Importance of Customer Service

Improving Customer Relations and Building Customer Loyalty

2010-11-07T01:24:00.001-07:00

With the technological advances in point of sale systems, we have the ability to work with one of the most valuable assets a retailer possesses: Customers.

A customer is defined as "One that buys goods or services." It is this individual who has been at your store and made a purchase that knows what you're all about and would most likely be interested in hearing from you.

Many businesses protect their customer list as much as they protect their liquid assets, such as cash. Having a list of those individuals that have completed this exchange is gold.

By tracking customer's purchases, we then have the ability to purchase inventory that will meet their needs and wants. We know their sizes, their favorite colors and the vendors that they prefer.

How can you use this information?

You can review what sizes have been purchased to ensure that you have merchandise on hand that will fit your customers. In addition, if you are in an over stock situation, you can contact specific customers to personalize a sale for them by using their size as a lead in.

Working with vendors to cater to your customers

You can look and see what the trend is for a particular vendor. If your customer is responding to a new vendor, you can expand the presence of their line in your store and allocate more square footage to this vendor.

When you can show a vendor that your customers are coming to your location to purchase their product, you can request things from that vendor- like, special pricing, vendor premiums for your customers (giveaways, special purchases, and vendor supplied fixtures, etc.)

By knowing that you have enough customers that have purchased enough merchandise from a specific vendor you can even obtain cooperative advertising dollars from the vendor, and possibly get on the trunk show circuit with this vendor. Vendor reps will come to your store to present merchandise to your customers to be ordered for the coming season to your customer.

As a result of providing your customers with what they need, there is a better chance that you'll have a loyal customer on your hands. And a satisfied customer tells two or more people they are satisfied, however an unsatisfied customer is likely to tell potential customers that you never have their size in stock or that you don't carry your favorite color or label, etc.

Using Customer Data

The first step is capturing customer information. If a customer feels that they will get something out of the deal, they will fall over themselves to give you their name address telephone number and yes, even their email address. So, the first step is asking for their contact information.

I recently worked with a new customer on a brand new venture after they had been open for a month. I paid a visit only to recognize that they were not capturing customer information at all. The store employees felt uncomfortable asking for it.

After some training and role playing in relation to requesting this information, the employees understood it. Even the old practice of having a fish bowl for a customer to drop in their business card to win a great prize still works.

Now that you have a bunch of names, the second step involves what to do with them. Well, you write to them. I am still shocked and thrilled when I receive a handwritten note form a store sales person thanking me for making a purchase.

A personal note instills a loyalty for me to that establishment. I didn't even receive a note from the guy who sold me my car, and that was a much larger purchase than the two sport coats I bought at a store recently.

After a purchase, you could have your employees write short notes each week to your customers to thank them for their purchase and invite them back. This also gives them a name to associate with your store, and lets them know that someone cares that they visited your establishment.

I always took my customer list and used it when times got slow. During rainy days, for example, my staff would call customers to sell them merchandise or rainy day specials.

Hallmark Cards creates a new holiday every year and presents us with a holiday of the month that allows us to promote to our customers. Christmas and Valentine's Day may have started the Hallmark business, but we have more holidays to take advantage of for sales opportunities.

Halloween is huge and growing bigger every year. Mother's Day, Father's Day and Grandparent's Day, Secretary's Day, Boss's Day, and so forth, are all potential special promotion days. You get the idea? These are all good times to send your customers a postcard promoting a special offer or some discount.

Using Customer History

With customer information you can review a customer's history and determine who your top customers are; who spent the most money in your store this month, quarter or year, and then do something special for them.

I used to hold a wine and cheese party every January for the customers that bought the most merchandise during Thanksgiving through the end of the year. The reason was twofold: to recognize these customers for their loyalty and to generate more sales. Since the beginning of the year was the slowest time of the year for my business, I would end up with a packed store filled with customers holding coupons and spending money. I had a guaranteed customer base. The wine sometimes helped as well.

Be sure to track not only your customers, but how they heard about your business.

- Walk-by / drive-by

- Word of mouth - keep rewarding your customers who are telling others about your store.

- Newspaper ad - include a coupon next to ad to increase results.

- Direct Mail - establish a campaign to get more customers, like "bring a friend and get 10% off".

When you know where your customers are coming from, you can put a little more focus on that avenue and increase sales from that source. If more customers are coming from a newspaper ad or coupon, for example, be sure you keep that ad running. If it's word of mouth, do more referral campaigns to them.

It is as important to know your customers as it is to know your merchandise. Know them, keep in touch with them, give them special discounts, and reward them with special offers. And you've got a loyal customer base that keeps coming back.

Please visit our website:
www.retailposcounterpoint.com

The Importance of Customer Management Software

2010-10-21T09:38:00.000-07:00

Do you understand the importance of customers for your business? In case you think that customers can only mean more revenue for you, you are mistaken for sure. This thought-process could be suitable for the 19th century but it is acceptable no more!

In modern day business, the customer is the beginning as well as the end. The biggest multinational companies are leaving no stone unturned in ensuring customer 'delight' and they are certainly not doing so without reason. You too can take a leaf out of their book by putting in place, customer management software.

The reason why customers have become so important nowadays is because there are several companies offering the same product or core-service. So, differentiation can only be achieved by means of offering value-added services over and above your basic offering. The company which is most efficient at doing this, is usually the market leader.

Customer management software basically allows you to maintain an updated database of customer information. With this, you can get to know your customers better and thus treat them as individuals rather then generalize them as a group. This is of course done with the long term objective of creating a 'loyal customer'.

In today's world, loyalty is almost a forgotten virtue. In fact, it is sometimes perceived as foolishness and resistance to change. So, unless you are delivering the best products at unmatched prices on a continuous basis (which is impossible!) you must give your customer other reasons to be loyal to you. One such reason, is the way in which you interact with your customer once the deal is done.

Customer management software can help you in the following ways:

? Gives a 'personal touch' to your relationship with a customer. Making a customer feel valued is something a thousand ad campaigns may fail to achieve. Sending an e-card on his birthday or anniversary, informing him of the latest discounts and products etc are some of the small things that make a big difference.

? Focus your marketing campaign on individuals rather than on the society as a whole. So, you can call up the person who has bought a HD TV from your store, to tell him about the latest HD compatible DVD player on which you are running a discount. And this is possible only because your software has kept track of the last sale and the personal details of the customer.

Customer management software can take you places. What are you waiting for?

For more information about how customer management software and online CMS software can help improve your business visit our website today!

Sell Customer Satisfaction, Not Products Or Services, and Make Your Business Prosper

2010-10-21T05:28:00.000-07:00

Many people today are complaining about shoddy products being sold and of poor services being offered by businesses which do not seem to care, except to make the sale and generate income at customers' expense.

Is your business one of these companies? Are you selling your products or services in a manner that give the customers a reason to complain and stop their patronage? Or is it the other way around, in a fashion that ensures their satisfaction, making them your loyal clients?

A company or business that does not know how to take care of its customers will soon find itself on the verge of collapse, as what happened to many other companies in the past.

The key is to sell customer satisfaction, not products or services, and make your business prosper. Below are the three proven ways to do it.

1. Do not only sell a product or a service; instead, sell the benefits that the product or service provides. Customers buy the product or service not because you sell it to them. On the contrary, they buy because they believe that the product or service can meet and satisfy their needs and wants.

2. Sell more than a product or a service. You sell to your customers solutions to their problems. For example, they buy a product or a service (tangibles) because it gives them peace of mind, freedom from want, or the answer to their longings and wishes (intangibles). Always think of what your customers' needs, and not your own profit.

Once your customers are satisfied of your products or services, profit will come to you naturally, as a result. Profit is a reward for doing good to the customers, to the extent that you provide them value for their money, in short, satisfaction.

3. Differentiate your business, your products and services from the competition. This is very important. You can differentiate your business, products, and services by developing your own brand and image that set you apart from the competitors. This can be achieved by providing service excellence, being customer-focused, and by developing long-term relationships with the customers.

Working hard to satisfy the customers, their needs and wants, takes time, money and effort. But this is the only way to make your business prosper.

In the final analysis, without the customers there is no business, the customers being your reason for existence.

Eli Gatanela is a practising lawyer, management consultant and realtor in the Philippines. Mr. Gatanela has been involved in business and management consulting for the past twenty years, and in the private practice of law, specializing in commercial law, for the last 8 years. He was formerly professor of Eoncomics and Business Management and holds Economics, M.B.A and Law degress from the University of St. La Salle, one of the leading universities in the Philippines belonging to the De La Salle Brothers of the Christian Schools worldwide. Mr. Gatanela heads his law and consulting firm Gatanela & Associates based in Bacolod City, Philippines. His websites are: http://businessphereconsulting.com and http://www.oneworld-realty.com.

The Internal Customer - More Important Then You May Think

2010-10-19T00:47:00.000-07:00

In our previous installment, we looked at customer service as your #1 marketing tool. Now, we focus on what exactly an internal customer is--and why internal customers are just as important as your external customers to the success of your business.

If you have not yet figured it out, your internal customers are your employees and co-workers. Are you scratching your head wondering how someone who gets paid to be there every day can be a "customer"? (No, it's not because that person got a job with you for the great employee discount you offer!) The reasoning is that if the employees of the company can't, or don't, buy into what the company is about (not to mention the products and services offered for sale), how can they do an effective job?

Our first priority should be to make sure that the people representing our business (employees), whether they have direct contact with our paying customers (external customers) or not, know the company philosophy and understand the products/services available for sale, and the parameters we expect for making those all-important sales.

Back in the days when I was a front office manager, making sure that my new, and sometimes existing, staff members were fully trained was one of my responsibilities. Each employee had a formalized training period in each area of the front office (operator, reservations, bell desk and front office) and on all duty shifts so that he or she was familiar with the technical aspect of the job. Once an employee's mentors signed off on the completion of training, I gave one last assignment: stay one night in the hotel as a guest (at the hotel's expense) so that the employee could understand the property from the guests' viewpoint.

From check-in to check-out, the employee was treated exactly as any guest would be. The consistent feedback I received from both seasoned hotel professionals and neophyte hospitality employees was that once they really understood the whole experience of staying at the property, they were better equipped to sell that experience effectively. I even got some constructive criticism on occasion on what we could be doing differently (from signage to noise reduction) to make it a better experience for our guests. These employees were now invested in their jobs and eager to give each guest the same pleasurable experience that they had personally enjoyed.

Jeff Toister, President of Toister Performance Solutions, Inc. comments, "We often don't treat our co-workers/employees with the same level of care as our customers, but we should. Providing outstanding internal customer service can improve productivity in the short run and lead to a highly engaged workforce over the long term. My most forward-thinking clients invest just as much in improving internal customer service as they do in upgrading external service. They know that harmony in the 'back of the house' can translate into more efficient operations and ultimately highly satisfied customers."

So how do we get those all-important internal customers to buy into the system? Provide them with the necessary training, tools, support, encouragement, and recognition that allows them to do their job in an environment that treats them like human beings who are of value to the business - not cogs in a machine. If possible, give them the opportunity to experience the process of being a customer. Make sure that they fully understand the nature of the business and what is expected from them.

Remember, too, that an employee who may never interact with a paying customer is still there to support the customer "touch point" employees. He or she needs to be given the same status of internal customers as those who work directly with your clientele every day.

Next time, we'll explore the direct impact that the customer service delivered by your internal customers can have on your external customers.

Rama Beerfas is the Chief Solutions Specialist of San Diego-based Lev Promotions, offering marketing consulting and promotional product programs. Rama also offers seminars and training in topics related to marketing and customer service. She can be reached at (619) 697-2045 or at rama@levpromotions.com. Please submit requests for column topics to the above e-mail address.

The Names of Your Customers Are Important

2010-10-18T21:11:00.000-07:00

Do you know the names of most of your customers? As Dale Carnegie said, "A person's name is to that person the sweetest, most important sound in any language." Research has shown that there is a particular chemical reaction that takes place in our brains when we hear our name. An easy way to experiment with this idea is to walk into a crowded mall and call out in a loud voice a common name like Bob or Linda. You'll see many people by the name of Bob or Linda turn around and look at you.

If you or your employees are not regularly using the names of your customers, you are missing out on a technique that can help build a lasting relationship with them. An easy way to get and use the customer's name, if you don't remember it, is to read it off his check, credit card, or ticket stub. When in doubt, simply ask. A simple way to do this is to use the fill-in-the-blank method. It would work like this: "Hello, my name is Tom Borg, and your name is .....?

Once you get that person's name, use it in the conversation a few times. It helps to write down the names of the customers you have trouble remembering. Review the list from time to time. You'll be surprised and delighted at how easy you will be able to build a sincere rapport with your customers.

1. Name ten customers who frequent your business.

2. At your next meeting, hold a contest to see which one of your employees remembers the names of the most customers. Present him or her with a cash award.

3. Make it a point to run this contest from time to time at your employee meetings, making it clear that it is important to remember and use the name of the customers that do business with your company.

4. Look for ways to reward your employees between meetings when they remember and use their customers' names.

The Importance of Good Customer Service

2010-10-18T17:36:00.001-07:00

Good quality of customer service is as significant as every piece of home made item you create. Not only can you're unique and stunning craft can stand out from the crowd, but rather your credibility, dignity, and your image as an artist and seller of your items. There are many different types of bead craft pastimes, but whichever one you choose to focus on, the way to approach customers is precisely the same.

Mostly, business establishments, stores, outlets, and centers do surveys and accept feedback from their clients. In this fashion, they will know how they are rated according to the standard of their service they provide to their shopper.

Good customer service augments your image as a professional. If you are good and friendly, efficiently dealing with your clients, they'll be thinking that you are really practicing your profession. They won't think as if you are just a mere crafter, and they'll probably to trust you.

It so straightforward spreading reports, whether it is good, your customer can share information about your service to their friends. So if you do not have a good quality of customer service, the least they can do is to will not refer you to a friend that may also be your customer in the future.

Remember, you have many rivals; you would like to stand out among them. If folk want to buy something, you want to think your store is their first option to go to. This isn't very unlikely if they already experience pleasure buying in your store. One way add some value to your business is to supply some free recommendation to your clients, you don't have to give away all your secrets, but a small pamphlet explaining how to make easy beaded anklet will go a great distance in keeping patrons coming back for more.

Good customer service also implies offering some extras. Like, put a good pricing on your item, this one way of captivating them from competition, but this isn't highly recommended. There are still many options in which you can gain your customer's's commitment without decreasing your profit. For instance, it is common especially in Xmas season that customers would really need to purchase all obligatory items as soon as possible. Make a large amount of party plan business that you can deliver inside 2-3 weeks. This is 1 way of winning the faithfulness of your shopper; however you have got to make sure you go through with it when offering this benefit. Don't make quick turnaround guarantees and let purchaser down, this can really be a cause of damage to your reputation.

An alternative choice is offering your clients with unique benefits like free present wrapping, custom fitting, and providing them with special care and cleaning service to their items. Offer them also a loyalty bonus that they'll fully appreciate, and much more likely returning more frequently in your store. Provide your customer extra comfort by offering them unconditional guarantee on every items they purchase. Do not forget to make hang tags for you jewelry, if customers are happy they will pass your details on to folks.

often, good purchaser service include the following attitudes: be trust worthy, treat your customer with respect, make sure of planning a good solution when things do go wrong, and be open to feedback, suggestions, changes and grumbles from your client.

If you want to become more organized in your jewelry business then our beaded jewelry software is guaranteed to help you do that. We can also help you get the most out of your jewelry business with our free beaded jewelry articles and jewelry business help.

How to Turn an Angry Customer Into a Repeat Customer

2010-10-10T05:45:00.000-07:00

If you are in business, and chances are if you are reading this you are, you have dealt with an angry customer. Because business is very rarely perfect, things come up from time to time that upset even our best customers.

Whether you are late with a delivery or your product or service is not performing the way it should, it is beneficial to know how to deal with this situation when it arises. How you deal with an angry customer could determine if you strengthen your relationship or sever it and most of it depends on how and when you respond.

Many business people cringe at the sight of an upset customer. I learned a long time ago that I had better learn how to deal with them because they are just a part of doing business. I took it a step further and asked the question; how could I turn this negative situation into a positive one?

Situations like this are your opportunity to show your customer what you and your company are made of. When you made the sale you promised great customer service, now is your chance to prove it. Anyone can handle a customer when things are going well; it is the most successful of us that can turn an unhappy customer into a satisfied one and use this very situation to do it. Here is how.

The first step in handling an angry customer is contacting them promptly. If the customer has contacted your customer service department or has left you a voicemail directly is it ultimately important that you respond immediately. Don't wait an hour or push it off for a day. This will only make the matter worse. Address it NOW and turn a big problem into a manageable one.

Show up in person whenever possible. This shows your customer that you care about them. Greet them in a cordial, but concerned manner, acknowledging that you know they have a problem. If you are addressing them on the phone make certain you are empathetic and the tone of your voice reflects it. It is real important to remain positive, but empathetic.

Ask them what the problem is and let them express their displeasure! Take notes but do not offer explanations or try to explain your side of the story. Save that for later. At this time it is crucial that they speak and you listen. Respond by saying "you have a valid point". Even if their complaint is not totally based in fact, you must agree that they "have a point" and let them know that you are listening to what they are saying.

The next step is to agree with them and "you can see why they would be upset". "Chances are you would feel the same way if you were in their position." This will displace quite a bit of the anger. Take a minute to digest this psychology. It is very important! It is much easier to be angry with someone who disagrees with you than with someone who agrees with you. The more you agree that they are justified in their anger the more difficult it is to be angry with you. If you validate their concern, you are half way there.

Keep in mind that you can not resolve the problem while the customer is upset or emotional. Until you diffuse the anger, do not try to solve the problem. Your customer wants to make sure that you see his or her point of view prior to letting you move forward, if you attempt to do otherwise chances are you will make a bad situation worse.

Once the customer is calmed down, start to gather facts about the situation. What departments were involved, what was the time line, what were the major issues. Let the customer know that you will get back to them with a solution and give them a specific time for follow up. and make sure you adhere to it!

Never, and I mean NEVER, tell a customer "you guarantee that this will never happen again." This is a death trap and you must never go there. What you can guarantee the customer is that you will do everything you can to minimize the chances of this happening again, but if it does, you will take care of it in a promptly and with as little inconvenience as possible.

Most customers will appreciate your honesty. And if they want a guarantee that it wont happen again, you better be sure the chances of it ever happening again are zero, otherwise you will lose the account the next time it happens.

Well placed customer service is a great way to solidify your business! Some businesses skimp on customer service and create a great inroad for you and your business. Customers realize that mistakes happen. It is how you handle them when they occur that will decide whether they stay with you or go elsewhere.

The keys:

Contact the customer promptly

Acknowledge their issue

Agree with there point

Gather the facts

Correct the problem

Follow up, follow up, follow up

Gregg Zban is a General Manager with Coca-Cola Enterprises and has created a website dedicated to better time management, management technique, interviewing, sales coaching and more.

To learn more please visit http://www.choice-time-management.com

Improve Customer Service by Providing Custom Websites

2010-10-10T02:00:00.000-07:00

This article talks about how you can improve customer service by providing custom websites. Basically, it emphasizes the importance of having a custom website for your business.

Custom websites mainly focus on customer service which opens up many possibilities for businesses. When internet business owners concentrate and pay more attention to their visitors by improving their buying experience through customizing their websites, they will certainly get ahead of their competitors. This chain of thought is important here because most customers feel that businesses concentrate only on selling and marketing their products and they forget the basics of providing exceptional customer service and support.

The easiest way to know what your visitors and customers think about your products as well as your service is to have feedback forms incorporated into the design of your custom websites. Most business owners are yet to understand that the same way they would like customers and visitors to provide personal information and purchase products from them, customers would also like to have a little information about the products they are going to purchase and know if the seller of the products is trustworthy. This can be achieved by providing information in detail about the company and its owner, along with information on how a customer can contact the company. It would also help if these custom websites provide FAQs about what customers can do, in case they need to return articles they have purchased.

Hyperlinks can be utilized strategically to provide detailed information about products on different pages. The most effective way of designing custom websites that can address issues such as trust and customer service, is to understand what the needs and requirements are of a customer. For customers to trust and depend on the website it has to contain terms and conditions, statement of privacy, address of the company and contact information along with a phone number. With this information on custom websites, the level of confidence would be raised in a customer to purchase products from your company.

If a simple survey is done after a customer has been through the website and is about to exit it, it will help determine what changes need to be made to the website so that one can attain the highest level of customer service. This would encourage existing customers to refer more potential customers to the website. Always remember that word of mouth is the most powerful marketing tool and in this day and age, information travels quickly. The most innovative aspect in recent times is the addition of chat applications on custom websites. Nothing beats reaching out and connecting with a human being to assist with clients' issues and queries immediately, in case the solution is not provided in the FAQ section of your website.

The best and most effective way to gain customer satisfaction is to show them that Custom Websites are designed keeping them in mind, so that they would have the best customer service experience. This would also show them that their experience on your online website is just as important to you, as selling your products and that should be the main focus of any website.

How Important is Customer Support Service For Your Online Business

2010-10-09T21:25:00.000-07:00

Every business has one thing in common i.e. it depends on "customers" to be successful. Customers make or break some business. In order to be profitable, businesses need to first attract, then hold and in the end maintain its clientele. Customer support service is the department which looks into these all important tasks of making sure that your customers do not go elsewhere.

Customer Support in Online Business:

The basic principles remain the same in both online and offline businesses but priorities do change. One area which becomes crucial in online business is Customer Support Service. You can fill your website with as many details, descriptions, FAQs, specifications and instructions as you want, and still the customers will be willing to communicate with you or your representative before they make some purchase. Not to mention its importance in dealing with the after sale queries. Staff should be fully capable of managing angry customers because the word of mouth spreads faster in cyber world.

Mostly three types of supports are used for online consumers; you can choose all three or any of them.

1. Email Support

2. Live Chat

3. Telephone Helpline

E-mail Support:

The most widely used, most convenient and a must for any online business regardless of its nature. You provide them with your e-mail address so they can write their complaints, concerns or comments in detail. They don't need to wait for business hours and it gives the business and the customers, a chance to explain their position in a detailed manner.

Live Chat:

More and more businesses are now providing "Live Chat" option for their customers. Customers are not required to log into some specific messenger or anything like that. All they need to do is, click on the live chat icon and a new chat window will open, where they can type their message, which will be replied by the business representative accordingly. There are many free services available at internet to facilitate you in providing this feature to your customers.

Telephone Helpline:

Large businesses all over the world depend on telephone help lines as their primary source to provide 24 hours support to their customers. This method is a little bit costly and not really necessary for small businesses. However, this can be very effective if you are able to afford such service. Also this is the most express response your customer can get from you.

William King is the director of UK Wholesale Suppliers & Dropshippers and Dropshippers Dropship Services. He has 18 years of experience in the marketing and trading industries and has been helping retailers and startups with their product sourcing, promotion, marketing and supply chain requirements.

Outstanding Customer Service - The Total Customer Experience

2010-10-09T16:41:00.000-07:00

The world is changing and so is the way we, as business owners, interact with our customers. Although technology can open new avenues of communication and revenue, there is no way to truly replace one-on-one interaction and experiences.

The other day I was drawn into a conversation with some co-workers. They were reminiscing about experiences they had as children. Those childhood memories included special trips with their mothers to the tea room at the Crescent in Spokane. They were trading stories about how much fun they had dressing up and how it was such a fine and memorable experience. Most of us have had wonderful experiences that have shaped our lives. It's no different with customer service. You either experience a lovely interaction or you're sorely disappointed. Customer service is an experience and those memories, good or bad, stay with us.

The power of the childhood tea room memories made me really think about the importance of customer service from the experiential perspective. What do we have today that compares? Have we lost the value of the truly fine experience? Are we embracing mediocrity and expecting it to deliver us a disproportionate level of success?

I strongly believe that part of providing outstanding customer service involves providing a total experience. It is all the more important in this day and age when we are hyper-connected electronically but lacking in human connections. Our customers are also seeking out that personal interaction and want to be treated like an individual and not a transaction. I believe it is worthwhile to stop and consider every aspect of what our customer or client experiences from the time they enter our place of business to the time they walk out our door. Does our place of business look clean and well-kept or does it look like we are hanging by a thread? Are they treated like a guest? What do they hear? What atmosphere does the lighting create? If appropriate are they offered something to drink? Give me a cappuccino and you just gave me a reason to browse for at least 20 minutes whereas without it, I may have grabbed what I needed, made a lap, and walked out the door. There are many low-cost measures we can take to provide the type of experience that make our clients comfortable, secure in doing business with us and want to continue to do so.

First we have to design a well thought out customer experience. The misconception here is that designing such an experience is costly. Certainly there are many worthwhile investments that we can make in the workplace to create an outstanding experience but many of the elements that make or break the customer experience are simply a matter of time, thoughtfulness and imagination. Interestingly, some of the most delightful experiences I have ever enjoyed in a customer service setting were created with very little expense to the business owner. I fondly remember a Valentine's Day dinner at a local restaurant. To our surprise when we arrived, the path into the restaurant and the linen-covered table tops were sprinkled with rose petals, a simple bud vase with a rose was placed on each table and they were offering a special valentine-themed cocktail. The point here is that the entire concept and experience was created with minimal investment from the business and the experience had maximum impact on their customers. I took friends there the next weekend and I raved on and on to people about how great it was.

Secondly, we have to deliver that experience. We have to execute this well thought-out plan and follow through on delivering that experience to our customers consistently. We have to have employees in place that are well trained, empowered and believe in the importance of delivering this exceptional experience, one that exceeds our customers' expectations. This is a key way to retain customers, build customer loyalty, and create customers that are growth advocates.

Thirdly, we want to come up with systems and procedures that enable us to deliver that exceptional experience to our customers over and over again. Our businesses have to be dynamic and not stagnant in our operations. We must constantly be obtaining and responding to customer feedback and adjusting accordingly, adapting to meet their needs. In the day of tight budgets an intense competition, it is not enough that we deliver an exceptional experience once, we must prove to our customer over and over again that they have made the right choice in doing business with us.

I would challenge all of us to consider the overall experience from the customer's perspective. What do they experience from the moment the drive up to the time they walk out your door? If you truly want your business to succeed and exceed expectations it's important to design, develop, and deliver a customer focused experience. When you aspire to over deliver and exceed your customers' expectations, your customers will remember the overall experience of doing business with you. Your business will reap the benefits and you'll see the results. Businesses that uphold the tradition of excellence in service not only stand apart from the masses, they earn customer loyalty and outshine their competitors translating into increased revenue. Creating total customer experiences is another key strategy to continued growth and prosperity.

Lead Generation Services - Important Call Center Customer Services

2010-10-09T12:51:00.000-07:00

Customers are very specific in their demand. Therefore, the service providers are also specific in their services. The outbound telemarketing call center is aimed at meeting the demand of their customers with ultimate efficiency.

Call Centers are the centers which have unique database, through which their employees achieve their targets. Lead Generation Surveys are carried out on that database that gives the desired result in the limited time-frame. Moreover, the database should be such that the Telemarketing Agencies are able to extract maximum possible information within the limited time-span.

Every call has a price and every executive is available on some cost. The employee that gives minimum possible returns within the desired time period doesn't find any place in such transaction.

Call Center Services are availed by the help of highly skilled sales personnel, inside sales staff, drafting policies, and direct marketing teams.

Indian BPOs have also attained expertise in Lead Generation Surveys. These surveys are conducted telephonically, on the basis of which a proper project report is compiled for further action. A proper survey always provides best possible lead generation services to their clients.

Clients also look for their services from those Call Center, who have proper infrastructure base along with desired professionals for providing state of the art outbound telemarketing services.

Call center services are mainly telemarketing services and give best possible services to their client. Many telemarketing Companies are aimed at improving the services of their client in best possible way. The telemarketing surveys are conducted as per client details. Say for customers staying in USA, the telesales team will conduct the survey at around 1200hrs of Indian standard time. This is so because there is a difference of approximately twelve hours between the two countries.

Call Center Outsourcing is limited to telesales. Therefore their network is so appropriate so as to provide the best possible Lead Generation Services to their client in minimum possible time.

Call Center Services are carried out within the framework of rules and regulations. The call-time is limited to some specific time-period, wherein the telesales executive has to produce results within that time period. Then only the cost efficiency is achieved and lead generation services are met with.

Jack Morkel is well known author has written article on BPO Outsourcing, Call Centers, Call Center Outsourcing, BPO Service and many other subjects.

Looking on the Inside - Why Internal Customer Service Affects External Customer Service Quality

2010-10-09T09:46:00.000-07:00

There are a number of aspects that many business entrepreneurs consider to be essential for success of their business.? One of them is providing excellent customer service to their customers.? Customers and clients are the primary source of income for any business and as such, it is important to make sure that they continue to patronize the company's products and services.? Excellent customer service ensures this to any business entrepreneur.

It is because of this that many companies would allocate a considerable amount of their resources in this department from the workforce providing this service to the company's customers to the training and technology made available. Despite this being the case, many companies continue to struggle in giving excellent customer service to both their new and existing customers.? As a result, they continuously have to strive to attract and woo new customers to patronize their products and services.

According to many business analysts, the main reason behind this is because of the failure of many entrepreneurs to realize and understand that every company, regardless of the industry, has two sets of customers that they need to provide excellent service to.? The first are the external customers, who are the ones availing the products and services.? The second are the internal customers, who are the ones providing the services and products of your company to your external customers.? Simply put, the internal customers of any company are its workforce.

It is understood that the primary goal of providing customer service is to meet the needs of the customer within a satisfactory level and within an agreeable timeframe.? Failure to meet these needs would result to dire consequences to the company which includes, among others, incurring avoidable financial losses and expenses.?

Based on studies that have been recently conducted with regards to the reasons why many companies have difficulty providing efficient and effective customer service is because most companies only focus on the external customers.? The studies conducted by independent group of business analysts have determined that in reality, the crux of the entire struggle of providing excellent customer service lies within the company.? Instead of merely pouring out all of the efforts to the internal customers, companies must make it a point to first meet the needs of their internal customers - their workforce.

When employees within a certain department do not feel that their needs are not being met or set aside by members of upper management, this starts a chain reaction that eventually affects the level of customer service provided to the external customers.? In fact, it was determined that companies that fail to meet the needs of their internal customers with the same level of enthusiasm as that towards external customers experience high absenteeism among its employees, high employee turnover, poor performance and having a stressful working environment.? Indeed, no matter how effective or efficient the strategies that are being implemented towards external customer service are, if the needs of these employees providing such service to your external customers are not first met, it would result to them performing poorly affecting the overall customer satisfaction level received by your external customers.

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Importance of Customer Feedback in the Online Shopping Scenario

2010-10-09T05:21:00.000-07:00

Customer feedback is a great way of improving your online business. While it is impossible to make every customer happy, feedback can help you develop best practices and improve your offerings. Generally, online sellers use questionnaires, emails or online surveys to gather customer opinion about their products and services. Few of the sellers offer online customer service (chat/e-mail) to the consumers thereby meeting their buying needs.Getting inputs from customers and gaining valuable insights from them is a sure shot formula behind successful improvements in any online business. It's in your control to identify the trouble areas, and poor performing products and services from the responses derived. While on the other hand, customer appreciation lets you know about the products and services that have so far been greeted with open arms!

Adding a feedback form to your online shopping site or a simple "mailto:" link will enable the buyers to voice their opinions. Posting customer views on your website will guide the other potential buyers in making a satisfactory choice of your products and services. Honest endorsements will surely boost the online sales performance.

How to Collect Customer Feedback?

There is a lot to keep in mind while developing an effective feedback gathering process and here are a few ways by which you can collect customer feedback.

Inviting customers through online chat support to tap customer service as well as to get their opinions
Having a feedback form on the website
Tracking comments from appropriate message boards, forums, and rating sites
Setting up an online customer research panel

Customer feedback is an account of usage based opinion left by a customer who has purchased or used your product or service. Once the customer feedback is captured online, it is routed to the appropriate manager who will be accountable for responding in a timely and appropriate manner. Therefore, customer concerns are answered and loyalty towards your services are improved - a thing that can be of solid benefit to you in the long run! Centralized management of all customer feedback would be easy to use and access. An effective customer feedback system can be the difference between repeat business and a lost customer!

Benefits of Feedback

Feedback surveys allow you to make improvements and fulfil customers demands
Guides and assists you in making positive changes to your service standards, product quality, etc.
Helps you discover exactly what you need to do in order to keep your customers satisfied and build a long-term relationships in turn
Reduces dissatisfied customers
Increases customer loyalty

It is always in the best interest of an online business to find out the likes and dislikes of its customers. Customer feedback can have a dramatic impact on product development, customer service and other areas of your business. The competitive advantage that you get over others in your field helps you grow a healthy business. Unfortunately, online retailers are often slack in collecting, managing or responding to customer feedback in a consistent manner.

Finally, taking no action on the findings of feedback can be a major step back in building customer confidence and respect. If you want consumers to believe you're really listening to them, then inform them of your findings and the changes you intend to model in keeping with their feedback. Let the customer know that you have implemented those suggestions. To be successful, feedback must be viewed as a part of an ongoing process of building and maintaining strong, effective relationships with customers. It's never too late! Begin now and provide quality products and services to your buyers!

To get all your online shopping tips and bargains, visit dealsdirect

The Importance of Customer Care in Business

2010-10-07T22:43:00.000-07:00

In business, customer care is paramount. Happy customers will become loyal customers who return for more and will spread the good word about your business to their friends and family. Customer Care is not just about having a good customer care team, but includes many other elements. Start with a high quality product or service, which is a good value for money, provided quickly and efficiently by friendly and courteous members of staff, where necessary including a good after-sales service and you already have an excellent grounding for caring effectively for your customers.

Policies and Values

Its important to have customer care policies set-up so staff and employees know the core values and principals, ensuring that customers get the best possible service from your company. Part of this will involve training employees so that they interact with customers in the best possible way, professionally and politely and thus present the best image for the company. It's important to have certain principals in place in order to provide the best service:

Publish clear and help information on the services you offer
Respond to any complaints quickly and politely.
Make realistic promises
Seek and encourage customer feedback
Provide a safe and secure environment

Educating staff in certain concepts will help the business no end. Train them to do with customers. Always remaining positive, never giving negative replies or telling customers that they cannot help them (but instead offering to find the answer to their queries).

Being Clear and Concise

It's important to be clear and concise about the services that you offer to avoid confusion. The reasons are two fold. Firstly, if potential customers know what they are getting they will be more likely to buy a service from you and hopefully become one of your loyal customers. Secondly, things like misleading adverts, badly written web-pages or unclear marketing campaigns might well cause you to be subject to legal action if someone reports you to the Advertising Standards Agency. The Codes on what should and shouldn't be included can be found on their website.

Feedback

It is important to regularly contact customers and see what they think of the service and how it can be improved. Ensure a customer service team is in place to deal with complaints and queries. One of the best and most simple methods for encouraging this is by the use of NGN's. Non-Geographical Numbers (or NGN for short) are telephone numbers that are not linked to a location. These are broken down into various types but the most common are 0800 numbers and 0845 numbers, with which we are all familiar. These numbers are important for various reasons, the most obvious of which is the fact that they give a "national" image to even the smallest company. Generally members of the public are under the impression that national companies are more interested in customer care and have more money devoted to it, so in this area, image is everything, yet it is only half the story. NGN's can be set-up to divert to your standard telephone number or even a mobile number and thus you can keep your standard, local number private where necessary.

In the same vein, every modern company needs a web presence. A well designed website can help your business no end. Once again giving the impression of a professional national company it will also allow customers to easily get your details if they need to contact you. A good website also incorporates a contact page with email forwardingfacilities, this allows customers to fill out a web form and send you an email automatically without having to open their own email client and risk mistyping your email address. This has the added benefit that you can specify subjects and headings under which the customer is contacting you (e.g. question about deliver or a question on how to return a faulty product) as well as specific other details like the customers phone number and home address (where relevant). For online based companies a contact page is especially important. More and more companies have an online chat system so customers can communicate quickly with members of the customer care team without having to use a phone or wait for a reply to an email. This is preferable to replying to emails within 24 hours, although, even a speedy reply such as that is key.

To make the customers life easy it is also a good idea to have a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page on your website. Work out what the most commonly asked questions are that your customers might ask and compile them into an easy to search page. This will allow customers to help themselves as much as possible and saves any delay in response to their queries.

Giving customers the chance to voice their opinion is an important measure. Setting up a customer satisfaction survey or questionnaire can be helpful in finding weaknesses in your company and improving them where possible.

Key Performance Indicators

It's a good idea to have systems in place to identify how satisfied your customers are. Tracking things like customer complaint levels, product return rates (or refund requests), returning customer orders or levels of marketing material sent out versus revenue generated because of them can help show how well your company is performing in the customer care arena.

Loyalty Schemes

Providing your loyal customers with rewards is a good way to strengthen relationships and encourage new ones. Keeping your customers coming back is cheaper and easier than seeking new business so using loyalty discount schemes, recommend-a-friend schemes or other related marketing strategies will only help to improve your business and elevate customer satisfaction. You will have to look at your market and the service/products you offer and consider the best possible options for you.

Security

If you have a work place or place of business where members of the public will pass, security is an important part of customer service. CCTV monitoring will hopefully prevent and deter theft while at the same time providing an air of confidence to both customers, staff and partners that might be visiting the premises.

Other Customers?

Take care not to be closed-minded when it comes to your customer base. Remember that partners might well be customers too. Depending on your business type, distributors, advertising agencies, suppliers and many others whom you interact with in order to carry out your business will need to be treated with the same level of customer care. Upsetting a supplier or distributor could damage your sales and your business. Even colleagues within your business might well be seen as customers in certain circumstances, especially in larger companies where various teams interact to provide the end result.

Hints and Tips For Customer Care Staff

Dealing with difficult customers - If dealing with abusive or rude customers, keep your cool and if you find you cannot, try involving another member of staff in the situation.

Telephone calls - Answer telephone calls quickly, being polite and courteous.

Letters of complaint - When replying to a letter of complaint keep it short and to the point, but be polite and personal, don't send out standard template letters.

Positive Response - Always give positive responses. Even if you don't know personally or cannot help, direct the customer to the right department or let them know that you will find out for them.

The Points To Remember

It is important to remember that customer complaints are only one end of the spectrum. Provide the best service you can and you will minimise the levels of complaints that will come in. Remember that people who complain will be the minority, but they might well be voicing the thoughts of the masses in general. Take complaints seriously and use them as an opportunity to improve your business. Remember in setting up your business that The Company Warehouse is here to help you on the path to success. Order a non-geographic number to help give your company a "national" and professional feel, even when you are just starting out. Potential customers will be far more likely to ring a freephone number both to place orders or to complain. Both sorts of phone call are valuable to your business. We can provide you with a domain name and a well designed website with a contact page. These pages include a contact form to allow customers to send you an automated e-mail with easy and speed. Be sure to answer these quickly to meet your customers need and grow a loyal customer base. Well designed Logo's, letterheads and other corporate identity items will help give your company a professional feel and appeal to customers. All these elements are part of caring for customers.

More helpful business start-up and growing business articles @ http://blog.thecompanywarehouse.co.uk/

Why Having a Health and Safety Plan Is Important for Customer Service Delivery

2010-10-07T18:05:00.000-07:00

If you happen to be working in a customer service occupation such as a call center position then you will be required to sit at a desk and use a keyboard to access databases and carry out computer related work while also taking calls from customers. In some businesses this work can be fast paced and making time to take a break can sometimes be easily overlooked.

It is of course the responsibility of an employee to take their assigned break but what happens when a fellow worker has called in sick leaving a gap in the workplace that places additional pressure on the remaining staff members? Leaving your desk and telephone lines flashing with incoming calls while you are away drinking coffee certainly would not go down very well with an employer particularly if the reputation of a business is reliant on providing good customer service.

Many employers however now realize the importance of providing relief cover for staff so they can have regular breaks or because they are away from the workplace through sickness or for various other reasons. They also realize that having staff members on extended sick leave as a result of a workplace related injury not only places extra strain on existing staff resources, but it can also have the effect of compromising a businesses customer service relationship with its clients through poor customer service delivery.

In my workplace we have a designated health and safety delegate who has the job of finding out through a 6 monthly survey if anyone has a disability of any sort or whether the resources they are using need to be replaced. In fact last year I mentioned my chair was uncomfortable and not supporting my back enough. Two days later an Occupational Health Consultant proficient in posture visited me in the workplace and within a week I had a brand new ergonomic comfortable chair to sit in all paid for by my employer.

Having an employer who is aware of their obligations with regard to the health and well-being of staff is certainly helpful. However, if an employer is not proactive in ensuring customer service call center operators are free from harm through for example the poor positioning of a computer monitor or they have a defective chair that could exacerbate a sore back condition, then there is a real risk that employee could end up taking valuable time off work with a sore back or neck.

In summary, the downside of having a poor health and safety program in the workplace is that staff wellbeing could easily be overlooked in essence because having defective equipment and resources has the potential to cause all sorts of health problems from RSI, eye strain, sciatica, neck and back pain to name a few.

For more information about customer service tips and how individuals and businesses can improve their customer service, visit: Customer Service Skills

The Importance Of Customer Service

2010-10-07T13:33:00.000-07:00

Today I was trying to order some supplies online and of course my internet and computer decided they didn't want to work for me (who can blame them considering it has been in the single digits in my neck of the woods). I was trying to place the order and I got all the way to the point where they were asking for my billing address and payment information and then the next step was to complete my order. So I verified all that and clicked the button to complete order, but instead of completing my order it went back to the shipping and billing information page. So I thought well, maybe I didn't do something right so I clicked continue and then went to complete order again. I then clicked the accept order button and low and behold it went back to the billing and shipping page again.

I was a little annoyed at this time but I was more concerned that I was going to get billed double so I looked at the contact us page and found the phone number to call them. So I call them once I get through the menu options (boy are those annoying no matter what company it's for) and I reach a real live voice (WOO HOO a real live voice) and she couldn't have been nicer and more courteous to me. She had my problem solved, and my order ordered in a matter of maybe 10 minutes. Needless to say, I will use their services again and won't hesitate to tell everyone I know about the great service I received.

On the flip side, I can remember a well known company that I had to contact their customer service and it was just awful.

I got a bill in the mail saying that I was a month behind and I was like oooh crap. So I took a look at my check register and see that I wrote it out and I looked to make sure that I mailed it which I did. I then got online and looked to see if that check had cleared and it had before the bill was due. So I called this company and after not being able to get to a real live person for at least 15 minutes due to their "menu options" (trust me I was livid by then). I did finally get a real live person and explained to them that the check cleared, what the check number was, the day it cleared and so on and so forth. They argued with me and told me that they never received it. So I tried talking to that customer service representative until I was blue in the face and finally I had had enough so I asked to talk to the supervisor.

The supervisor then proceeds to tell me that there was nothing they could do. I mean come on, they had to have some kind of evidence that I paid the bill with all the computers and things out there right. So finally she says, "if you can get me a copy of the check and fax it to me and also the date it cleared" she would fix it. Well, in this computer age, I don't get copies of my checks that have cleared anymore. To make a long story short I got the check faxed it to them and then called her back. Then to top it all off, they were going to charge me a $3.00 late fee. A late fee after I just proved that it wasn't late. I know, I know $3.00 isn't that much but if they charge 1000 customers $3.00 when their payment isn't late that is a total of $3000 that they just got from unknowing customers.

So why am I going on and on about this? Basically, because you just can't put enough emphasis on how important customer service is. Sure, we are outsourcing our customer call centers overseas because it's cheaper to pay them but whatever happened to helping out our fellow man? Has money become such an issue in this country and this world that bigger corporations don't care about how their clients (customers) feel just as long as they are getting a good deal with their employees.

I had a client contact me about doing some work for him, unfortunately I didn't have the skills he needed but instead of blowing him off and saying he is out of luck it became my personal mission to find him somebody that could do that work for him. I found somebody too. I didn't gain anything from it (well, I did get a referral). More than anything though, I had the satisfaction of knowing I helped out somebody and provided good customer service to them. Hopefully when they get to a point in their business where they need my services they will think of me because I helped them without asking for anything in return.

So honestly, would you rather take the extra couple of minutes and provide good customer service or would you rather be a big grump and not care about your clients? I would rather take the extra couple of minutes not only to gain customers but for my own personal satisfaction knowing that I helped.

Tracy Collins owns a successful virtual assistance business, Collins Admin Services. With over 10 years of administrative support experience and being a business owner herself, she knows what it takes to run a small business and how hard it can be to handle everything on your own. For more information about how she can help, visit her website at http://www.collins-admin.com

Your eBay Business - How to Provide Top Notch Customer Service to Your Customers

2010-10-07T10:32:00.000-07:00

If you are serious about creating an eBay business, one of your top priorities has to be providing incredible customer service. That is right, I said incredible. It is not enough to be okay or even good. If you want your customers to give you those coveted five star ratings, you have to provide service that goes above and beyond. So how exactly do you do that?

Communication is one of the most important aspects of customer service. This is even more so with an eBay business. Most eBay sellers do not publish their phone number for their customers, so most communication is done through email. Whether you like it or not, most customers expect you to respond quickly to their inquiries. This means checking your email a few times a day and taking the time to respond to their questions within 24 hours.

Even for those customers who do not ask specific questions, keeping them informed will go a long way. Send an email after your customer wins your auction or buys from you store, simply thanking them for the purchase. Acknowledge their payment with another email, and send one more when the package is mailed. Some sellers even send a follow-up email about a week or so after the package was shipped. This is not as time consuming as it sounds; eBay offers templates to help, so it only takes a few seconds. If you want to create a legitimate eBay business, this is time well spent.

Make sure your package is well packed and contains a packing slip or invoice. Throwing in a flyer or business card is a wise idea. Some sellers include freebies, such as a pencil or magnet with your eBay business name and website. Try to use new materials for your packaging, especially with breakable items. Nothing is worse for the credibility of your eBay business than getting a package in a beat up box and a bit of crumpled newspaper (and perhaps a broken item).

Quick turnaround with packages makes for happy customers and higher ratings. Try to get your packages out the door within one to two business days after payment is received. Offer expedited services such as Priority Mail, which generally delivers in three business days. Parcel Post takes a very long time and even if you spell it out to your customers, you are likely to receive a low score on shipping time if you use it, so stick with Priority Mail or UPS Ground for larger items.

There really is no trick to creating satisfied customers who not only give you high ratings but also come back to buy some more. Simply treat them as you would like to be treated. Keep them informed, treat their items with care, and value their time. These steps will help you provide the incredible customer service that will take your eBay business far!

Jennifer Colgan is a mom to two wonderful kids and has started her own eBay Business called Katie's Charms. She is a closet author as well, which leaves about 3 hours a day to actually get some sleep. You can learn more about her and running an eBay business at home by reading her blog at [http://kidsandakeyboard.blogspot.com]

What's Important in Curtomer Relations

2010-10-07T06:28:00.000-07:00

On a recent visit to a warehouse superstore, I selected the self check-out lane where there was no wait. Since I have little patience for lines, this seemed like the best option even though I then had to transfer my purchases back to the shopping cart for the trip to the car.

As I did that, the associate assigned to the self check-out lanes approached with my receipt. "Don't forget to take your receipt! You won't be able to exit without it!"

Instantly, I was 6 years old and Mrs. Boehlke, my first grade teacher, was saying in a sing-song voice, "Be sure to put your name on your paper! I won't know who to give the grade to without your name!"

While I'm sure the associate was just trying to be helpful, I felt as though I'd just been scolded. It got me to thinking about our communications with our clients. Do we communicate with them in a way that says they are valued, respected and ADULTS?

Or do we sometimes treat them as children, saying with our words or actions that "You better do this or else that will happen!"

I've been a patient of doctors who I really liked and who gave great care. However, the greatest interaction isn't generally with the doctor (gotta love sitting in a cold exam room covered with nothing but a piece of paper!) but with their office staff.

How does the staff make you feel? Are you as pleased with them as you are with your physician?

When I called the customer service number for my business bank account, and entered the appropriate number (press 1 for..., press 2 for...), I got a recorded message that said in an official and condescending voice, "If you're calling about a business account, you must dial 1-888...

Have you ever taken your car in for an oil change only to have the attendant berate you for low oil levels? What do they think you're doing - sneaking out each night under the cover of darkness with an eye dropper to suck out a few drops of oil?

While I might not know all of the dire consequences associated with running without oil, I intuitively know it can't be good.

I assume, you, like me, make a habit of checking your oil, and wouldn't intentionally run your car without it. Instead of pointing fingers - You let the oil get low! - being treated as an adult and a customer they'd like to return would focus the finger pointing on the the real issue - the low oil level.

Determining the cause is a solutions based approach your customers will appreciate. As a small business owner, it's important you know how your customers are being treated. If you're selling commodities, where the lowest price generally wins, you better believe you have to treat your customers better than the big box down the street.

If you're a small business owner providing services, the way your customer is treated is ultra important. As the business owner, you treat your customer with the respect and attention you would expect when you're the customer.

But, just like in the case of the doctor, what are their interactions like with your office staff? If you have automated voice messages or emails, how do they make your customer feel? If you're like most of us, automated voice messages or emails, once created, are rarely revisited. Gee, did I say that?

And, are there non-verbal ways we communicate with customers that may not be optimal? I'm used to showing my receipt as I exit the big box warehouse but I wouldn't want to be treated that way as I exited your upscale boutique.

Revisiting the way you and your staff communicate, both verbally and non-verbally, will help assure the customer gets the message - You're important to our business!

Cheryl E. Cook is the author of Small Business BIG RESULTS, publishes a bi-weekly ezine "Small Business BIG Results," conducts workshops and speaks on topics related to small business success and growth. Cheryl has a passion for helping others and coaches small business owners to take the success steps to reach what they only dreamed of one day achieving. Get your free ebook "50 Ways to Increase Cashflow" at [http://www.promoneyinc.com/smallbizbigresults.htm].

Customer Service - Is Customer Service Important?

2010-10-07T05:59:00.000-07:00

A request for support should not just be considered a cry for help. It should be considered an opportunity to provide help to someone that has already helped you by purchasing your product(s) or service(s). Why? Because #1. Your customer is providing you with an opportunity to demonstrate you are the provider or vendor they want to continue to buy from. And #2. They deserve it.

Are You As Happy To Support It As You Were To Sell It?

If any business person can't bring themselves to be just as happy to help a customer with the product they bought from his/her business, as the business person was to sell the product to the customer, then one of 3 things needs to happen with that business person:

1. They need an attitude adjustment, (which hopefully this guide will help some of the "Needy" to accomplish).

2. If the attitude adjustment is just not possible at the time, they need to graciously pass the customer off to someone with the right attitude, (If at all possible).

3. If they just can't find it in themselves to be as happy to help a customer with a service or support issue as they were to sell them the product/service, they need to fall back, regroup and start asking themselves questions like: "Am I really cut out to be in business for myself"? . . . OR . . . "Am I really cut out for customer support"?

Actually there are several variables that can come into play with each of the necessary steps above. But when you think about it, those three choices are ultimately the only options a person has in that situation.

By the way, do you want to learn more about using articles like this to drive traffic to your website and increase online conversions?

If so, I suggest you check this out: article marketing traffic.

Customer Satisfaction Surveys - Increasing Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty, Sales and Profit

2010-10-07T02:54:00.000-07:00

Increasing Customer Engagement, Customer Satisfaction, Company Growth and Profit

Your business and consumer customers have a wealth of information and insight about what it is like to be a customer of your company. Many of your customers are also customers of your competitors.

Your customers know what can be done to improve your company's quality, products and services, customer service, communications with customers and other criteria important to achieving total customer satisfaction and loyalty.

While most companies are aware of the need to take action and make improvements to become more competitive, they often miss important hidden actions that can really make a difference for customers. That's where customer surveys come in, uncovering the hidden information you need to compete more effectively.

Compelling need for customer satisfaction surveys / customer opinion surveys

Customer satisfaction surveys provide the information and insight you need to keep existing customers and attract new customers. Here are six compelling reasons demonstrating the payback from customer satisfaction surveys:

1. It costs 5 to 10 times more to attract new customers than it costs to keep existing customers

2. Most dissatisfied customers don't complain directly

3. But when customers are dissatisfied, they all complain to friends and business associates

4. Some dissatisfied customers remain as customers, but buy less

5. Other dissatisfied customers leave...they become customers of your competitors

6. Loyal customers buy more and recommend your company, products and services to friends and business associates

Product, Sales, Service, Psychological and other Factors Driving Customer Satisfaction and Sales

Your customers behave, act, purchase and recommend based on their experiences, what they are hearing, how they feel and what they believe about your company, your products, your employees and your sales and service execution. Customer opinion surveys and customer satisfaction surveys should be created with the important psychological factors that drive employee performance in mind.

Customer Satisfaction Survey / Customer Opinion Survey Metrics

Customer satisfaction survey ratings provide a clear picture of current and ongoing levels of performance and satisfaction. Customer comments and suggestions provide highly actionable information and insight for achieving breakthrough results.

Customer survey metrics include the following and other service, sales, performance and customer focused criteria, depending on the type of customer survey being conducted and the industry:

1. Product and service features, styles, efficacy, competitiveness, quality and reliability features, styles, efficacy, competitiveness

2. Customer awareness and satisfaction with products and services

3. Product and services pricing

4. Marketing and advertising effectiveness

5. Customer loyalty / likelihood of retaining customers

6. Company image / company and product reputation

7. Pricing competitiveness

8. Customer engagement

9. Willingness of customers to recommend your company, products and services

10. Ease and time required to contact a service representative with inquiries and problems

11. Waiting time

12. Timeliness and effectiveness of problem resolution

13. Courtesy/attitude/professionalism/knowledge/responsiveness of sales and customer service staff

14. Creativity of employees

15. Communications effectiveness

16. Availability, effectiveness, empowerment of sales and service staff

17. Satisfaction with and effectiveness of sales, field service & customer service

18. Web site, call center and customer self-service availability, access and effectiveness

19. Satisfaction levels of customers sorted by their demographics

20. Satisfaction levels of customers sorted by your company's demographics (location, sales and service representative, etc.)

21. Satisfaction with access and hours of operation of sales and service locations

22. Satisfaction with the sales and service environment and policies

23. Timeliness in meeting deadlines

24. Usefulness / ease of use of company website

25. Handling product returns

26. Product shipping

27. Customer purchasing experience

Benefits of Customer Satisfaction Surveys / Customer Opinion Surveys

Customer satisfaction surveys and customer opinion surveys generate significant bottom-line benefits and a very strong payback:

1. Learn what it takes to achieve breakthrough increases in customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention

2. Gain insight for attracting new customers

3. Identify cross-sales opportunities

4. Discover ideas for new products and services

5. Manage moments of truth more effectively

6. Gain insight for prioritizing performance improvement initiatives and projects

7. Make significant improvements in customer service and sales attribute performance including timeliness, professionalism, courtesy, knowledge, communications with customers, problem resolution effectiveness, etc.

8. Improve communications with customers

9. Enhance customers' experience with your company

10. Increase service quality and productivity

11. Make better, more objective decisions based on customer feedback

12. Identify problems and opportunities by location, communication channel, and other criteria

13. Identify and fix recurring problems impacting customers

14. Send an important message to customers and employees that management cares about customers and their opinions

15. Become more competitive

Conducting employee satisfaction surveys and employee engagement surveys is a great way to ensure that employees are satisfied and engaged in their jobs, and are engaged in satisfying customers.

Howard Deutsch is CEO of Quantisoft, a full service survey company. We help companies increase performance. Contact Howard at (609) 409-9945 or hdeutsch@quantisoft.com

Information about Quantisoft's Surveys: http://www.quantisoft.com/Index.htm

Information about Quantisoft's Customer Satisfaction Surveys: http://www.quantisoft.com/Industries/Customer.htm

What's Important in Customer Relations

2010-10-06T22:29:00.000-07:00

As I did that, the associate assigned to the self check-out lanes approached with my receipt. "Don't forget to take your receipt! You won't be able to exit without it!"

Or do we sometimes treat them as children, saying with our words or actions that "You better do this or else that will happen!"

How does the staff make you feel? Are you as pleased with them as you are with your physician?

While I might not know all of the dire consequences associated with running without oil, I intuitively know it can't be good.

Revisiting the way you and your staff communicate, both verbally and non-verbally, will help assure the customer gets the message - You're important to our business!

The Importance of Customer Service For Small Businesses

2010-10-06T18:53:00.000-07:00

It may seem that only large businesses with multiple employees and divisions of labor are the companies that most need fast and helpful customer service divisions. However, this is simply not true. Small businesses need to provide great customer service just as much as large corporations do. Here is some advice to help small business owners overcome their customer service disadvantages and emphasize their advantages over large businesses' service.

Bigger companies have many more employees than small, localized businesses. Therefore, it is easy for them to have a whole division devoted to customer service, rather than just a person or two. Customer service specialists often undergo training and have extended experience in helping out their clients. This can translate to knowledgeable, professional help.

For smaller companies, having a large group of people specifically assigned to customer service is not always an option. However, it is still a good idea to assign phone duties to certain people so that they can answer customer call-ins. A client will probably not realize that he or she is talking to a receptionist or just another employee if the worker handles it in a calm, organized fashion.

Customer service divisions in large companies are often told that they can make a huge impact on their client by limiting the amount of transfers the person must endure. However, how many times have you called a large business only to be transferred five times and stuck on hold for a grand total of thirty minutes? This seems to be the norm for calling in your questions or comments, not the outlier.

Small business have the advantage over large ones in this regard. Often, the person or team assigned to taking customer calls in a small company know who does what, and so they are able to more directly transfer clients to the person they actually need. This limits the time spent on hold, and also makes the company seem caring and efficient, which translates to excellent service.

So far, we have focused on dialing up customer service. However, what about those people who have questions about the website of a company? Large businesses usually have the option of assigning a legion of people to solely online service, but smaller companies do have other choices besides diverting a ton of manpower. One way is to utilize a live chat service that can help small businesses find pre-qualified clients.

A good source of live chat providers is Ngage Live. Transcripts from live chats with customers are reviewed, and then Ngage lets you know who your potential clients are. For friendly, reliable live chat service, check out Ngage Live today.

Joseph Devine

Why Is Customer Service Important

2010-10-04T11:35:00.001-07:00

If you are someone who eats out a lot then you know how important customer service is. Of course, it varies from establishment to establishment, and from person to person. Opinions and standards vary quite a bit, but I think we all agree that customer service is very important. We all want to be treated well and to enjoy that friendly service we all deserve. Having spent a decade working in customer service jobs, I can attest that it can be a rather unpleasant occupation to say the latest. However, when you deal with the public for a living and depend on their generosity to pay your bills, you don't have to ask a foolish question like, why is customer service important? That answer has been made clear long ago. The first job I landed was at a Chinese restaurant. The proprietor was an old friend of my uncle's. The first question he hit me with was, why is customer service important? It was actually kind of a tough to understand what he was trying to say in his broken English. I thought he asked me; why is cussing servants in Portland? I was taken aback for a moment but was rescued when he was distracted by another matter. My pal then mercifully translated what he had said, and I basically laughed it off with relief.

While I may not have understood every word that my new employer was trying to say, I didn't have any difficulty learning the value of good customer service. I quickly found out when my deliveries didn't make it on time. Late delivery equaled irritated hungry patron, which meant that I didn't get a tip. Over the next several years I tried jobs in video stores, malls, and taverns. Bartending brought a completely new dynamic to the question, why is customer service important? What do you people to drink, there is a whole new set of rules that you have to operate with. You really do have to keep your emotions in check. Remember, angry customers means no tips. And if you get a trunk customer who knows what he's capable of. When you work positions like these, you want and need the gratuity. You really don't hit an hourly wage that adds up to much so this is really important.

If you are in the service industry then no doubt you fully understand the value of good customer service. I know you don't even have to ask why is customer service important? Since most of us have dined our or been to a bar, we all know what things are crucial. No one likes to be kept waiting nor do they like poor service, especially when you're paying good money. This not only keeps the patrons happy, but the boss as well. Poor customer service can certainly cause a customer to never return. So you ask why is customer service important? Because it pays the bills.

Morgan Hamilton offers expert advice and great tips regarding all aspects concerning business. Get more information by visiting Why is Customer Service Important [http://www.generalbusinessinfo.com/business-information/business-news/why-is-customer-service-important.html]

Making Customers Feel Important

2010-09-30T12:36:00.001-07:00

Customers do business with us because they have a need. On the surface, these are tangible needs - to buy a product or service, to get directions, to receive education or information, etc. In addition to meeting the tangible need, we need to understand how to meet their intangible need. This relates to how they want to be treated during the interaction. Here is a simple acronym providing five behaviours to incorporate into your interactions to assist in making your customers feel important.

The word value is defined as "worth; merit; importance; to regard highly; to prize". To make a customer feel important we need to believe in the value they bring to our business. When we believe this, our attitude becomes optimistic and our ability to deal with difficult customers, treat every customer with respect, want to solve their problems and meet needs naturally evolves. Five behaviours to incorporate into your service interactions spell the word V.A.L.U.E .

Validate
Show that you care about their needs by confirming or demonstrating empathy on the human level as well as the business level. Ensure you aren't inadvertently discounting your customers by treating them like a task on your list, rushing through the interaction to get to the next customer, providing them with the standard answer, thinking you know what they need because you have heard it before, enforcing policies without demonstrating empathy to how they might be feeling.

Act
Do something. If a customer is complaining, write it down or take action. Show that you appreciate any and all feedback a customer is willing to provide, no matter how they provide it. If they are experiencing a problem, solve it. If you can't answer a question, find the answer.

Listen
Actively listen to the words, tone of voice and body language your customer is using. Focus fully on your interaction to listen for any unspoken messages. For example: if their body language starts open and begins to close, either what you are saying or the manner in which you are saying it, is not meeting the customer need. If they are pausing in response to questions you are asking, they may not understand. You make a customer feel valued when you demonstrate that you care enough to listen to what they say and how they feel.

Understand
Use perception checks to clarify the need from the customer's perspective, demonstrate empathy, ask questions, make suggestions - communicate. Consider putting yourself in their shoes, seek first to understand not to be understood. When we want to meet a customer's need we should be listening more than we are talking.

Empower
Empower is defined as to give official authority to. Give your customers a feeling of authority right from the start by acknowledging their presence and then giving your full attention. Empower yourself by identifying areas within your business that make it challenging to be able to meet needs, make decisions or problem solve on the spot with a customer. Customers do not want to be passed around, and research shows us a customer with a problem who receives adequate and immediate recovery (the problem is solved to their satisfaction) have a greater chance of becoming loyal to your business than those who never had a problem at all. Finally, invest enough time with your customer to ensure they leave the interaction with enough information to be able to use the product or service they have just purchased. For example, give them instructions and some useful tips on how to use the new camera or software they have purchased, provide them with information on how to access the warranty, etc.

Jayne Kowal, Director/Owner of Customer Service Works
http://www.customerserviceworks.com

Motivate Your Customer Service Team For Outstanding Customer Service: Five Secrets Of Customer Service Motivation

2010-09-04T12:05:00.000-07:00

Providing outstanding customer service is one of the most rewarding yet challenging activities within your organization. Exceptional organizations that provide outstanding customer service will experience the following benefits:
* Increased customer satisfaction
* Increased revenues
* Increased repeat and referral customer traffic
* Less employee turnover
* Increased profits
So how do we support and motivate our customer service team to give outstanding customer service? The following are five secrets to motivate your customer service team to give exceptional customer service to your customers:

1. Provide Ongoing Learning – It’s important that you not only provide training on organizational policies and technology, but also how to handle customers. Create an ongoing system for training and feedback. Request continuous feedback and have the “courage to listen” to your customer service team’s responses. Your customer service team members, because they are on the frontline, can provide you with excellent information on how to service your customer. Market conditions are changing all the time and the one piece of information your customer service team can share with you can make the difference between success and failure. After receiving the information from your customer service rep, if necessary, provide the training to your customer service team so that they can provide outstanding customer service.

2. Adjust the Attitude – Constantly work on your own attitude and your team’s attitude to providing outstanding customer service. As a customer service leader, always be aware of the tone you set and how your customer service team will be motivated by your attitude. If you are upbeat, your team will follow the lead and provide outstanding customer service. If you have a negative attitude, your customer service team will follow your lead and communicate this negative attitude to the customers they serve.
Work with your customer service team members to create a positive attitude in the following ways:
* Look at every customer service experience as a learning experience that is preparing them for future opportunities.
* Put your team in the customer’s shoes to understand the customer’s “pain” and create empathy for outstanding customer service solutions
* Have your customer service team take on the persona of a positive individual they admire to help them through a difficult customer service situation.
* Create “positive triggers” to remind your customer service team why it is important to give outstanding service. Your trigger could be as simple as a family picture or a picture of an item (new car, home, etc.) that is important to you.

3. Give Incentives – Motivate your customer service team by giving incentives based on meeting your organization’s mission, goals, and values. Be timely, fair, and public with your incentives. Also, when putting together an incentive program, ask your customer service team what they would like as incentives. Many times organizations will invest thousands of dollars on incentives which are not the ones their customer service team wants. Just ask!

4. Show Appreciation – Appreciate to motivate your customer service team as much as possible. Remember, many times they are facing very challenging customer service situations everyday. Keep them motivated by sharing your appreciation in a timely, sincere, fair, and encouraging way. For more detail on this, go to my article, Appreciate to Motivate, on my website. By consistently showing appreciation, you will motivate your customer service team to excel when it is most difficult for them to do so.

5. Support Outstanding Customer Service – Support and motivate your customer service team in a number of ways. You can support and motivate your customer service team by making sure the technology supports them and the customers. For example, I recently called my internet broadband company about a mistake on a bill. The automated system disconnected my call five times before I finally spoke with a customer service representative; and I told him that he must experience many upset customers if they experience the same. The customer service representative agreed and said it made his job very difficult.
Support your customer service team by “cheer leading” their concerns to upper management. Champion their concerns to upper management and let your customer service team know the progress of each concern.
Support and motivate your customer service team by keeping standards high for customer service. When your organization is facing challenging times, it is very tempting to lower standards. That’s the last action you should take. By lowering standards, you decrease customer satisfaction, increase customer service turnover, and muddy your organization’s name in the marketplace.

Apply these customer service motivation secrets with your customer service team and you will have highly motivated customer service teams and happy customers, and your organization’s bottom line will increase.

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