How Are You Keeping Your Clients Happy?

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By Tracy Collins 

More and more, corporate America is more interested in getting rich than the needs and wants of their clients. They are forgetting about the clients that made their pocketbooks as fat as they are today. For instance, look at the gas prices. We all know the prices are high and it is hurting the little guy, while the oil companies are making record profits (but I digress).

As a small business owner, we have to make sure that we are keeping our clients happy. I'm not saying to go out and decrease your profits by offering free services constantly, but maybe send them a thank you card with a gift card in it for a local restaurant, offer a discount on their next month invoice, something just to let them know that you care about them and their needs and wants. Do this at other times besides Christmas. Your clients will really appreciate the fact that you are thinking of them and you appreciate them.

If you don't have the finances at the time to do this type of thing, contact them once every six months or so and ask them if they are happy with your service and if there is anything that they are unhappy with. Sure, this might be tough to hear at times but your clients will appreciate the fact that you value their input and you value their business so much that you are willing to get their opinion. Also, if anything that they are unhappy with is something that you can fix or change without costing a fortune, do it. They will appreciate it.

Some customer service follow-ups can be automated. Look over your website, and see what it can be doing to help keep your customers happy -from providing easily accessible support, to automating customer awards, or collecting customer feedback.

Make sure that if you are in a business where service or product fees decline over time, that you keep your older customers up with the current pricing. Nothing is more distressing to them than to look at your website and realize that you are offering a higher service for a lower price to new customers, while the existing customer service package has not changed. Customer incentives need not be expensive to work - they just need to be meaningful and sincere

Also, if you created/maintain your own website, do a client spotlight once a month or so. Have a link to their website, a write-up about them and their business, why you chose them etc. Just make sure that it is okay with your client first.

Once you start making a comfortable living doing the business of your choice, don't forget your current clients. If it wasn't for them, you wouldn't be where you are today.

Tracy Collins, Confidential Virtual Assistant, owns/operates Collins-Admin Services, http://www.collins-admin.com a virtual assistance company based out of Pennsylvania. Offering confidential virtual administrative support services to entrepreneurs/small business owners who feel they need higher than average confidential assistance.

Telemarketing - Generate Big Revenue from Simple Creative Ideas & Small Budgets

By Yoshiko Choy

Develops and Sells the SFA Software Salespeople can Access Online.
Hello, This is XX calling from XX (company), may I have a moment of your time please….?

Statistics shows that Telemarketing responses fetches 4 times more than mail-generated leads. And you would think that the cost could be exorbitant, since large corporations have spent millions of dollars prepping up their telemarketing centers. Well, it's Yes and No. If you are running a large corporation and looking to expand sales exponentially at a faster pace, yes.

But if you run a small business, you too can have a piece of the telemarketing pie. There are approaches which from my past experience have proven workable and more importantly profitable to say the least.

The one of the critical issues is to examine suitability of your business for the telemarketing channel of distribution. There are industries which telemarketing has become the norm in generating escalating revenues & profits but there are those which do not leverage upon telemarketing, not due to budget constraints but that there are more appropriate distribution channels. Take for instance, the very familiar credit card call industry. You will see rows and rows of telemarketers calling round the clock to solicit card applications. Conversely, if you are in the fruits wholesale distribution business, it is highly unlikely that you would resort to telemarketing as a distribution channel.

You will also need to analyze the function of telemarketing as marketing tool in your business. You can activate telemarketing activities for expanding revenue, as a sales support tool as well as build rapport. Call supporting activities for the credit card businesses, the cell phone businesses for instance, would center around after-sales services. Calling clients on service evaluation after sales would be building rapport and generate feedback for product and service enhancements. These are very diverging objectives which separately achieve different purposes altogether. The pitch and script would be highly diverging as well.

The "recency" of your call list is critical as well. Lists from events and campaigns must be called within the month to ensure higher recall rate. The sooner you call your prospects, the higher the recall rate and the better the chances of closing the sale. The catch is of course the National Do Not Call List. So ensure that the potential clients you call are on this list.

Finally, your success largely depends on The Reward, essentially the effectiveness of your incentive scheme.

I shall share below an example of my past execution of telemarketing as a sales generating tool. In this instance, our discussion is centered on the small business, with tight operations and marketing budgets.

For effective telemarketing, you could consider training one or two existing staff to spend 30% to 50% of their time conducting telemarketing out of a potential client listing generated from your many events and campaigns as well as existing client lists. And Viola!! Leveraging on existing manpower resources, you have created a new channel of distribution!

Handpick staff who have tact and are able to take rejection, and practice, they will start converting the leads to sales, and start earning! Remember, Telemarketing is a prolong activity channel which yields results over time. Persistence and positivism is essence.

In terms of rewards, on top of their usual salary, you should incentivize your telemarketers with a generous percentage of telesales revenue generated by them. This is especially viable for business costs which run on incremental variable revenue model. For instance, if your business is leveraged upon total fixed cost, and any revenue above your fixed cost is variable revenue or profits. Hence, any amount generated by your telemarketers is essentially variable revenue on top and above your normal fixed costs and fixed revenue.

Yoshiko Choy is an entrepreneur and a management consultant in business & marketing with 17 years of experience in Locals & MNCs as well as an avid online marketer. She holds an Executive MBA with California State University. Read about business & marketing management trends at her http://businessfast4ward.com Also get the latest reviews and updates on niche marketing, visit http://onlinenichemarketing.org

 

How To Improve Call Center Effectiveness

By Piyush Bakshi

One thing that customer service call centers dread is customer backlash and this is something that is becoming all too common for call centers all over the world. Disgruntled customers choose to do business with a rival instead of you because you could not offer them the after-sales service that you promised. When customers consider their trust to be breached their reactions include a poor perception of your company, reduced likelihood of doing business with your company, and almost no chance of recommending your company to a friend.

Customer call centers invite trouble when they deviate from the maxim that an existing customer who has paid good money deserves respect; ironically most businesses are aware that it's easier to retain a customer than go for a new one.

Poor customer perception of business call centers is not industry-specific. Its spread across industries covering businesses of all sizes. Too often, businesses lose sight of customer requirements and in an effort to improve operational efficiencies they cut corners and try to reduce costs. This affects call center performance.

If you are running a call center, you should know where the trouble lies; here are some of the issues that are pet customer peeves

Having to make more than one call and then talking to more than one customer representative

Having to stay on hold, deal with IVRs and a menu that is anything but easy to use.

The absence of dedicated executives, so that each call is a new beginning where the problem has to be explained afresh.

Poorly trained executives who more often than not escalate the issue to their seniors while you are put on hold.

If you wish to improve your customer's experience when interacting with your call center, here are a few things that you need to understand -

Time and effort devoted to offering customer service should not be viewed as an avoidable cost, also your call center is not a cost center it is a profit center which if run properly will get you a very quick ROI on what you put into it. It also means that you have to select your call center

A successfully closed issue helps a great deal in retaining a customer.

Only trained staff can deliver consistent results so focus on training the staff, quality control. Attrition can prove to be a drain on your resources so work on retaining the experienced and talented staff.

Remember there are a lot of intangibles and trifles that lead to improved customer call center performance which in turn enables you to achieve sales conversions. Empathize with your customer and you will be handsomely rewarded for it. Do not forget that it also means that you have to carefully select your call center CRM application.

Piyush Bakshi is a full-time content provider working with Gate58 which owns http://www.vendordemo.com

Effective Communication

By: Lou Clark

The bare knuckled fight for the democratic nominee has me hooked! Not only am I fascinated by the race but I am also floored by the poor level of communication displayed by some of the candidates' communication staff. With a mixture of um's, err's, mumbled words, poor eye contact and closed body language I can only imagine the success they could achieve if they chose to communicate effectively.

Whether it is a job interview, a salary negotiation with your boss or the race for the White House - choosing to communicate effectively will ensure you are heard the way you want to be heard. Effective communication is not a reflex response so can be difficult to use but luckily it can be learned, practiced and mastered. This article aims to explain what effective communication is, why it is so important and also to provide you with 10 tips to effective communication.

I encourage you to read on, to continue to communicate effectively and to start to notice the difference.

What is effective communication?

On average, about 70% of our time is spent communicating, whether it is verbal, nonverbal or through listening, reading or writing.

In basic terms, communication is the transmitting of an idea or an opinion from one person or group to another person or group; an exchange of ideas. Effective communication is required to ensure the message is delivered, received, interpreted and acted upon in the way it was intended. Whoever you are office junior, CEO or stay at home dad, effective communication is key to achieving both your personal and professional goals.

There are two main elements to Effective Communication, assertive speaking and active listening.

Assertive speaking - To project yourself (verbally and non verbally) in a direct, confident and relaxed way, in order to be able to deliver your message, image or idea in the way that you meant it to be heard, whilst at the same time encouraging the audience to do the same.

Active listening - Utilizing empathy and respect to listen to both the content (verbal) and the emotional (non-verbal) elements of the message, idea or image being delivered in order to hear the message as it was meant to be heard.

Effective communication requires more than just words, it needs positive, direct and confident body language, facial expressions, pace, and tone of your voice to all add weight to what you want to say.

Professor Mehrabian of the University of California looked at how face to face communication is received by any listener. The research discovered effective communication is based around 3 main areas, with the content or words used only accounting for 7% of the whole message.

Impact of communication
Facial expressions / gestures / body language55%
Tone of voice38%
Content / words7%

Achieving Effective Communication

At school we are taught to read, write and speak appropriately. I am sure we can all remember a teacher telling us to 'be quiet' or the ever popular 'shut up and (listen)'. But the lack of formal training to listen, coupled with stress, deadlines and tension at work it is not surprising that we can go through our work and home life without properly listening.

We are often caught in a 'tug of war' scenario where more than one person is trying to speak at the same time, struggling for control of the conversation resulting in no-one receiving the right message. Tension is created, the conversation takes an adversarial tone and ineffective communication takes over. Effective communicators are aiming to achieve a 'see-saw' style interaction, where one person is the speaker and the other person is listener. This usually switches between the people involved as they aim to achieve the same goal - mutual understanding and collaborative working.

10 Tips to Effective Communication

Here are 10 tips for active listening and assertive speaking taken from my Effective Communication Toolkit.

  Eye contact and body language - There is no need to stare the speaker out but do retain an appropriate amount of eye contact so that the speaker can tell that you are listening. Without eye contact they might assume that you have switched off. As the speaker you want your audience to be focused on what you are saying and not on the fact that you are playing with something in your pocket or glancing nervously toward the exit. As a listener ensure you display a positive set of body language - an open posture, make encouraging non verbal gestures - such as nodding or smiling.

Tone and pace of your voice - Change the pace and tone of your voice to match the words you are saying. When you want to emphasize a specific point - speak with more urgency - maybe varying the pace and increasing the volume of your voice. This encourages people to listen to what you are saying as oppose to a monotone which might just send your audience to sleep!

Responsibility - Take ownership of your message and show you believe in what you are saying. Ensure you know your subject so you retain your confidence throughout - especially at question time. Speak in the positive - be relaxed, confident and direct - emphasize what you CAN do.

Direct and confident - The listener will be more open to any message being delivered if it being done so in a direct and confident manner. The message will be believable and the audience will be confident in what you are saying.

Solution focused - Your message will more likely be heard if it is positive with clear thought through solutions. Avoid apportioning blame or pulling up past challenges but focus on what can be done now.

Do your homework - Do some research before presenting or speaking to an individual or group you are unfamiliar with. This will ensure that your message is delivered in a way that is appropriate to your audience.

  The full message - As a listener note taking can help so you can keep up with what is being said and easily refer back for clarification. Take in the full message and remember that the words are only 7% of the overall message.

  Probing and open questions - If you are in anyway unclear as to what is being said, ask open ended questions. They start with when, where, what, why, who and how. These types of questions generate dialogue. Closed questions (questions that elicit a yes/no answer) are best used at the end of a funnel of open questions to gain agreement or acceptance of an issue or to lead to the end of a conversation.

Non-judgmental - Although the message you are listening to might not have your agenda at its centre, there are more positive ways of adding to this than casting your own judgment. Avoid judgmental statements in your feedback and caution the use of questions starting with 'why' as they can often carry a judgmental tone. As an alternative to 'why' use ' perhaps you could walk me through your thinking around…'. This invites the speaker to be more open.

Sharing relevant examples - Sharing a relevant example will encourage the speaker and might give weight to their message. Ensure you do not detract away from the speaker by putting your agenda first.

Lou Clark is a Life & Career Coach and founder of Être Coaching based in NYC. With a successful background in Human Resource Management, formal coach training & accreditation with the ICF, Lou is experienced in providing support and coaching through change. Visit Etre Coaching!

3 Customer Service Ideas to Earn Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty

Sherri Wynters

Customer service has never been worse than it is in today's business environment. With companies trimming their budgets as much as possible, there isn't the time or money to spend on customer service skills. If it can be automated, it gets automated no matter how inconvenient it is for the customer.

The Ethics of Outsourcing Customer Service

Stop working so hard trying to improve your call center performance, use call center games to achieve extraordinary

Alma schools may privatize custodial services - Morning Sun
The district is looking at a budget deficit of $176,000 this year and a shortfall of more than $400,000 in 2008-09. Board of Education members are searching for ways to save money that "do not affect the kids or the classrooms," Superintendent Don

The Ethics Of Outsourcing Customer Service - NBC 10
It's a familiar scenario: A product you purchased recently has developed a problem, so you call the company's toll-free number and are connected to a "customer service associate" in India or the Philippines. You describe your problem but have a hard

WNS Announces Partnership with ESI to Develop Real-Time CRM Solution - MSN MoneyCentral
WNS (Holdings) Limited WNS , a leading provider of global business process outsourcing (BPO) services, today announced a strategic partnership with Exchange Solutions Inc. (ESI), which creates and hosts interactive sales and marketing solutions

Science panic in India - BusinessWeek
Indian outsourcing companies like Infosys, TCS and Wipro are getting bigger and bigger, and Indian pharma companies like Ranbaxy and Dr. Reddy’s are expanding in the West. But not everybody in India is buying the hype that success stories like

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DALLAS, May 29 /PRNewswire/ — BancTec, a global provider of advanced, high volume document and payment processing services and solutions, announced today that it has signed a contract to provide BPO services for a large insurance provider. The 10

Stop working so hard trying to improve your call center performance, use call center games to achieve extraordinary

7 Secrets for Moving Customers Out of a Hardball Mentality

By Myra Golden 

Here are 7 proven tips for moving customers out of a hardball mentality into a constructive dialogue.

1. Confidently acknowledge and address anger.
A big mistake among customer service professionals is to ignore a customer’s expression of anger or tip-toe around it. There is something known as the communication chain. When people communicate, they expect the person they are communicating with to respond or react…this response is a link in the communication chain. A failure to respond to communication leaves the communication chain unlinked…broken.

For example, If I walk into my office and say… “Hello Sherry, how are you?” ….and she says absolutely nothing, she’s broken the communication chain. And that leaves me feeling awkward, perhaps embarrassed.

If a customer expresses anger and we fail to respond to it, the communication chain is broken and the customer feels like they are not getting through. The customer might become even angrier and more difficult, as they are resorting to whatever it takes to feel heard and understood.

You can keep your angry customers from getting angrier by confidently acknowledging their anger and responding to it. You can respond to anger with a statement like, “Clearly you’re upset and I want you to know that getting to the bottom of this is just as important to me as it is to you.” This statement directly and professionally addresses anger – without- making the customer even angrier. Now that the anger has been acknowledged, you have completed the communication chain.

2. Allow the customer to vent, but don’t lose control.
An Angry customer can be compared to an erupting volcano. When a volcano is erupting, there is nothing you can do about it. You can’t speed up the eruption, you can’t put a lid on it, and you cannot direct or redirect it…it must erupt.

When a customer is angry, they must experience and express their anger – and often this is done through venting. We should not interrupt an angry venting customer or tell them to “calm down.” This would be as futile as trying to tame a volcano. A volcano erupts and eventually subsides. Your angry customer will vent and eventually calm down.

Always let angry customers vent. In most cases, your customer will only need to vent for fifteen to thirty-five seconds. Venting beyond 35 seconds can become ranting and cause you to lose control. After a few seconds of venting, you’ll want to jump back in and move the conversation forward constructively.

3. Don’t react emotionally.
It can be easy to lose our cool when a customer gets hot, but be warned: In most cases, showing frustration, impatience, or acting even mildly upset doesn’t help you move the customer out of a hardball mentality. Usually, losing our own cool does nothing but make the customer even more upset or our attitude will make the customer even firmer in his original position.

If you feel you’re beginning to lose your cool, don’t be afraid to hit the “pause” button. You hit the pause button by putting a customer on hold or telling the customer you will call them back.

4. Heed Steven Covey’s Words…Understand, then be understood.
In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Steven Covey tells a story of a patient going in for an eye exam. After briefly listening to the patient’s complaint, the doctor takes off his glasses and hands them to the patient and tells the patient to simply “take his glasses where them.”

What are the chances you’d go back to a doctor that prescribes a solution without even diagnosing a problem? You don’t have much confidence in someone who doesn’t diagnose before they prescribe… But how often do we prescribe a solution before completely diagnosing the situation, in dealing with customers?

Seek first to understand. Before you try PRESCRIBE a solution for a customer’s problem, before you quote policy or tell a customer what you cannot do, seek to truly understand the customer’s viewpoint. How has the problem impacted your customer? Has your customer lost money, time, respect, or confidence because of this problem? Does the customer feel embarrassed, wronged, discriminated against, or powerless? Try to really understand what your customer is experiencing and feeling. when you respond, communicate your full understanding of the problem from the customer’s perspective. Only then can you truly diagnose, BEFORE you prescribe a solution.

Listening with the intent to understand gives you empathy for the customer and puts you in the position to solve the real issues. Once you really understand your customer, you naturally begin to communicate with empathy and to communicate more effectively. Your customer, who feels understood, can now begin to understand you.

5. Don’t belabor your point…no matter how right you are.
be•la•bor - [bi-ley-ber] – verb: (1) to assail persistently, as with scorn or ridicule (2) work at (something) repeatedly or more than is necessary: He kept belaboring the point long after we had agreed.

If you really want to tick a customer off or incite an already upset customer, belabor your point. Repeat your point (your policy; your position) over and over again. I mean really badger the customer with your elementary explanation so that the customer feels they aren’t too bright.

Customer service professionals all around the world make the mistake of belaboring a point when speaking with customers. Don’t let this happen to you. Simply make your point once diplomatically and then enter into a constructive dialogue with your customer.

6. Get the customer saying ‘yes’, and if possible, keep them from saying ‘no’.
When a person says “no,” all of their pride demands that they remain consistent with themselves. And it is very difficult, once they’ve said ‘no’, for them to change their mind and become “agreeable” with you, because their sense of pride is now involved. And we invest so much in our pride.

Here’s how it works. Build an affirmative path by asking your customer two simple and obvious closed-ended questions that you know will result in a YES response. Once you do that, the customer will be on an affirmative path (with you) and it is far easier for them to agree with your next question. It’s very much psychological…your customer won’t feel comfortable disagreeing with himself…and will feel compelled to say yes to your third question so that he agrees with himself!

7. Have a graceful exit.
When all else fails, you need a way to gracefully get out of a conversation with a difficult or unreasonable customer. Here’s a simple way to gracefully exit: “We see this differently and I’m going to have to put thought into the perspective you have shared with me. I will visit with my supervisor about your concerns and call you back with a response.”

Try these tips and I promise, dealing with difficult customers won’t seem so difficult after all!

Imagine your next phone call is from an angry, irate customer, and you've only got a few seconds to gain control. Are you 100% confident you can handle it?

If not, Myra Golden has the perfect program for you…a free online training designed specifically for hard working customer service professionals.

Simply click this link now to see what it's all about: http://www.tamedifficultcustomers.com

Myra Golden is one of the customer service industry's most highly regarded trainers and is nationally recognized for delivering paradigm-shifting customer service programs that position employees to deal more effectively with difficult customers and completely restore customer confidence after dis-satisfying experiences. Her clients include McDonald’s, Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, Frito-Lay, Michelin Tires, Pirelli, Scotts Miracle Gro, and Procter & Gamble, among many others.

Improve Listening Skills For Enhanced Efficiency And Productivity

By Tom Fuszard

Copyright 2008, Thomas R. Fuszard Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tom_Fuszard

Do You Care Enough to Keep the Very Best?

Last night we went out to dinner at a French Bistro restaurant in our home town in Northern California. The food was very good other than our son not liking the anchovies in his Caesar salad! My wife and I commented that there seemed to be something missing.

The waiter did not engage you and seemed to be emotionally distant. The service was good, but no real effort was made to connect with us. It seemed so different than the Italian restaurants we love.

So what was the difference? My wife commented that you do not hear much about the French Bistro. The food was excellent, but we probably would not spread the word. Why? Because we did not feel cared about as customers.

Perhaps the owner of the Bistro could have a conversation with the waiter about the apparent disconnection with customers. The feedback given in a caring way could be pivotal to the success of the restaurant and the employee.

Do you create a remarkable experience for your customers where they are happy to spread the word? It does not take a marketing budget, rather a mindset of building relationships.

Engaged workers produce more, make more money for the company, and create emotional engagement and loyal customers. They contribute to good working environments where people are productive, ethical and accountable. They stay with the organization longer and are more committed to quality and growth than are the other two groups of not-engaged and actively disengaged workers.

Happily Engaged Workers

• Employees must have a strong relationship with their manager.

• They must have clear communication from their manager

• They need a clear path set for concentrating on what they do best

• They need strong relationships with their coworkers

• They must feel a strong commitment with their coworkers so that they take risks and stretch for

excellence

Engaged employees tend to get the least amount of focus and attention from managers, in part because they are doing what they are needed to do. They set goals, meet and exceed expectations and charge enthusiastically toward the next tough task.

Great managers do not leave these excellent employees alone. They spend most of their time with the most productive and talented people because they have the most potential.

The challenge for managers comes when the first signs of disengaging appear from an engaged worker. The symptoms need to be addressed immediately or else the disconnection is most likely to continue. Most of the time this disengagement process can be interrupted by having meaningful conversations that strengthen commitment through relationship.

Do you take the time to keep the very best fully engaged?

Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the BarOn EQi and CPI 260 can help you become a fully engaged leader. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become happily engaged with the strategy and vision of the company.

Dr. Maynard Brusman is a consulting psychologist, executive coach and trusted adviser to senior leadership teams. We provide strategic talent management solutions to select and develop emotionally intelligent leaders and lawyers.

The Society for Advancement of Consulting (SAC) awarded two rare "Board Approved" designations for Dr. Maynard Brusman in the specialties of Executive/Leadership Coaching and Trusted Advisor to Attorneys and Law Firms.

Subscribe to Working Resources FREE electronic newsletter at http://www.workingresources.com Visit Maynard's Blog at http://www.WorkingResourcesBlog.com

P.O. Box 471525
San Francisco, California 94147-1525
Tel: 415-546-1252
Fax: 415-721-7322
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Maynard_Brusman

 

 

3 Customer Service Ideas to Earn Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty

By Sherri Wynters 

Customer service has never been worse than it is in today's business environment. With companies trimming their budgets as much as possible, there isn't the time or money to spend on customer service skills. If it can be automated, it gets automated no matter how inconvenient it is for the customer.

How many times have you been ready for the now familiar message "please listen carefully for our options have changed" only to find yourself screaming at the phone after one too many option levels? Hey - it works for the business - it keeps their operating overhead down - they don't have to staff as many people as they used to because the call tree does the job on auto-pilot. No late or sick employee to worry about. No customers complaining about your phone receptionist cutting them off or having a bad attitude.

When you stop to think about all the conveniences we have lost over the years, it's pretty astounding. Doesn't it seem like we're doing more with all the automation that was supposed to make our lives easier? No more secretaries; we have a computer. No more gas jockey; we can do it ourselves and we even get to watch TV while we're pumping. Nobody to answer your call or tell you when they will; you can leave a message.

I don't know about you but all this convenience can be very frustrating for me. I can't ever sit back and let somebody else do the task because I'm expected to use self-serve. I remember the days when service people were expected to be extremely helpful. We have begun to expect poor service and we are no longer surprised when it occurs.

This is the perfect time for small businesses to step up and offer that which cannot be offered by the big companies. Convenience is such a big selling point, how about offering customer service as a convenience for your customers? Many small businesses are run by owners that are too busy running the business to implement good customer service on the Internet. In fact, customer issues may be rare and infrequently occurring, but as the business grows good customer service becomes a necessity. The business owner will eventually find it difficult and overwhelming in the long run.

The post sales process is just as important as the initial sales process when it comes to customer loyalty. A poorly treated customer will not have a reason to do business with you again even when you roll out new products and services. Here's three ideas for you to implement that will not take excessive time or money but will increase customer satisfaction and customer loyalty:

  Follow-Up Personally with an Irate Customer
Running a business is like having a new adventure every day. You can never be surprised when the unexpected happens, only be ready to deal with it. When things go terribly wrong for your customer, have someone follow-up with a phone call. You may be surprised to learn that Internet shoppers think of online businesses with a bit of celebrity stars in their eyes. It is totally unexpected that an online business would call them to apologize for any inconvenience and make sure the issue was resolved to their satisfaction. I've done it - it works like a charm every time.

Use Words and Phrases Guaranteed to Calm Any Customer
Customers enjoy the speed of the purchase and the anticipation of the immediate download shopping on the Internet for digital products. Things can go bump in the night at any point in the purchase process, even getting to the download page. Make it easy for your customer to report the issue by having at least one method guaranteed to get results within four hours. And then be sure you always include "we apologize for the inconvenience", "please reopen this ticket if further assistance is needed", "thank you for notifying us of this problem", "please", "thank you", "we're so sorry for the delay", etc. This type of acknowledgment lets the customer know that you care. Isn't that really what we want?

Give the Customer Value for Their Inconvenience
New people are coming to the Internet every day so you should expect and plan for the "this is my first time" issues. One way you can do that is to provide your customer with more information than is required to resolve the issue. For example, solving the issue and telling your customer how to prevent a similar issue in the future will assist them in using the Internet and they will greatly appreciate the extra time and effort your business took to assist them.

Combine all three of the above ideas and you will provide customer service few have seen on the Internet, let alone in many offline businesses today.

Digital Info Diva™ supports Internet Marketers. Sign up for The Diva's customer service tips for Internet businesses and learn how to profit from your customer issues.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sherri_Wynters

 

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