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June 13th, 2008With the rise of niche social networks, many business owners are considering whether a specifically branded social network fits for their businesses and industries.
Unlike general social networks such as Facebook and MySpace, branded networks are built for users to connect and communicate about topics related to their industries. Examples include Shelfari.com for book enthusiasts and ImSaturn for Saturn owners.
Considering a branded network to foster discussion about your industry and promote more traffic to your site? There are some factors that you need to address in order for the benefits to outweigh the costs in time and money.
Business writer Scarlet Pruitt suggests the following points to creating a successful niche social network.
The first and most important issue to address is to ensure there are enough active users before even considering beginning a networking site. To achieve this, you will need to offer a wide platform of topics beyond just your brand and include discussions on how your industry affects the world at large.
Once a cadre of dedicated users is secured, you can move on to obtaining the needed software. There are a few companies out there that specialize in social networking platforms, such as Ning and ONEsite, and offers wide ranging options from inexpensive basic software plug-ins to entire Web 2.0 platforms. You can cut some costs by establishing a revenue-sharing agreement with the provider or by including ads.
Finally, integrating the networking site into your main website will take a little more time and money. But once you have everything up and running, engage your community through blog posts, networking with your community, and sharing information with other sites.
April 9th, 2008We've all made comments that we later realize were counterproductive or resulted in a lost customer. Especially in small business, every customer counts, so there are certain things they should never hear you or your employees say.
Freelance business management writer Jeff Wuorio suggests seven things never to tell your customers.
1. Why are you doing that for him?
Questioning the service for a customer should never be done in front of them. Aside from being rude, this indicates to the customer that either you don't know about customer service or simply just do not care.
2. Are you sure you can afford this?
While it is a good idea to make sure the customer understands the price for an item, never question their ability to pay.
3. What an idiot that last guy was!
Any business will get customers who are not very intelligent. An employee should never say this to a co-worker but doing it in front of another customer is not only rude, but grossly unprofessional.
4. We don't have it.
All retail businesses will run out of an item or not carry it at all, but saying no to a customer is almost like saying "…and stay out". See if there is a substitute they would be satisfied with and if not, build goodwill by referring them to a competitor that may offer what they're looking for.
5. What a ______ name.
It is not wise to comment or inquire about the sound of someone's name. The only proper thing to do is to ask if you're pronouncing their name correctly.
6. I haven't a clue about what I'm talking about, but I'll ramble on regardless.
While you should not strangle your employee's willingness and eagerness to provide good customer service, urge them to stick with topics and advice they're familiar with.
7. I only work here.
These four wretched words by an employee show a complete lack of enthusiasm or willingness to address a problem. Your employees need to understand that there is likely someone else available to address a problem that is beyond their means.
Good customer service is one of the most important components in making a business successful. Every effort has to be made to build a loyal customer base. Verbal miscues like the ones detailed above can hinder this effort so be sure you and your employees think before speaking.
December 5th, 2005by Andrea Wilson
Other than the current buzz words, customer service has changed very little since commerce first began. If you want a customer to buy from you again, and to recommend your product or service to others, complaints or problems must be handled properly.
"A satisfied customer will tell five people about their experience, a dissatisfied customer will tell twenty-five!"
Customer Service on the Internet
The Internet is an impersonal place to shop. Because of this, the online customer feels little loyalty to you or your company. Many online shoppers won't restrain their anger and upset either. They feel safe behind their anonymous email address. Therefore, in responding to a complaint, you must quickly establish rapport with your customer. To do this, your phone skills and email etiquette must be exceptional. You won't likely get a second chance to make the right impression.
Here are some tips to put you on the right track:
1. Don't give stock responses when customers are not asking stock questions! Take care to answer every question or concern that a customer poses in an email. There's nothing worse than getting back an email from a business owner or their customer service representative that doesn't address the concerns you stated in your email, gives canned responses to what you asked, or makes you feel like a nuisance...or a dummy!
2. End the call or email on a high note for the customer. They'll remember your last words best. In other words, don't end the conversation by saying, "And I'm really sorry you didn't receive your widget when promised." Say, "Martha, your widget is on my desk right now. I'll be packaging it right after this call and I will take it to the post office myself." Now stop talking! Don't be tempted to apologize again and remind them of the problem. Leave customers with the good taste of a resolution in their mouths.
3. In emails, use "exaggerated courtesy." Since the person can't see your expression or hear your tone of voice, your words must do everything for you. Read emails at least three times before hitting the send button.
4. Remove or reword phrases in your email that could be considered rude, such as, "As I said on the phone,...." (Ouch, that's a reprimand! We expect the sentence to end like this, "As I said on the phone, Stupid!")
5. Consider outsourcing your customer service. I was a customer service professional for fifteen years in the high-tech industry. As a hiring manager I looked for two customer service "virtues" in candidates: patience beyond measure and a genuine liking for people. If you do your own customer service for your small business, you need to determine if you have those qualities. If not, you might want to outsource your customer service to someone who does!
6. Ask customers what they want! Often their request will be more reasonable than whatever it was you were going to do to make it right. And it will be the solution they want, not the solution you think they want!
7. Acknowledge their pain and make it right! In my experience, customers rarely demand something more than what they originally expected. So don't start offering all kinds of freebies to try and make them feel better. What they really want is for you to acknowledge their pain and make it right. Making it right usually means getting what they expected in the first place. And it doesn't have to be accompanied by a free gift. Don't substitute "bribing" the customer for genuinely caring about their pain. You can't buy their loyalty, but you can earn it.
8. Avoid over compensating for your company's mistake. Gushing with apologetic words and offering them the sky because of a small shipping error can leave your customer doubting your professionalism. And if you've given them the sky for such a small mistake, what the heck will you do when you really mess up?
9. If possible, give customers a choice as to the solution to their problem. They'll view their experience with less pain that way. If they couldn't download your ebook because of some technical difficulty, they might want a full refund, they might want the chance to download the ebook again, or they might prefer that you email them the ebook.
10. If you do it carefully, you can use some customer service situations to up sell customers. "Martha, did you notice on our Web site that you can get a second widget at half price? If I ship them today, both widgets will arrive in plenty of time for Christmas. Gift-wrapping is included, by the way." Now stop talking and let Martha sell herself on your offer. This is not the time for a hard sales pitch!
How does good customer service increase your revenue? Every customer service encounter gives you another chance to:
- improve customer loyalty
- correct problems in your buying cycle
- up sell customers.
By retaining customer loyalty you now have the chance to sell this customer something else, and you can rest assured they'll say positive things about your company. Remember, a satisfied customer will tell five people, but a dissatisfied customer will tell twenty-five people!
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Andrea Wilson is a former customer service professional who now owns Able Webs, an online Web design business. Visit http://www.ablewebs.com and subscribe to Andrea's ezine, "Web Marketing Today." Learn proven tips and tricks to successfully market your business on the Web.October 28th, 2005Do you sometimes wonder where your customers have gone? In a study by the International Customer Research Institute, individuals gave the following reasons for becoming "non-repeat"
customers:
* 1 percent died (makes you wonder how they responded)
* 3 percent moved
* 5 percent said friendships
* 9 percent said competition
* 14 percent were dissatisfied with the product
* 68 percent cited an attitude of indifference by employees
How many times do you think that employee attitude is communicated by phone? Very often the telephone is the first and only contact that people have with your organization. Make sure that this experience is the best you and your employees have to offer so that first-time callers become repeat customers.
Smile when you answer the phone. Even if your hair is on fire or the last caller chewed you out, pause for a moment to put a smile on your face and in your voice. Believe it or not, people can hear you smiling through the phone.
Answer the phone on the first ring, certainly no later than the third ring. If people have to wait through rings four and five, they begin to think that you have closed for the day, gone out of business or just don't care. We live in a world that expects instant gratification. Be sure you meet your customers'
expectations.
Ask permission before you put someone on hold. You may have multiple lines ringing and a line of people standing at your desk, but wait to hear the caller's response. It is that person's choice to hold or not. Try not to turn this move into a power play. When you come back on the line, thank the person for holding. If you have to ask the caller to continue to hold, offer to take a number and return the call.
Transferring calls should be done with care. Before you connect the caller to someone else's extension, make sure that person is in and able to help. There is nothing more frustrating than being transferred over and over again and having to retell the same story to a multitude of different people before finding the right one.
Before you send the call to co-worker, give the caller that person's name and number in case there is a disconnect. Better yet, tell the caller who you are and how to reach you if there is a problem. You will have an extremely satisfied customer.
Always make an offer of help. It may not be your department, your issue or your job, but if it is the customer's problem, you need to show concern. Never tell the caller " 'I don't know'"
or "I can't help you." The best response to a problem is a genuine "Let me see what I can do or who I can find to help you."
You will win customers and influence people every time when you use good phone skills.
(c) 2005, Lydia Ramsey. Lydia Ramsey is a business etiquette expert, professional speaker, corporate trainer and author of MANNERS THAT SELL - ADDING THE POLISH THAT BUILDS PROFITS. She has been quoted or featured in The New York Times, Investors' Business Daily, Entrepreneur, Inc., Real Simple and Woman's Day. For more information about her programs, products and services, e-mail her at lydia@mannersthatsell.com or visit her web site http://www.mannersthatsell.com
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