Archive for the ‘Customer Service’ Category

It is amazing how quickly a person’s opinion can change because of the smallest details. In online business, that is most often customer service. Done right, it can set you apart from other businesses and help build a trust-based relationship with your readers and potential customers. Just look at Zappos — tons of articles and even a book have been written about their unique and phenomenal customer service. What is Customer Service? Customer service is simply meeting the needs of your customers. It doesn’t get any simpler than that. For example, a reader signs up for newsletters or your affiliate program and then days go by before they receive a confirmation of your receipt of their request or they receive any information. That reader then decides to withdraw their request because they feel that you...

Last fall, many companies were busy handing out discounts to land new clients or keep existing ones on board, but now the tides have shifted. Facing growing economic challenges, more companies are dropping nonpaying, late-paying and overly-demanding clients who drain resources that would be better utilized serving more loyal or profitable clients. Is this the right choice for you? It may seem counter-productive, especially when every dollar counts, but when you get rid of clients who aren’t profitable, it frees you up to work with or find clients who are.

Every company has certain policies in place, but every now and then, a special circumstance arises that make it necessary to deviate from those policies. When that happens in your company, what do you do? Do you begrudgingly oblige, making sure to let them know that you’re in the right but you’re making an exception for them, or do you happily do what needs to be done to resolve the situation? If there is any question, it should be the latter. Why waste your time and energy by basically telling your clients that you’re helping them even though they’re wrong? All you’ll do is become frustrated and alienate your clients.

When your phone rings and you get that potential client on the other end who seems to have gone through so much, you can’t help but feel a little sorry for them. When they woefully tell you their story about the 9 other vendors they’ve used this year who just couldn’t manage to do anything right, you can’t help but empathize with them. Most of all, when they rave on about how you seem so different than everyone else that they’ve worked with and how they’re looking forward to the opportunity, you can’t help but agree with them. Before you get too excited about this new prospect though, take a careful look at what you may be getting yourself into. When something seems too perfect, it almost always is. Set your ego aside for a...

I called one of our vendors this morning with a quick (and very basic) question. The woman who answered the phone let me explain my question, and then simply responded with “I’m sorry, you’ll have to speak to a representative.” Really? Isn’t that what you are? You are after all, representing your company. Do your employees do this or do you train and empower them to answer customers’ questions and solve their problems?