Two simple words that are the holy grail to millions of businesses. It is the defining ingredient for success or failure. People invest their futures and their blood sweat and tears, their time with family, their money, their dreams – all into having a business in the hopes of its success. But what truly makes… Read More
Customer service
Unexpected surprises can make someone’s day
Unexpected gifts can always brighten someone’s day and this time of year is the perfect opportunity to show your appreciation for their kindness. Whether it’s the mailman who drops off your packages daily or the friendly cashier at your local bank, a gift is a small gesture in seeing that you receive ongoing customer service… Read More
Turn Negative Reviews Into Positive Experiences With These 5 Tips
Turning a frown upside down has never been as simple as it sounds. Not in person, not online (and not even in art class). In a previous post, we discussed how user-generated content influences consumer behavior. Online reviews on sites like Yelp, Google, Glassdoor and Angie’s List – even your company’s Facebook page – can… Read More
Effectively Responsive
One of the more trendy buzzwords in business in the past year has been “responsive.” As it relates to technology, the discussion centers around responsive web design (RWD). RWD is an approach to building websites that provides an optimal viewing experience across multiple devices – from desktop computers to a trusty iPhone. Google made RWD… Read More
The Benefits of Customer Relationship Management
Relationship marketing represents the recent shift of focus within marketing that went from a concentration on acquisitions and sales to relationship and retention. It is a business philosophy that focuses on retaining and maintaining relationships with current customers rather than a focus solely on business development and sales. The underlying assumption with relationship marketing is… Read More
A Casual Relationship between Employee Happiness and Profitability
The importance and pivotal role of employees in creating customer satisfaction through service quality cannot be overstated. Employee happiness is especially useful in creating satisfied customers. In turn, long-term customer relationships that go beyond the mental and physical capability of the employee are established. As an example, successful companies in the service industry all recognize… Read More
Hashtag Trends to Avoid
In a constant struggle to get likes, plus 1’s, retweets and favorites, more and more companies are turning to social media to vie for your attention. This opens up a can of worms for you or your company if you don’t know how to navigate the social landscape. One important facet of that landscape is… Read More
Importance of Customer Appreciation
The most enjoyable part of any business should be interacting with your customers. They are your bread and butter, the reason you do what you do and hopefully do it successfully. I figured this out when our business faced a challenge. We found ourselves short-handed; our bandwidth to reach out to customers, gone. We needed… Read More
5 Ways Effective Sales Professionals Bond with Clients
It’s no secret that building lasting relationships that go beyond the boardroom and into our personal lives is what makes average sales professionals best in class. It’s not just about closing the deal anymore. It’s about being a valued and trusted business partner. And partners aren’t just friendly when doing business; they’re friends well past… Read More
Handling Criticism Online to Turn Negativity Into Positivity
Life has few guarantees, but one thing you can always count on is that you’ll never be able satisfy 100% of your customer base 100% of the time. Anyone who’s worked in any customer-facing position for a day knows this, yet when it comes to handling negativity and criticism online, not all of us are… Read More
Can I Get Some Customer Service Here?!?!
At the very core of any business that focuses on providing products and / or services there MUST be a focus on customer service… The old adage “the customer is always right” certainly rings true. If you want to keep a strong customer base… a base of customers who always come back for more product… Read More
3 Reasons To Use Social Media For Customer Service
One of the very reasons that many businesses shy away from social media, or don’t go all in on social media, is exactly the reason why they should be. What I’m referring to here is that unsocial businesses do not have full control of the messages conveyed about the business. While this may seem scary… Read More