Draft A Perfect Amazon Plan Of Action

Amazon Plan of Action Suspensions are definitely a big deal for many Amazon sellers. It is like at one instance you are running a thriving business and the second, it’s all ruined. With enormous competition, it is almost crucial to stay at the top of your game. And failure to do so leads to poor business. The pressure is always a knife to neck situation because you never know when your product ranking slips down on the platform. And this really hampers your overall business. But, a seller suspension is a complete stall. And to successfully deal with that you need an impeccable strategy i.e. your Amazon Plan of Action.

What is an Amazon Plan of Action?

There are multiple reasons behind a seller suspension. But, the important point is “What exactly is an Amazon Plan of Action”.
Well to simplify, it is the strategy that you devise to deal with any possible issue imaginable that can lead to a seller suspension. Different situations require different plan of action that make it complex sometimes for many. Why? Because it requires a certain understanding of the platform. To know what would work?
One should understand the problem with the context of the platform i.e Amazon in this case. It is really common to get your seller account suspended. This is the reason why it is essential to learn about POA even if your account is not suspended.
Like I said before, “At one instant it is a happy flourishing business and on the second it’s completely shut”. This not only affects days or weeks of business but can even lead to complete ban, moreover, it can end up worsening your image or credibility on the platform. And that is dangerous even if you’re not guilty.

How does an Amazon Plan of Action help in reinstating a seller account?

A well constructed Amazon Plan of Action is the way one reinstate their seller account. What is required of your post suspension is an Amazon Appeal letter, Yet!! The core ingredient in it is the plan of action. A Plan of action is simply a roadmap to how you will fix the issue as intended by Amazon before or after submission.

Strategies to create an impeccable Amazon Plan of Action

Before one goes into writing an Amazon appeal letter, it is ideal to understand that you will require an actionable response, be it now or the coming future. An Amazon Plan of Action basically comprises of three things:

Understanding Root Cause :

With the understanding of the problem, half of the fight is already successful. The starting point of it would be to read and understand the suspension notification. This is the email sent to you before suspension. Also, if there are any warnings then do look into the matter and understand it properly.
The capability to understand what is wrong is the point where you often realize the solution. For this, you may have to deep dive and simply go through the policies as stated in the seller central.
Now for instance suppose your account got suspended because of ODR or Order defect rate. The first thing would be to check the program’s policies related to ODR. One should look at the previous order in which issues like this occurred and check if there are really faulty products present in your inventory that are being sent to the customers. Also, it is important to know what problems can be defined under the umbrella of ODR. Approaches like this will help you to reinstate your account and make a successful plan of action.

Solution (Actionable Resolve):

This is the second phase where you need to provide the solution. For instance take out all the defective items. Or simply check with the suppliers, might even check the product returned for validating the problem. This calls for comparing your product with the reason to call it defective. And, whatever the case may be, try to provide the best service even if the reason for order return seems inapt. And make sure you solve all your customers’ problems and this is truly the actionable part. Proof of this will be sent in the Plan of Action. It’s quite similar to paying the debts so that you can better your credit score and ask for a loan (just an analogy).

Steps to prevent future suspensions :

Fixing the issue at hand is simply note enough, you should make sure that it is not even repeated in the future. Make sure the entire supply chain is watertight for future amazon seller account suspension. The steps that are taken to avoid any future issue for example say ODR (Again!!), those steps will be mentioned in the Amazon Plan of Action.
It is important that you make sure that the Plan of Action you are creating persuades the Amazon representative. He/she should be made aware that you have taken an actionable response and ready to stay committed to provide quality of service. This will not only better your position at business but will keep Amazon seller suspension away from you.

Things to include in an Amazon Plan of Action

Besides understanding the problem, creating & implementing solutions, and making prevention plans, there are other factors as well. These are the things that make your case better and make your Amazon Plan of Action appealing.

Provide factual data

It is important to offer data that is relevant to your problem. And never deny any data that is asked and seems crucial to share. Resistance to this will increase your exile from the Amazon platform. For instance with ODR one need not show good customer reviews as it is not going to do any good.

Use Bullet Points

It is important to make your Amazon Plan of Action easily scannable. Many people end-up writing long paragraphs. And while it may seem that you are doing something impressive on the contrary it is only affecting its readability. Consider this, if I offer you two pieces to read: one with more than thousand words and another with a couple of hundred. And both of these pieces provide the same value, you’d prefer the shorter one. In fact anyone in the world would prefer it. We humans like simple and scannable information.

Include a short introduction

While I ask you to avoid using paragraphs, having a short introductory paragraph will set the context. It is important to tell the Amazon representative (in context with the issue at hand) where you are coming from. This may seem unnecessary to some but telling your problem and setting a bit of context is only going to help you. And be honest!!!

Think about Seller Performance

Seller performance is a much important factor that needs catering. And, it is beyond sales numbers as the metric. Keep Amazon on your side, providing a good amount of sales numbers is not enough. Instead, one should know about the changing regulations and policy framework laid by Amazon. And make sure that your account is not in violation. This can either be done by you (being a little proactive) or getting a service that provides you regular feeds and updates regarding the matter.

Make sure to address the Root Cause

This should probably be the first point in this list (sorry for being lazy). Handling the root cause is the most important part. But handling it effectively is tricky. The strategies discussed above is the way to go for a perfect Plan of Action. Make sure, you note it down or simply put it on a wall (if that works for you).

Keep it concise

As I said, long paragraphs are not going to help you. Adding necessary data that is relevant to the matter will. So make sure that your final appeal letter is concise but still giving out all the necessary information that is there. If you abstain from doing that then it may worsen your show of intent to change because you can not provide an actionable response to everything. And even if you do then also it is palatable to keep it concise to prevent anything in future context.

Things to avoid in an Amazon Plan of Action

Since, we have addressed the “Do’s” then it is also important to cater “don’ts” as well. There are plenty of things that people end-up doing more wrong with things that they do with right. These can make your case difficult, therefore, make sure you avoid these in your Amazon Plan of Action.

Hasty response

A lot of sellers respond in haste, this should never be the case. Your first response is your golden ticket to get your account reinstated, don’t waste it for petty emotions. Being a reinstatement firm, we see so many sellers writing convoluted letters that don’t offer change instead tell a different story.
There is no plan of action or steps to it. And, if there are then they simply don’t make enough sense or bring any change in context with the issue at hand. On top of it, the bad grammar and punctuation is simply a pain in the head. And, if you think that it seems bad upon reading then trust me, it can get worse. It’s not seizing the opportunity rather kicking it out the window and watching it slide from your hand.

Remarks on Amazon

The day you decided to become a seller on Amazon was the day you signed up for all Amazon policies. However unfair you feel it may seem, it is not going to help you in any way describing it in your letter. Amazon update its policies and suspends sellers to protect their buyers.
It is a big name and it wants to maintain its credibility in the market. What you can do is focus simply on the Amazon plan of action. Failing to do so and making any commentary about the process is not going to help.

Commenting on Buyer

Since the birth of Amazon, it has been buyer-centric. The whole purpose of all this is to protect buyers. Commenting on that is not going to help. If you are getting poor reviews then it is strictly your fault in the eyes of Amazon. And, yes there are times when the seller is not actually at fault because of any fraudulent activities but Amazon does take actions against that. But mentioning the quality of customers is not going to help.
Instead helping them however bad they seem at any cost is going to. Remember this!!! An Amazon business is the hardest as its most difficult customer. If you can deal with the worst then you can absolutely deal with anything. And yes avoid this at all cost in your Amazon plan of action.

Ignoring basics can harm

We already discussed the basics on top. Understanding the root cause, providing actionable response, and preventing issues for future avoiding future suspension. These are the core mantras so stick to them. Although, a well written appeal letter has its own charm. Therefore make sure you keep a balance between everything to create an impeccable Amazon plan of action.

Amazon Plan of Action Appeal Example

In order to create your own Amazon Plan of Action, we are providing you with a template of things in order. If you wish to write a great plan of action then this format is surely going to help you.

Paragraph of Introduction

In this part you will be telling about yourself and mention different useful things. For instance: who are you including your seller name, description about your business or the kind of products you sell on the platform, and then the reason behind suspension.

Description of your Issue

Acknowledgement and clearly stating your issue is the intent of this part. You have explained the process which you use to identify the issue. And then explain why the issue happened in the first place. Even if it is because of negligence don’t fret (it is normal to err) yet it is important that you promise to not make the mistake.
Also make sure you add all the relevant data in this part. And the tonality should be like that you are taking full responsibility for what happened. And well, do take that to the heart because understanding that it was your fault will save you in the future.

Actions Taken

This is the part where you tell about the actions taken by you in order to fix the issue. Clearly describe the steps to it that you and your team have taken. And also tell about the actions taken to dodge the same issue in the future. This could include things like tools, processes, or any procedure that might have taken place.

Conclusion

Every great thing requires a conclusion and since you’ve reached the end, it is better to conclude your letter. Mention a brief summary for everything you have done to reinstate your seller account. And last but not the least, mention your request for reinstatement clearly because that is the objective.
And this is how you can come up with a great Amazon Plan of Action. Below is a sample for Amazon Plan of Action template. You can take reference from it in order to create one for yourself: