It's time to beat the old bad customer service drum again. I know, I'm sick of beating the drum, too, but as long as bad customer service runs rampant through so many businesses I feel it is my entrepreneurial duty to bring it to your attention. So grab a pew and prepare to listen to the sermon I've preached before: bad customer service is the bane of business. If the Almighty smote down every business that dispenses bad customer service, the world would be a much friendlier, albeit much sparser place. Consider a world without malls and fast food joints… would it really be so bad?
What puzzles me most is if bad customer service is such a death knell for business, why do so many businesses allow it to go on? Don't they read my column, for Pete's sake? I think the problem is that most bad customer service is doled out (or at least condoned) by business owners and managers who have ceased caring what their customers think. When you stop caring what your customers think it's time to close the doors. Go find a day job. You'll make someone a wonderfully disgruntled employee.
My latest parable of lousy customer service was actually experienced by my better half while attempting to buy my daughter a pair of basketball shoes. I won't mention the name of the sporting goods chain store in which the bad customer service took place, but I will tell you that its name is similar to the sound a frog with hiccups might make.
As my wife waited for someone to assit, the four or five teenagers who had been charged with manning the store stood in a clump at the cash register giggling and flirting with one another as if they were at the prom instead of at work.
When my wife pointed out this fact, one of the employees, a cheeky lass of 16 or so, put her hands on her hips and said, "How rude!" The males in the group didn't react at all. They were too busy arguing over who could take a break so they could chase other cheeky lasses about the mall.
Needless to say my lovely bride, who has the ability to instill fear into the hearts of even the most worthless employees, left the gaggle of giggling teen idiots standing with their mouths open in disbelief. How dare a customer tell them to do that with a pair of basketball shoes?
As much as I bemoan bad customer service I celebrate good customer service. It should be applauded and the purveyor of said good customer service should be rewarded for actually delivering satisfaction to the customer, above and beyond the call of duty.
So let me tell you the story of my new hero, Ken. I won't tell you the name of the store in which Ken works, but let's just say they started out selling radios in a shack somewhere long, long ago.
I first met Ken when I went into the store to buy a mixing board for my business that records audio products for the Web. In a nutshell, you plug microphones into the mixing board then connect it to the computer and you can record audio directly to digital format. Totally beside the point of this article, but I didn't want you thinking that I was purchasing non-manly cooking utensils.
When I got the mixer installed it didn't work. So I boxed it up and headed back to the store to return it. When I told Ken my problem he didn't just grunt and give me my money back as so many bad customer service reps would do. Instead he asked, "Do you mind if I try it?"
"Knock yourself out," was my reply, confident that if I couldn't get it to work, neither could Ken. Ken took the mixer out of the box and went about hooking it up to one of the computers on display. He started pulling power cords and cables off the display racks and ripping them open and plugging them in. He tore open a new microphone and an adapter and kept going until he had the mixer hooked up and working. Yes, I said working. It turns out the mixer was fine. I just had the wrong power adapter.
Ken could have just given me my money back and been done with me. Instead he spent 15 minutes and opened a number of other packages that I was under no obligation to buy just to help me get the thing working.
I was so impressed that I not only kept the mixing board, I also bought another $50 worth of products. And the next time I need anything electronic guess where I will buy it? Even if it costs twice as much, I'll buy it from Ken.
Now here's the moral of the story: if you are a business owner who has a gaggle of teenagers in charge of customer service at your store you would be better off replacing them with wild monkeys.
At least monkeys can be trained.
Is Bad Customer Service Killing Your Business?
Service Contracts: The Best Business Model For Consulting
Service contracts are key for the busy computer consultant. They will help you to manage your time when you have many clients all needing service at once. By setting up computer service contracts you will be able to maximize your utilization rate while still having enough time to deal with client emergencies when they crop up.
When you have a bunch of clients who all have an emergency of some sort you can't be everywhere at once. To deal with this you need to narrow down the list of who you are obligated to respond to emergencies for. You do this by creating computer service contracts.
A service contract business model is so important because what you are doing is forcing the people you service to make a decision. Are you in or are you out? Your service contract model weeds out those who are just testing the waters. Without a computer service contract it is you who decides if you can handle their emergency or not.
By using computer service contracts you can manage everyone's expectations effectively. Those who have a service contract know they are top priority. Those who don't, know that you have clients with service contracts and that they are the ones who are dealt with first.
The Bottom Line on Service Contracts
Service contracts keep expectations in a nice neat package. You don't have to stress about trying to be everything to everyone. You can concentrate on providing top quality service to those clients you have a service contract with. The rest will simply have to wait in line.
Copyright MMI-MMVI, Computer Consultants Secrets. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}
The Checklist Web Hosting Service for Business Owners
One of the inceptive quality I develop is that the hosting companies can ripe with you. If they separate propose one package, and you thirst more, your netting dwelling possibly down for up to 2 days and/or you may have to change the code on any forms you use to match the new "server settings".
Don't be bothered to interpret a hosting service's subscriber information, FAQs (frequently asked questions), pastime areas or recognition boards on their sites.
A right hosting firm offers as copious of these basics as possible:
This is a hosting company I can succulent afford.
They instance a Money Back Guarantee.
They have hash on their zone about server uptime/downtime.
The transaction contacts me, at my first off email address, when/if acknowledged are installment server problems. (Could be problems when they're updating their server, hurricanes, etc.)
They arrange at maiden 5 POP email accounts (example yourname@yoursitesname.com) Your email accounts should receive Alias Accounts, which sight eat up a POP balance to the business sending you an email; however, the inscription is in toto an "alias" that's forwarded to molecule other email account you choose. And when you send an email back to the original sender, it is the forwarding email account, NOT the yourname@yoursitename.com that the sender receives.
There is a Web-based Email channels (a build for you to rationalize your email online). If not, my favorite is an undemanding disposition for email forwarding (and stop notice) capability.
24-hour customer service, by phone, leveled if it's a high station call, is best!
50 mg show (the room you infatuation for a 100 page website with each page in that approx. 8x11)
2 Gig Data Transfer/month (this bequeath be enough for utterly a while!)
Front Page Extensions - single wanted if you undertake a interlacing point with MS Front Page
Cgi/PHP/MySQL (or asp availability). Check with your designer to excogitate what you'll have need for forms to be created).
Easy Control Panel: This character is especially right-hand if you requirement to keep at your zone
or have someone heavier tender make headway it. It's the one father to adventure when making changes to your site, add addresses, etc
Statistics - Does your hosting companies works gain weekly and yearly statistics on each of your lattice pages? Will you notice how someone launch each of your web pages?
Secure server, Shopping camper (and unrelated things you'll ravenousness to side with elaborating a merchant bill system)
Server type: The trait of server a hosting care you choose, should advance consequence explanation the programs you consign migration for things pleasure in your shopping cart, affiliate program, lacework site pages, etc. If you're using ASP, JSP, PHP, CGI, PL, or CSS, these programs will influence the choice of a server and vice-versa. Your hosting service may use Windows (which for example accepts ASP but not PHP), Linux or Unix-based (Apache/FreeBSD/etc.) servers.
Customer Service for Business Phone Systems
Working in a law office often means long hours and late nights, especially doing probate work. Getting in before seven A.M. and staying until well past business hours, I assumed that I would always be available for whoever might call me. Recently, my office switched our business phone system and I started to notice a drop in the number of calls I was receiving each day. It was such a change, in fact, that I was able to get my work finished much earlier than usual. I never considered that it could be our phone system and simply chalked it up to good luck. Little did I know that I was missing several calls from important clients who had almost all left voicemail messages that I hadn't been receiving. A couple of weeks after he new phone system was installed, I ran into one of these clients while in court, who kidded me about being too busy to get back to her. It was then that I realized there must have been a problem.
The next day when I returned to the office, I asked my associates if they had experienced similar problems. They hadn't, but they suggested I call the company who sold us our phones and equipment to see what could be done. I called, and within twenty minutes, the problem was fixed. Apparently, my voicemail was being sent to another place. The service representative explained in detail how to do a simple diagnostic to see if my messages were going where they were supposed to. When I found that they weren't, he explained how to change the settings to solve the problem. While I now have a lot of calls to catch up on, I am grateful that the company we went with for our new phone system provides such competent customer service. I think that in the phone business, as in any business, it is paramount to success.
Choose The Right Autoresponder Service For Your Web Based Business
Does your business find itself lacking a little in the service department? Are you getting complaints about not getting back to people or do you think that you need to use a newer fresher style of marketing? If so then perhaps it is time that you started looking into one of the many different autoresponder services that are out there. These autoresponder services can change the face of your business and help you to pull in many more sales than you have ever seen in the past. In fact, with a good autoresponder service on your side you could up your business as quickly as in one week.
When it comes to an autoresponder service you need decide on what kind you want. You can get an autoresponder service that will be a software program or one that is an actual autoresponder service. If you choose to purchase autoresponder service programs you will only have to make a one time payment to them. This is usually affordable and simple to do, you will be able to use your autoresponder service programs or scripts as many times as you want and you will never have to pay more than your initial investment.
You can also choose to get an actual autoresponder service. This autoresponder service will save you time and energy in a big way. It is so simple and easy to use an autoresponder service that there is a very good chance that you will never look back. Many people have switched form an autoresponder service to a script and then regretted it.
When you are using a script and something goes wrong you have to figure out where the problem lies and how to fix it. When you are using an autoresponder service they do all of this hard work for you. They find the problem and they fix it for free. This is a great selling point on the part of an autoresponder service, especially if you are new to the entire concept.
When you choose an autoresponder service you will also have the peace of mind knowing that they are keeping on top of all the newest and hottest developments in this industry. Bulk mailing is a growing industry and it is changing all of the time. When you have signed on to an autoresponder service you will have the benefits of getting all of the latest technology. If you are running your own script it will never change on its own and you could be missing out on some powerful autoresponder service features. Features that could change your business for the better.
An autoresponder service is a simple and affordable way for you to keep in touch with potential clients. When you are using an autoresponder service you will always know you are getting your messages out to the public and that you are making a splash, a big one. So find out more about the many great autoresponder services online today.
Customer Service in Business
When you begin any business, one of the most important things to remember is that good customer service is a necessity. The food concession business is no different. If anything, it’s more important to be friendly and have a good relationship with your customers because it’s even more difficult to build up a loyal clientele as a mobile food vending business. There are three major reasons to make sure that your employees know how important customer service is. The first is the very simple fact that if customers are treated kindly, they will return. The second is the awesome fact that if they like the customer service, they will recommend your business to others. The final reason to be great in the customer service department is that since good customer service has almost become a thing of the past and your business will stand out for it.
Customer service is a very important aspect of any business and one of the effects of great customer service is that you will have repeat customers. Repeat customers are a commodity that should be valued and catered to. Doing this will make it very easy for the people to want to come back to your establishment. The opposite side is that while many customers are very loyal when a business pleases them, they are also very reluctant to come back if they have a bad experience. You will likely never see the customer again if they have such a bad experience. Even if you make a mistake with an order, if you are quick to cater to the customer, you will see them again, most likely.
Another effect of great customer service is that satisfied customers make for great advertisement. They will be loyal, but they will also tell their friends about your business. This is great because a truly happy customer will find ways to make sure their friends try you too. Once the friends have tried your food and service, the cycle continues. They will return and tell their friends as well. The down side of this is that if your customer service is poor, that will travel even more quickly than a good report. This, in turn, will effect how other potential customers will view your business. Once you have this bad reputation, it’s an uphill battle to get people to stop and try your food.
One final reason to have excellent customer service is because there is hardly any good customer service out there anymore and your business will stand out. If you can do anything to make your business stand out, do it. This is a way to stand out in a good way. For years now, good customer service has been sadly reducing in all kinds of industries. A chance to be a leading customer service business in any industry is a great one and you should take it.
There will always be that one customer that you can’t please. That one person, that no matter what you do, you can’t do the right thing by them. Move on from this customer. Take care of your loyal return customers and try to give them as memorable of an experience that you can. With good customer service and good food, there is no limit to what type of business you can build or the amount of money that you can make.
Home Business And Customer Service: Is It Necessary?
Having a home business does not mean that customer service is not important. Quite the opposite is true, because your home business does not have a huge customer base, so it is important to keep your customers satisfied so they tell their friends and become repeat customers. Just because you never see your customers face to face does not make them any less important to the success of your home business.
Good customer service in a home business makes sure that customer concerns and complaints are handled professionally and appropriately. The motto that the customer is always right is just as true in a home business as it is anywhere else. Customers are what makes your home business a success, and it is important that your customer are satisfied, and that there is an available way to resolve problems and make the customer happy. Having a customer service program in place will ensure that customers have a good experience when dealing with your home business.
Satisfied customers give a business the best advertising there is, word of mouth. This type of advertising can not be bought, it can only be given by satisfied customers. If you do not have good customer service in your home business, the success of the home business is doubtful. Happy customers form the basis for repeat customers, and these customers are happy to tell everyone they know about your home business. Neglecting customer service because you think it unnecessary for a home business is a big mistake that can cost your home business success in the end.
Customer service is a necessary part of running a successful home business, and if you do not put a customer service program in place then it could cost your home business potential customers, profits, and success. Even though you never see your customers face to face, they form a very important base for your home business, and it is important that your home business assures customers of their importance to your organization.
By assuring quality customer service and giving customers the resources necessary to solve any problems or complaints, your home business will be more successful and profitable. Treat customers like the valuable resource that they are, because without satisfied customers there is no reason for your home business to stay open. Customers are the reason that your home business makes a profit, and a good customer service program for your home business will reflect this philosophy.
Business service offerings and liquidity
“Being all things to all people” sounds good, but in most cases it reduces the liquidity of a business. Business liquidity encompasses the number of prospective buyers, the business valuation, and the amount of time required to market the then close the deal.
• The most liquid scenario is a co-located web hosting client base, with no data center, offices, or employees, and only one owner/decision maker. This type of business can be under contract to be sold within 48 hours. (Post ‘Letter of Intent’ due diligence, contract preparation, integration plans etc. all take a bit of time.)
• The least liquid scenario is a web hosting company, which offers design services, has offices, a data center, and offers related services such as access, marketing services etc.
Valuation Difference:
Something I have seen many times is the owner/decision maker on the sell side has heard web hosting company valuation formulas and wants to apply that formula to his company. Inevitably the owner is disappointed when the offer comes up short in their mind, and passes on what actually is a fair valuation.
Design Services:
The decision to staff up and start offering web design services to complement the pure play hosting recurring revenue is a huge decision with regards to the effect on business liquidity. Of course design services can be a natural fit with hosting clients by helping to reduce client churn and up selling existing clients. However, the value of the revenue and cash flow generated from one-time design jobs is no where near the value of the recurring hosting revenue and cash flow.
Negatives of design departments when it comes time to sell:
• From the buyer’s perspective, acquiring the entire company and keeping the design efforts going is risky. It’s 50/50 whether the key design people will stick around after closing … regardless what they or the seller states. In addition, if you have to replace key people, the new staff will not have the relationships with the client base.
• From the buyer’s perspective, acquiring the entire company then canceling the design efforts is usually a risky decision as well. There are offices to deal with in addition to staff which needs to be let go … both time consuming and detrimental to the existing client base.
• My estimate is for every 20 buyers of a pure play hosting company, there are only 1-2 buyers for hosting design shop combo’s.
Internet Data Center:
Investing in an IDC may increase the value of the entire company by an enormous amount over time, but definitely reduces the liquidity in the short run. Typically smaller web host co-locate in the beginning, then at a later date acquire their own data center. In turn, the company will then offer space to other smaller host hence creating yet another service offering.
Owning an underutilized data center reduces the number of one type of buyer … the “cash flow buyer”, yet invites a new category of buyer, the “asset and cash flow buyer”. The later buyer is looking to both grow through acquisitions and make the swap from co-location to owning the data center. The less remaining capacity of the data center, the more of a cash flow type deal it will be, hence usually more liquid.
Customer Service In A Home Business
It is very exciting to have a home business that you operate and manage. Many people take advantage of a home business in the wellness industry. But the key to remember is that there are many, many home business companies that you are competing with on a daily basis. To be very successful, you need to have an advantage over your competitors. Your biggest advantage that many new business owners overlook is customer service.
Our customers are our bread and money. Without a strong customer base we would not have a home business to run and operate. There are tons of companies in the wellness industry that are competing for the same niche customer base that we are. The good news is that you can have a leading edge over your competitors by providing excellent customer service in ways that the other guys have not thought of or simply do not want to take the time to do.
Make your company a personal company. With computers and programs, too often customers start to feel like they are just another customer number in your data base system. You never want your customers feeling like this. You must take the time to make them your top priority. One step is to make sure that their orders go out in a timely manner. You might be busy and even need help during peak seasons, but it is very important to make sure that customers get their orders in a timely manner.
Instead of using auto responders, send your clients an email personally thanking them for their order and letting them know that the order is on the way. This might seem time consuming and actually if you’re having a successful wellness industry home business, it is in fact time consuming. It is important to either send these thank you notes and order confirmations yourself or have a friend or employee send them out.
If you hand pack your orders, make certain to hand write a thank you note for the order. You can still do the computer invoicing and packing slips. You are showing your customers that they are not just another number in your customer data base.
Follow up with your clients and customers. Ask them if they received their products and if the orders were fine. This lets them know that you care about them instead of just using them for their money. If there is a problem, take the time to correct it.
Do not do any additional selling like your competitors do. Just let the client or customer know that you are there for them should they need additional services, products, or have a problem with their current products or services.
The customer is always right no matter. If a customer complains about a product, you are better off refunding their money or correcting the problem than arguing with them. You want repeated business. Losing an occasional profit here and there from orders is much better than losing many of your potential repeat customers. Follow the philosophy that the customer is always right and try to correct problems to win over a customer than to argue with them.
You can follow these suggestions for taking the leading edge for customer service for home business. Just because you are a home business does not mean that you offer less than the big companies. In fact, you can offer more customer service and find yourself growing by leaps and bounds in your new wellness industry home business.
Build Your Home Business Offering Superior Service
One of the biggest complaints customers have against businesses, large and small is "LOUSY CUSTOMER SERVICE".
We have all had the experience of being left hanging on the phone while just trying to get some simple information, or waiting to hear the voice of a live person who can answer a few questions. Recently, I called the U.S. postal service on a working day to see if I could get some information on sending a package to the U.K. Believe it or not, I got a voice mail message telling me to leave my name and phone number and some one would call me back.
I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT! I was out-done, flabbergasted! You mean to tell me that a gigantic operation like the U.S. postal service can't afford to hire enough people to answer the phones on a regular working day!
A few weeks ago, I ordered some information from a small mail order company. The order information said that if I sent a check that my order would be delayed until the check cleared. So I sent cash ($16.00). I still didn't get the order for three weeks. When I got the order it was only three pages of information, I don't know how you see it, but I call this poor customer service.
WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?
Why does there seems to be so many companies that don't have a clue when it comes to serving their customers? Why is it that large businesses such as airlines, hotels, car rental companies etc. make the customers jump through hoops just to use their services?
Perhaps some of the companies have grown so big they think the public has no choice but to do business with them. Whatever the reasons may be, poor customer service is bad for business.
I could go on and on giving examples of my experiences of poor customer service. But I’m sure you too could tell poor customer service stories of your own.
The point is, when we spend our money to purchase a product or service, we all feel that our business should be appreciated. In most cases, when we receive poor customer service, we simply take our business elsewhere.
GIVE YOUR CUSTOMERS THE SERVICE THEY DESERVE
The small business entrepreneur must do every thing possible to gain an advantage that will help obtain loyal customers.
Offering your customers "RED CARPET" service will help to ensure a lasting, profitable relationship with your customers. Offering excellent customer service could mean the difference between success and failure for your business.
This process should begin when a potential customer makes an inquiry about your product or service. When a potential customer wants more information about your business, you should see that this information is in their hands as quickly as possible.
Your sales message should look professional and be truthful. Don't make the mistake of assuming that your potential customer is some kind of idiot by making outrageous, unrealistic claims about what your product, service or program will do for them. Give your customers all of the information they need, so they’ll know exactly what they’ll receive if they purchase your product or join your program. Make sure that you deliver on every promise you make to your customers.
FORMING A LASTING RELATIONSHIP ONCE YOU MAKE THE FIRST SALE
If you are a small mail order dealer doing business out of your home, you should understand that when a person sends you money through the mail, they are giving you a vote of confidence. You should show your appreciation for their business by providing them with prompt, efficient service. Always make it a point to give them more than they expected to receive.
Establish a line of communications with your customers. Make sure that you provide them a way to contact you by phone, email or fax. Keep in contact with your customers by surprising them with an inexpensive free gift such as a wallet sized calendar with your business name on it. Or include a special offer. Make your customers feel special. Let them know that you value their business.
Accounting Outsourcing Service to augment your business prospects
Are you unable to keep a tab on the heavy accounting work undertaken by your accounting firm? This is just no reason for anyone to despair about his/her business prospects. Opt for accounting outsourcing service from an outsourcing firm to meet hectic customer demands. Accounting is a seasonal business, which witnesses heavy demand from customers to get their tax returns prepared and pay their taxes timely. This is the time when accounting outsourcing service comes as a boon to accounting firms and CPAs.
Several outsourcing companies deal with accounting and provide their clients with accounting outsourcing services. If you are eager about earning revenue through your accounting business, outsourcing the process is the best source for you. Accounting outsourcing services are offered considering the urgent requirements of CPAs and accounting firms to meet customer demand during the tax season in the US.
To run your accounting business successfully, you will have to choose a good outsourcing company which meets all your requirements. Take a few minutes out of your busy schedule to scout the best accounting outsourcing service provider to work for you. The World Wide Web is the best source for information regarding bookkeeping outsourcing service.
While researching for a good outsourcing company, it is very essential to check out the different features provided by the company. See the different types of security features which are put in place for protecting customer’s financial security and personal identity by the accounting outsourcing company. In this age of advanced communication, it has become all the more important then ever to maintain strict secrecy about customer’s finical details and personal identification. Customer security must be of major concern for any outsourcing company.
Compare the cost offered by different companies for doing accounting outsourcing work. Opt for the firm which provides you good quality service at an affordable price. Sometimes however compromising on the price for the service offered to you can actually spell loss for a business. This is to say that always the highest price does not guarantee the best services and vice versa. So you must undertake careful considerations before you actually choose a company for doing the outsourcing work for your firm.
You can get many benefits and enjoy peace of mind by outsourcing your accounting work to an outsourcing firm. Accounting outsourcing service work is done by trained professionals in the developing countries. This means the cost of labor is low compared to other places. Professionals in developing countries are highly qualified, but lack job openings. So by accounting outsourcing your customers can get their work done by highly qualified professionals, without spending an extra cent.
Another benefit of accounting outsourcing service is that if you are at anytime not satisfied with the work done, you can fire the accountant and hire new ones for doing the job. With plenty of opportunities available, you will not find any dearth of talent and manpower in this field. There are plenty of opportunities open for you to explore on the internet.
Accounting outsourcing service spells instant success for a business. The simple reason for this is the reduced cost of the services provided. By accounting outsourcing service the entire method of accounting is made cost effective and simple for CPAs and accounting firms to handle.