|
|
| Customer Service Tip | Skills | Information | Articles |
|
||
|
|
Making Your Contacts Work For You
The best way to explain this concept is to tell you a story. While calling for lease purchasing property, I spoke with an older widowed woman. I went through my script and when I asked her why she thought her home hadn't sold, she said to me, I just don't know, I put it in the paper. I then asked her if she had a FSBO sign in her yard, or if she had posted any flyers around the neighborhood or in the nearby markets. She said, why no, I haven't. To make a long story short she said she would ask her granddaughter to help her do just that. She thanked me profusely and I told her to call me if she needed any help! Now I am sure there are some of you out there saying, why, she isn't doing the deal with you, and I say right back to you, it is not always about the money. What do I mean by this, just this, you are a business owner in your community and sometimes good will is more important than money. Do you know what happened because I helped this woman? You got it, she sold her home and gave my card to her granddaughter and her fiancé to call me to see if I had a property they might be able to lease purchase. I did in fact have one, so she gave them the money (from her house sale) to move into a nice lease purchase home. Because she referred them to me, I sent her a referral fee and let me tell you she told all her friends before she moved to Florida and we got several more deals from those calls. Now, mind you, this is not the first time this has happened to me, and I know it won't be the last. So for those of you who never offer one iota of advise to someone you are speaking with unless they pay you for it, see what you are missing out on. Remember, it is not always about the money, and if you make it so, you are losing out on A LOT of money and more importantly, good will and enhancing your reputation in your community. Copyright 2005 DeFiore Enterprises Interested in having your own successful, home based creative real estate investing business? Chuck and Sue have been helping folks start successful home based businesses for over 19 years, and we can help you too! To see how, visit http://www.homebusinesssolutions.com for the latest FREE tips and tricks, educational products and coaching in creative real estate investing and home based businesses. No time to visit the site? Subscribe to our "how to" Home Business Solutions Digest, it's like having your own personal coach. Visit http://www.hbsdigest.com to start today.
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
And The Difference is... Attitude I returned a rental car at an airport yesterday. As the person who was going to check me in approached, he smiled (which shocked me) and said, "Hello Mr. Galler," which shocked me further as I don't have a clue how he knew my name ? obviously there was some way of identifying my car, and therefore me, at a distance. "How was your trip; was everything OK with your car?" he inquired in a friendly, personal tone. "Everything was fine I replied" "Great ? I hope we'll see you back soon. There is some bottled water in the cooler over there for you" he said as he directed me towards the shuttle bus to the terminal. Importance of Good Customer Support in Online Computer Peripherals Shops Looking for hi-fi computer peripherals? Finding it tough to decide on the product you need to purchase? Not sure about the models that are available? Not sure about the configuration that would best suit your need? Worried that your budget might not fetch you your long dreamt hi-fi? Just relax!! There are many great world class online computer peripherals shopping centers. They offer you not only the best computer peripherals but also friendly online help in their world class online computer peripherals shopping sites. All that you have to do is to avail all the help you need in terms of the counseling you would require on the purchase of the right computer peripherals. These websites have always-available customer support agents' usually just one click away. The ones that are successful have provided exceptional customer support available online which is dedicated to make their customers feel delighted and satisfied. Because they have learnt the business mantra very well - Their success lies in their customers' satisfaction. Provide Exceptional Value - Grow Your Business The primary objective of a business is to get and keep customers. Growing a profitable business requires providing exemplary customer service and products or services of exceptional value. Learning from Your Employees and Customers Complaints Listening to complaints, whether they're reasonable or not, is a part of every manager's job. Sometimes complaints can be overwhelming. However, by taking them in stride with an open mind, we can learn much from our employees' and customers' feelings about the workplace. One Critical Question to Ask Yourself Every Day What happened to the old saying, the customer is always right? I'll bet every one of you reading this article has a "customer service nightmare" story to tell. My most recent nightmare experience took place recently when my business partner and I went in to a wireless phone store to purchase two new pda wireless phones. We told the young man who greeted us that we had only one question: is this phone compatible with the database software we intend to purchase? "I don't know," he said, "Most customers do the research on this before they come in." We politely requested that if he didn't know, he find the answer. He told us we could call the company ourselves, that he didn't have time to be put on hold with them. As you can imagine, we left without spending what we felt was a significant sum of money. And of course we've told at least 10 other people about the disappointing service at that particular store. CRM = Customers (dont) Really Matter CRM was supposed to bring companies closer to their clients. The basic idea was to; find out what a client wants and needs, give it to them, and get them to be your client for life. Write a Business Thank-You Note Have you seen that thing on TV where the gal tells the nerd she wonders why he never asked her to marry him and he stumbles and says "Thank You" and she turns to butter? 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. So we can holler and complain about how poor customer service and satisfaction has become - or we can do something about it ourselves, when we have those one-to-one opportunities with a real person. Do You Want More Profits? - Follow The Golden Rules Of Providing Good Customer Service Last night I was at my computer and a Skype chat window opened up with a link in it from a stranger. I clicked the link and was taken to one of those "You would have to be crazy to pass up this business opportunity" sites. You know, the kind with great testimonials and it seems too good to be true possible outcomes. All it takes is a few hours a day and you can be pulling in thousands of dollars! Wow, sounds great. Of course there was no mention of what the business actually is. Stand Out in Business the Write Way When was the last time you received a handwritten note from a business associate? It may be that it was too long ago for you to remember. On the other hand, if you have gotten one lately, you know exactly who sent it and when. Handwritten notes have become almost extinct in the business world. So if you are looking for ways to stand from the crowd, to be noticed by your colleagues and clients, try putting pen to paper whenever you have the slightest excuse. What Every Employee Should Know About Putting Positive Phrases Into Customer Service If you were a customer on the telephone with a question or complaint and were ready to make big purchase, which of the following phrases by this employee would make you feel welcome and want to complete your transaction? Which would drive you away? Is your Online Business Customer-Friendly? Customer service is increasingly seen as one of the most valuable uses for a commercial World Wide Web site. Your Web site is available on a 24 hour, seven days a week basis. So it is well worth exploring ways in which your customers can virtually "serve themselves," without the need for overtime staff, or lengthy voice mail procedures. Listening: The Foundation of Communication Customer No Service - How to Lose a Loyal Customer! So today was the day where I almost stopped going to my favorite supermarket here in Milwaukee. If you're in Milwaukee, you know the one I'm talking about: the cool one downtown that has 1000 different types of produce, and a whole aisle dedicated to gourmet coffee and teas. The one with the free samples, the wine tasting and cooking courses. Yeah, that one. Call Center Services - An Ever Increasing Demand Are your company's call center services all that they could be? Even centers that were state of the art a decade or so ago might be out of date and inadequate today. As technology expands, so do clients' expectations regarding communication. Nowadays, a client will normally expect to be able to contact a company representative more or less twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, either by phone, fax or email. Clients expect a quick response and courteous, efficient service regardless of how the communication is carried out. Though the technology to support this level of service is readily available, it can be a challenge for call centers to keep up with. Moreover, the quality and scope of outgoing calls remains important, as global competition for clients is fiercer than ever. Loyalty Programs May Keep Customers Coming Back ? But First You?ve Got to Earn their Trust Remember trading stamps? If you're over 40, chances are you will. Every time you shopped at a participating grocery store or gas station they gave you stamps to paste into a book. When you'd accumulated enough stamps, you could cash them in for "free" gifts. Tips for Curing Bad Customer Service Bad customer service is everywhere these days - unmanned front desks, surly servers, clueless staff, employees talking on the phone, and managers who refuse to acknowledge a customer. It's no longer an exception ... poor service has become the norm. Courting Customers - From First Date to Marriage Landing a new client is like courting a potential spouse. The first date is usually a make or break situation and if the door is still open, the work has just begun. Like dating, you'd better give your prospect a pretty good reason to meet with you again, because there is usually more than one suitor. Quality vs. Quantity There is a battle in Call Centers. The teams are Quality vs. Quantity; two performance factors that don't seem to get along. Passing the After-Sales Test Some time ago a major UK food retailer decided to branch out into non-foods. Well, they all do it now, but in those days it was unheard of. Alongside the fruit and vegetables, meat and tinned foods they sold refrigerators that they had purchased at very low cost from an eastern European company (these were the days when East and West Europe rarely traded with each other). These fridges were very cheap ? and they worked! The retailer passed on much of this low cost to grateful customers who purchased them in great numbers. What the retailer didn't consider was that fridges ? unlike tins of beans ? occasionally need spare parts. They sometimes breakdown or are damaged. What the retailer forgot was AFTER SALES. It was entirely understandable the customers would make the assumption that the retailer would have this in hand. Trouble is, they didn't. The parts - and the engineers who knew who to fit them - were in Poland. So, to many customers, what seemed like a bargain turned out to be a problem. This retailer is now very successfully selling non-food goods alongside food products and I am sure they did the decent thing by refunding their disgruntled fridge customers of many years ago. Not all companies are so good with their customers. Some will sell products as a one-off transaction and will not be interested in what happens from the moment the product has been sold. "We don't do repairs and we don't sell spare parts. Contact the manufacturer." This is not a lot of good if you live in the U.S. and the manufacturer is in Shanghai, for example. Of course, some products and are not designed to be repaired or refurbished. The manufacturers simply expect them to be thrown away at the end of their life, even if that life is relatively short. An example is the microwave oven. Who fixes yours? Nobody, I suspect. They are usually repairable, but rarely is one ever repaired. No, they just end up in landfill alongside many other goods that are also thrown away rather than "made good". No wonder many countries around the world are introducing legislation to limit the extent to which such goods can be tossed away so casually. So, next time you are considering a purchase, especially the purchase of an expensive product or a mechanical product, consider the following tests: 1. Is it built to last? 2. Does it come with a guarantee? 3. Is there evidence of the product's durability? 4. Is it designed to be repaired? 5. Are spare parts available? Remember also, that repair is better for the environment than replacement. Of course, old products do need to be replaced eventually, but why replace prematurely just because you have purchased a product that failed the tests above? One group of products that pass these tests with flying colors is Insect-o-Cutor Fly Killers. Have a look at www.flykiller.net and you will see them there. Let's put them to the above tests: 1. Insectocutor Fly Killers are made of steel. Their solid construction is one of their best selling points. 2. They come with a 5-year guarantee 3. Go to any restaurant or commercial kitchen and you will see Insectocutor fly killers that have been there for 20 years ? and still going strong! 4. Insectocutor fly killers are constructed in a logical way making repairs straightforward. Insectocutor also provides support for repairs. 5. Insect-o-Cutor sells a range of spare parts for all of their fly killers ? even for models that are no longer in production. And their best UK distributor, Arkay Hygiene ? at www.eeeee.co.uk - is always happy to provide these spares as well as replacement u.v. lamps and glueboards After sales is just as much about the customer as it is about the product. Making a sale is not the end, it is just the beginning. Insect-o-cutor is a good example of a company that demonstrates its concern for it customers through the long-term support offered for its range of products. Just think on that one when you are next down the municipal dump with your broken down microwave!
|
