Of course, one way they might choose to solve this problem is by returning goods. Your job is to show them there is an alternative that will be a win-win situation for both parties. Here are two ways you can do this:

1. Offer a higher-spec / revised spec product. 2. Offer an additional product.

Just remember not to “sell” but to “help”: Show customer a solution that will meet their needs. Offer a discount and make it as painless as possible for customer to part with more money. At same time, always be sure to leave door open for them to back out from existing sale so that they don’t feel pressured. Follow this simple strategy and they will thank you for helping them out while you pocket extra profit.

4. Glean Knowledge

Let’s face it, this particular sale may still sink beneath waves before you can rescue it. But all is not lost! Anything you learn from this experience can pay you back many times over in increased future revenue.

What do experiences this customer had tell you about:

- The product itself? - Your service? - The information on your site? - Navigation on your site? - External factors – such as difficulties with your payment provider?

Be sure to bear in mind following points to get most out of these questions:

- Don’t assume your customer is just an idiot: If he / she has made a mistake, it is fairly likely that other people have done and are doing same thing.

- Don’t take everything customer says at face value: For example, it may appear that issue is product itself, but closer inspection could reveal that your site failed to give them enough information prior to purchasing, leading to this later disappointment.

Once you have discerned problem - solve it! It is costing you sales right now.

5. Disgruntled customer turned advocate

If you have successfully followed process outlined above, not only have you saved sale, but maybe you have even added to it and valuable insights you have collected and acted on are boosting your revenue right now.

Perhaps you are thinking that it can’t get much better than this. But there is still ultimate payback – icing on cake: Turning an unhappy customer into an advocate for your business.

Your positive attitude will often not only secure sale, but also win over customer themselves. In my experience this is exemplified by fact that a surprisingly large proportion of testimonials I use originated in a negative customer experience.

But far from wanting their money back, these customers are now encouraging others to part with theirs through their testimonials. Make this your goal when dealing with a disgruntled customer and all heartache along way will be well worth it in end.

Generally, if you want to maximize your chances of publication, avoid including affiliate links in your article. You can sometimes get away with it, if for example you include a link to a straight domain that actually forwards via your affiliate link to another web site. The publisher might not notice, as it appears to be a straightforward web site link, but I find it quite sneaky and dishonest, and I would not generally recommend it.

3. Avoid Spelling Mistakes

The sight of a spelling mistake in an article is another big turn-off for publishers. It turns what could otherwise be an acceptable article with good chances of publication, into a poor quality article that will end up in trash. Publishers are busy people - they don't have time to edit out your mistakes. But main point is that spelling mistakes leave a Very Bad Impression - it points to a lack of care on your part, and reduces credibility of information provided in article.

Take a minute to run your article through a spell checker - there's a free one online at http://www.spellcheck.net/ - before you submit it. You may be surprised at what you failed to spot.

4. Do Not Include Hype In Your Resource Box

While your resource box can include a link to your web site, it should not read like an advert. I see many resource boxes that read like over-hyped promotional material more at home on a classified ad page. Your resource box should contain some brief information about you as an author, with a link to your web page - nothing more.

A badly written, overly-promotional resource box can cause a publisher to reject your article, even if your article would otherwise have been accepted - simple reason is that such a hyped-up resource box would 'lower tone' of their publication, and turn off their readership. That's obviously not what they want to do.

Just respect your potential publishers, and keep your resource box brief and to point.

As long as you avoid these common mistakes, you are on right track, and you should see results from your article submissions greatly improve.