| |
| |
|
Customer Service Information |
|
|
|
Customer Service - How Good Are YOU?
At 8.30 am a wealthy client (on his way to make a presentation to the local council at 9 am) walked into a store that sells photocopiers. They also provide a copy service. He wanted to make a back-up copy of his lengthy presentation. The shop appeared to be open - doors unlocked, lights on, etc but the young lady who met him said she couldn't do photocopies until 9 am because that's when the copy centre opened for business. He went two doors down the road to the Council Library and did them himself at 10 cents per page, spending $11.00. Guess where he won't look for his next copier? Two men walked into a bakery / coffee shop at 4.45 pm and asked for two coffees and two slices of cake. They were told they could only have the cake to take-away as the shop closed at 5 and coffee took too long to make and drink. They left. The point is that the two men were local council aldermen and the Deputy Mayor owns the shop. The owner of a local cafe went on holidays and hung a sign in the window "Have taken 10 days holiday. We knew you'd understand". I understood. I went around the corner, discovered a new cafe that has given me a voucher for a free coffee for every four I buy. I'm going there again. How's this in contrast? My lawnmower man was driving down my street on Sunday and saw me pruning some bushes in the yard. He stopped, grabbed his chain saw and started to help. I asked him how much he wanted and he said, "Nothing mate. I was on my way to the tip and the trailer isn't full". He knows the value of a customer - he's cut my lawn on average 20 times a year for the last five years. I pay him $25 per mow - that's over $2,500 over five years so I guess a free load to the tip wasn't that much to give away. He saved me having to borrow a trailer and spend my afternoon going to the tip. He's got a lot more $25 coming his way! Such a little thing but what cost and what benefit? Take a look at the silly things you do that cost you money and fix them! © James Yuille, Brisbane, Australia, 2004. About the author: James Yuille is a sales and marketing consultant and trainer with over 32 years experience. He is based in Brisbane, Australia. His free weekly sales and marketing newsletter provides topical information for business owners and salespeople. Find out more at http://www.jamesyuille.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Customer-Service - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Dont Eliminate The Middle Man - Add One Today, there are situations when we actually add a "middle person" instead of eliminating one for increased service efficiency. If it's cost-effective and demand is high, then proper market positioning will make it a worthwhile endeavor. Be the Customer: See Yourself as Your Customers Do What do your customers experience when they interact with your business? As a mystery shopper, I help businesses see themselves through the eyes of their customers by posing as a typical customer and evaluating their service, quality and cleanliness. Was it easy to find what I needed? Were the employees polite and helpful? Was everything neat and clean? Was I thanked for my business? What happened when I made a return?Whether your business is an international retailer or a small one-person shop, what you don't know about your customers' perceptions of your quality and service can hurt you. 11 Ways to Get What You Want - Be a Clever Customer! We all want great service, whether we are buying our weekly groceries from a store, or want a billing hitch resolved at our local utilities provider. Whether it's getting our car fixed, or a great meal in a restaurant. Over Deliver - The Key to Customer Satisfaction Client satisfaction starts with meeting or beating the contractual obligations of the relationship. There are also some intangibles that can help you to over deliver to a client. First Contact: The Source of Customer Loyalty With customers being smarter, more cost conscious, more product knowledgeable and more demanding, improving customer service has become a major focus within many businesses. In Customer Satisfaction is Worthless; Customer Loyalty is Priceless, author Jeffrey Gitomer contends the real solution is shifting the paradigm away from customer service to customer loyalty. Keeping Clients Happy Keeps them Coming Back Whether you are a seasoned small business professional, or you have just opened your doors to new clients, your marketing strategy should not only involve bringing in new business, it should also include keeping your current clients, your most important asset, happy and coming back for more or referring your services.Top-notch customer service is the most important contributing factor in the success of your business. 10 Customer Service Quality Statements to Measure up Against It might sound quick and simple, to say how well your business does in satisfying it's customers. Hearing such as:-"We're increasing our turnover by 14% year to date""Our customer complaints are now less than 4% or our transactions". Dont Work with Jerks: How to Recognize a Difficult Client Early Five minutes into the call I knew this client was going to make my life miserable. The problem was, I already said "Yes. What You Need to Know About CRM 1. It's all about the customer. Customer Service - A Lost Art? Is customer service a lost art? Before you answer that question, take a moment and think about the last few times you have gone shopping or out to dinner. Okay, now that you have really thought about it, is your answer any different? Why is it that when we actually DO receive excellent customer service that it makes such an impression on us that we usually choose to go back? Why - because the occurrences are so few and far between!!! As a home business owner, it is imperative to my business that customer service is ALWAYS a top priority. Customer Conversion Mistakes That Will Cost You The following are common mistakes that Sales Managers and Owners make in the sales process which could be costing you thousands or even hundreds of thousands in lost revenue.- No system to capture and log prospect information/contact data on incoming ad calls. Add Value - And Kill Mediocrity in Customer Service There are two kinds of customer service we all experience occasionally, outstanding customer service, and bad customer service. What we experience most of the time is mediocre customer service. Dissatisfied or Rude Customers Can Be Satisfied Customers On a recent airline flight I was an upset customer. I was arriving on a late inbound flight and connecting with the last flight out on the same airline, but the connecting flight left without me! At first, I was furious when told to wait in a line of 300 people to resolve my problem. How To Keep Your Customers Coming Back -- Understanding Customer Retention Why do some businesses offer points, stamps or every tenth coffee for free?These businesses understand that a customer retention program is a fantastic way to ensure that customers keep coming back. The most recognized customer retention programs are those loyalty programs used by retailers, but this same principal can be applied to any business that wishes to maintain a loyal customer base. Astonish your Customers With These Customer Service Tips Customer service today is getting worse. Win customers over and you build your business for life. Hook Me Up With A Human Oh, what has happened to the carbon-based organizational interface? Many organizations have digitized humans - aka carbon-based units - out of existence in their customer service operations. Now, I love digital technology as much as anyone, but it is time to bring the people back into their appropriate customer service roles, don't you think?Have you ever tried to reach a human at Amazon. The Dissatisfied Customer We, as small business people, naturally dislike complaints from our clients and customers. Because we're intimately involved with our home businesses, small businesses, or freelance careers, any complaint takes on a personal commentator. How To Kick Your Customer Service Up A Notch! Welcome to the inaugural issue of Human Tech Tips -- Tip #1. How do we take your customer service and kick it up a notch?This is a big question so where do we begin?As an overview, it's a given that the answer is three-fold: People, Process, and Technology. When the Customer Demands: Give a Discount or Lose the Order Periodically every sales person encounters the customer who refuses to buy unless they receive a discount. Sometimes this is driven by the organization's culture or the buyer wanting to look good to their boss and sometimes it is simply the mindset of the individual buyer them self. How To Build Stellar Client Relationships Your opportunity to build a stellar client relationship starts with managing the gap between your perception of how things are going and your client's.Begin the process here .
|
| home | site map |
| © 2008 |
