bizthreads.net: Business Information for Entrepreneurs by an Entrepreneur

3 Simple Steps to Winning Customer Service      

Customer satisfaction is crucial for the success of every small, business irrespective of the market it operates in. Managing your business will be a lot easier when your customers are happy and satisfied with the quality of your products as well as the service you provide.

That said, it is important to deal with any issues before they turn into serious problems that threaten your relationships with customers. There are quite a few things that you can do to ensure that your customers are happy — and stay that way.

Get Customer Feedback

Customer feedback can be of immense help to determine if customers are happy with the services your business offers. You can provide your customers with a feedback form that asks for suggestions to help you improve your products and services, or even offer new ones.

Don't Procrastinate

Customers are likely to give up on your small business if you fail to address their concerns immediately. Analyze the issues and figure out ways to resolve them.

If you respond promptly and appropriately, customers will recommend you to others and give you repeat business.

Communicate With Customers

Communication is the key to solving customer issues — in most cases, they just want to know that you care about their concerns.  When a customer has a problem, all you need to do is listen to what they have to say, be empathetic; if need be, apologize. Customers may say a lot of things in the heat of the moment — however, a simple “I'm sorry” can defuse a volatile situation in just a few seconds.

Winning customer service can be achieved if you incorporate customer centric techniques in your business. Don't forget that if you don't give customers what they want, there are thousands of other small businesses out there who will be more than happy to do so.

All small business owners know about that dream client — the one that, if landed, will make their financial lives a whole lot easier. Fortunately, the gap between wishing and reality is not too wide to be overcome.

Below are a few methods that can help unite you and your potential customer-of-a-lifetime into having a smooth working relationship:

• Focus on Cost - Customers sometimes may find your products or services costly and simply out of line with their budget. The real issue lies with the value - and they want you to show them that you can provide them with profitable returns.

If you can show them that the benefit of buying your product or service greatly outweighs the cost, then you'll have a new client for life.

• Save them time - Time is a commodity very much like money, and in some ways even more precious. Show your customers that you know — and care — that they need to do more in less time. First, analyze your customers' business processes and find out where your business can save them time. Then restructure your product or service to help them do more, faster.

• Show product value — Many small businesses generally talk about offers and research, rather showing what they can actually do. The answer to this is to always focus on the business outcome; show your potential customer how they will benefit by using your service or product. And always be sure that the benefits match their specific goals.

• Show product value — Many small businesses generally talk about offers and research, rather showing what they can actually do. The answer to this is to always focus on the business outcome; show your potential customer how they will benefit by using your service or product. And always be sure that the benefits match their specific goals.Landing a dream client takes lots of due diligence and hard work — but few can dispute that the end result is well worth the effort.

At some point in time, you've probably heard a soothing voice on the telephone and felt like talking to that person for hours; conversely, you may have called a company and felt disgusted speaking to their customer service representative.

It is really important to have good phone manners, yet many companies don't make any extra effort to train their employees on basic phone etiquette. Some people simply lack basic phone manners - and this often results in lost revenue, irate customers and lost opportunities.

Unfortunately, many people have stopped respecting others and talking politely. Surveys suggest that a whopping 8 out of 10 Americans don't know how to talk politely and they lack respect and courtesy. It has evolved into a serious national problem.

The fact is that most negative reactions are cased by poor customer service. So if you really want to provide your customers with good service, then you should educate your employees and keep them from saying the following:

• “It's not our policy”- These types of excuses are just poor telephone manners. Customers don't like to be
  neglected and they don't care what the policy is — they want their problem to be solved and to feel like the
  company cares about them. If an employee cannot fix a complaint, then they should seek help from their manager or
  supervisor to find alternatives.
• “That's not my department or my job” Everyone working in the company should be ready to be accountable and
  field every customer's needs.
• “Can you call back”-These words really boggle customers' minds. It keeps them wondering when they should
  call back, and why. Nothing is more important than customer service, and this phrase should be avoided.If the problem absolutely cannot be solved on the spot, the employee should take the customer's name and number,
  and give an exact time as to when they will receive a return call.

Of all the reasons that customers stop doing business with a company, poor phone manners and lack of customer service is #1. Just as important as knowing what to say is knowing what NOT to say.

People are generally tempted to start working from home by the lure of being their own boss. When they actually start the business, they get weighed down with daily activities and business responsibilities.

Initially, most small business owners feel that working from home is easy; it certainly can be, if managed well. However, mismanagement can cause unwanted stress and loss of focus, resulting in lost productivity.

To help you decide if working from home is right for you, I've compiled this hand-checklist for you to use.

• Guidance and camaraderie- Do you need constant guidance and regular feedback to work productively? Are you easily distracted and hate working alone? Do you love working in well-structured offices? If the answer to these questions is yes, then you may not be cut out for working from home.

Most social butterflies can't work alone because they need more structure and the presence of other people to boost their performance.

• Child matters- If you have a small child who needs constant attention, then working from home may sound right for you. For most working parents, eliminating child care expenses is motivation enough.However, you should keep in mind that it is not easy to juggle work and home in the same environment. You need a lot of patience and discipline to manage both well.

• What is the nature of your job? If you are a technician or cashier then working from home might be impossible; but if you are into public relations or sales then you can probably work at home without negatively impacting your career. An increasing number of companies offer the ‘work from home' facility to their employees.

• Are you disciplined and goal-oriented? If you can work without guidance, are self-motivated and can direct yourself, then you can probably work from home and complete your duties efficiently.Working from home isn't for everyone. Consider the above points to decide if it is right for you.

Marketing experts often stress the fact that developing the right brand identity is as important for small businesses as it is for large corporate behemoths. However, small business owners often fail to make an impact on their target audience because in most cases they are unable to communicate what their brand is.

Explained below are some of the most prominent reasons that will help you to understand the importance of brand building.

Brand building is necessary…

• To convey the business' good health and established status: By building the right brand identity, small businesses will be able to convey to clients and customers that the organization is an established business enterprise and its products and services can be trusted. This way, small businesses will be in a better position to attract new customers and retain existing ones.
• For procuring funds on short notice: Effective brand building creates the right impression on investors, something that helps a lot in procuring much-needed funds on short notice. Most investors rely on popular sentiments while making their investment decisions - and this is exactly where brand building comes to the rescue of small businesses.
• To maintain competitiveness in the marketplace: Customers have become increasingly brand-conscious, and they are often wary of buying something that does not have a proper nametag to it. By building the right brand image, small businesses can create a level playing field while successfully competing with other bigger brands.

If you are a small business owner who is confused and unable to decide whether or not to invest in brand building, take some time to consider the reasons explained above. They will help you make the right decisions and connect with your customers.

Do you find yourself losing focus when it comes to your business? Are you stretching yourself thinner and thinner as you follow your new business ideas? Don't worry - this usually happens to all business entrepreneurs at least once in their lifetimes, so you are not alone. The key is to not end up losing focus on your main business.

If you are a small business owner facing the same problem, then you should figure out why you have strayed from your business plan. This is easier said than done, and you may be battling lots of distractions in life. But if you want to succeed in business, you have to focus and have a plan mapped out with specific goals.

Below are a few tips that will help you focus on what is important when it comes to your small business:

• Identify your strengths and weaknesses
• Know what your specific goals are
• Take a note of the time taken to achieve your objectives
• Minimize negative self talk
• First focus on the immediate goals - and then focus on longer term goals
• Think positive
• Network with a purpose

When you have a small business, it is easy to get sidetracked. After all, there are lots of issues all clamoring for your attention. The key is to know what is important, prioritize and follow your business plan. If you do all this, and follow the tips above, you will find that you will have better focus, and your business will reap the benefits.

Customers have now become more Internet savvy - and according to statistics, 70% of American households use the Internet to access local information. Among this 70%, local customers carry out nearly 36% of searches.

If you are new to small business, and you want to enhance your profits, consider focusing your efforts on your local market. By combining the right website strategy and using geo-targeting, you can make good money — right in your own backyard!

• Make your website as attractive and presentable as possible, so that it entices customers who love to shop through the search engines. Always stick to local keywords to attract customers in your immediate area.
• Once you optimize your site, local shoppers will surely find your business. Explore your competitors' sites and then compare them with yours. Check whether your site has more informative content, how easy it is to navigate, and if it is as graphically appealing.
• You need to be able to attract people to your website. Advertise your web address in the form of print
  ads, fliers, menus, napkins and t-shirts.
• Try and get connected to local web sites, vertical market sites and local online newspapers and magazines.

A good advertising strategy combined with search engine optimization is essential for effective geo-targeting. Most of the leading search engines are developing powerful tools to help determine sites that match a shoppers' location. This gives local businesses that have good search engine optimization and geo-targeted ads a home advantage.

Though you may be confident enough to handle a project on your own, it is not easy to run a team project. Most small businesses work best within a ‘project' team.

As a small business owner, the responsibility will be on you to run projects and keep the team on track.

Focus on employee skills: It is very important that you analyze the skills of any potential team member before you make any decisions about the team makeup. Don't jump to conclusions until you discuss all the tasks with your team. Don't recruit people just because they have time and are looking forward to working with you, but ensure that they have all the right skills required for your project.

Prepare a graph for your project: Display the individuals you have selected on an x-axis and illustrate responsibilities on y-axis. Ensure that you know all the skills that the project requires and that you have the right people in the right positions.

Focus on your vision and ask your team to follow the same: Your team should be aware of all the goals and targets associated with the project. Ensure that they abide by all the rules and deadlines and agree to work on the project. They need to adopt the team mission and follow it through to the completion of the project.

Create a communication plan for your team: Set all the basic rules in the first meeting and establish communication channels among team members so that they can exchange information accurately. If you are planning to create any reports, put emphasis on the content, level of details and format of the report.

Even the smallest businesses can have successful teams. Following the steps above will ensure that all of your projects are completed on time and within budget.

Success comes with true team culture - and working together can develop this culture in any small business. As a business owner, you should make some effort and enhance your business' culture to be successful. A business with a good, supportive culture helps teams to share their experiences as well as create value.

An organization needs shared experiences and knowledge transfer for growth. Without knowledge transfer and success sharing, it is difficult for a group to work together, share a vision and achieve specific goals. By creating some common goals, you can develop a positive team culture.

Communication Strategy- The management team should always support a common vision and always remember that this requires clarity and precision. This can only be achieved through effective communication. You need to make sure that your management team is open to communication and reaches out to all employees.

Avoid Competition- You should always encourage team spirit and ensure that individual skills complement one another, rather than compete with each other. Try delegating responsibility and authority around team leaders to handle various tasks. Keep an eye out for employees that have ‘star potential' and mold them by using coaching and mentoring strategies.

Team ownership- Enhance ‘team ownership' and allow each individual employee to voice their opinion. Make sure that authority and accountability always accompanies responsibility.

Trust- Try to build trust among your team members by acting as their coach or mentor. Yes, you are their boss — but try to relate to them as a colleague as well.

Off-site team building activities should always be encouraged. From time to time, arrange social gatherings, trainings and other outings, as this builds trust and binds the team together.

What is so appealing about online business? Well for starters, the Internet provides so many options that it can be very easy to start. However, online businesses do not prove successful ventures for all business owners - and the simple reason that some fail is they don't know the basics of how to succeed.

Treat it like a business: Since you will probably be working from home, you need to be extra careful to stay on track and to keep distractions to a minimum. Simply being online won't help; you need to be productive.

So if you want to succeed, focus on your business. This includes having a dedicated work area, preplanning and setting long-term, intermediate and short-term goals.

Preplanning is important: To succeed online, you'll need to have a solid business and know your target market. Equally important is planning out a marketing strategy and budget — and sticking to it.

Find out how much to invest: Always focus on your bottom line and preplan your budget. As a part of your online business, you will need to invest regularly on various items like advertising, hosting, Internet service, phone service, stationary etc.

Always keep track of your expenditures, so that you don't end up spending more than you planned. A broken budget has been the downfall of many an online business.

Retain your customers: It is really tough to attract customers in online business. You should concentrate more on getting customers and retaining the ones you have. Make use of tools such as autoresponders, so that you keep in regular touch with customers and prospects.

Offering incentives, freebies and discounts are attractive to customers, and will go a long way to helping you increase your sales and enticing current customers to purchase from your business again.

Online business is easier said than done — but with good planning, any online business can be a success.