion. Like I said, it may not be practical. : ) Just a thought!

I like all the previous ideas. The more people get to interact with you, the more personal it will feel. Web cams and such are a great way to personalize your interaction with others. People can see expressions and, of course, know it is really you. A web cam might not be very practical though.

I was mightily impressed with the customer service when I placed an order. The tea is great but feeling appreciated is going to stick with me for longer. I think you are getting closer to your goal. I know you are one of the vendors who regularly interacts with the tea slurping population. It’s pretty impressive. :D

What a lovely article. There is a Chinese tea shop near me in Florida that has the same vibe you mention. The owners are always brewing a pot of tea and you can walk in and spend hours there. It’s a nice change of pace from the traditional tea shop. Although I will admit I’m the type to ask questions so I definitely squeeze time out of the sales associates at other tea shops more so than the average customer.

I agree with others about the chat. I think this would be lots of fun to do a focus tasting. A website called TChing used to do something similar, but it was not live – people just wrote about it after the fact. The only thing tricky with chat would be settling on a good time. Because of time zones there’s no one good time for everyone. But since a lot of your customers are US or North American based, it shouldn’t be too hard.

As far as live chats and finding a right time as Rachel was talking about, the times could be staggered. Inconvenient for Verdant maybe but a Saturday chat one time and an evening weekday chat another time to see what the turnout is would be a good test.