How to handle incoming customer questions about products?

Hi all,

My question is how to handle incoming questions about products. I’m currently working in the QA department for a nutraceutical company. We use different contract manufacturers to make our dietary supplements such as probiotics, turmeric, omega 3 fish oil, etc. We sell our products online only and we get questions about our products everyday from customers who buy them. Some questions are very simple such as, are our products non gmo? Those kinds of questions are not troublesome. It’s the questions that are a little bit more in depth that have me questioning how much information should I really reveal. Questions such as who do our manufactures use for third party lab testing, requests for product spec sheets or CofA’s, etc.. Our customer service department isnt very knowledgeable about dietary supplements to start with so they ask me what to respond to customers all throughout the day and this gets very frustrating because I have my other QA duties that are higher priority. So I guess what I’m asking is what are other people’s experiences with handling customer questions and requests? How much information are you giving out to customers?

We have a FAQ worked up with the myriad of questions and your answers for each one.

You need to be as transparent as possible with your custoners, however there will sometimes be questions that get into secret or propietary areas and the answers you provide will of course need to a bit more diplomatic than others.

Recently I had a question for an online supplement company called Vitacost in the states for several supplements that I take myself - the question was, of what are the raw materials that make up the gelatin capsules for about 4 different items - the short answer was they believed they were bovine which was acceptable to me, however I needed to ensure the gelatin was not sourced on pig bones as pork violates my faith.

They said they would contact me within 24 hours as the 4 supplements were made by 3 different contract manufacturers and they would be calling each one.

They did and I got my answer within about 12 hours.

And they indicated they were checking with their 50 or so contract companies so they could add this,question and the provide the correct info.

I like Vitacost.

We have what we call a technical data sheet with functionality and specifications (ingredients, testing specifications, strength) information and the a Regulatory data sheet with product certifications (Kosher, Halal etc.), allergen information and GMO status (Certification if applicable).  (we also add some regulatory links if the customer want to look into anything further)  

As the company who sells the product under our brand name we are responsible for all our co-packer/co-manufacturers.

These documents stop most of the individual calls.  You could combine them into one information document and post it on your website.

Absolutley an FAQ page.....look at your top 10-20 questions and put those on that page

Anything else specific, train customer service to reply that they will respond within 1 or 2 business days with the answer

It's always best to be honest and transparent