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Wednesday, September 5, 2007
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   Wednesday, September 5, 2007

What constitutes good customer service?
It almost goes without saying that good customer service is essential to sustaining any business. No matter how wonderful a job you do of attracting new customers, you won't be profitable for long unless you have a solid customer retention strategy in place – and in action. It's the actions that count – not what you say you'll do, or what the policy says. People will remember what you or your employees have done –or not done.
One of the key components of an effective retention strategy is exceptional customer service. Not just good service, but memorable service. Today, consumers' expectations are higher than ever and companies that fail to deliver, risk losing market share.
10 Tips for Delivering Good Customer Service.
1) Treat me like a somebody. It's been years since that Midas muffler commercial aired, but the "I'm a somebody" phrase can still be heard from time to time. Why? Because regular customers expect (and deserve) to be remembered. As one woman summed it up, "You don't need to remember my name, or what I order, but do acknowledge that I've been there before."
One of the best examples I've ever seen of this is at my local coffee shop. One day I noticed that the young man behind the counter greeted some people by name and, even if he didn't know their name, he knew what they usually ordered. As I waited for my tea (he'd already placed my 'two milk on the side' on the counter without me having said a word), I asked him why he said, "See you later" to some customers, "See you tomorrow" to others, yet always said, "Have a good week" to me. The smiling, friendly reply? "Because you only come in on Mondays and Fridays". As I thanked him, I thought to myself, "Wow. He won't be here long". Unfortunately, I was right.
2) Be polite! Too frequently company representatives ask customers for file information without saying "Please" or even being polite. It is not acceptable for a service rep to simply bark out, "Account number?" And it is never acceptable for a service rep to insult a client.
Six weeks ago there was a problem with my home internet account – which is with a phone carrier I have used my entire life (and, as you know, this kind of loyalty to a phone company is almost unheard of these days). In all that time, I have never been late with a bill payment to them. There is a long and ugly story here, but the short version is that a) the problem was on their end and b) before they realized where things had gone wrong, their rep was extremely rude. When I asked him to please change the way in which he was addressing me, he snarled, "Well whadya expect? If you'd pay your bills on time you wouldn't have this problem."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. In fact, if I'd just read this account (instead of being on the receiving end), I wouldn't have believed the story. What's worse is that although the company later apologized, their senior management seemed to feel that this was not an isolated incident.
A 2005 survey conducted by Schulich School of Business MBAs suggests that this kind of problem exists in over 30% of companies, and costs them hundreds of millions of dollars in lost customers (and revenues) each and every year. Don't let your company end up one of these statistics.
3) Thank your customers – like you mean it. When your employees conclude a transaction, they should thank the customer with a smile and a sincere "thank you for … completed by whatever is appropriate for your business". Too often, customers received a rushed and barely civil "Thanks-Have-a-nice-day-Next". With large purchases, the verbal greeting should be followed up with a hand-written card – not just because it leads to increased referrals (which is does), but because it is the correct thing to do.
Oh, and by the way, the word "Sure" is no way to respond when a customer thanks you. To many people in many parts of the world, this is dismissive and suggests you don't care. The correct phrase is "You're welcome".
4) Appearances do count! According got two independent pieces or research, nearly 90% of customers form an impression about how competent and reputable your company is based on what they see when they walk trough your doors.
Preserve me from auto-attendant hell. Customers are becoming increasingly annoyed and frustrated with having to sift through a multitude of options and press numerous buttons – only to be told that the desired service can only be obtained through the company's website. Worse is when the auto-attendant uses voice recognition – but doesn't 'recognize' your voice. People want to connect with human beings; they don't want to listen to a long list of prompts. For hints on how to use auto-attendants effectively, please read "The top 5 new things people expect for good customer service" (also on this site).
5) Do what you say you will... when you say you will. The expression "Under promise, over deliver" may have become somewhat hackneyed through over use, but is still germane. One of the quickest ways to lose customer confidence is to not follow-through, or to be late delivering a service or product, without notifying the customer in advance, determining whether or not the delay will impact the customer and providing an alternate solution in the interim if necessary.
One of the best examples I ever experienced of a company doing it well happened with Toyota. There was a problem with my RAV4 and Toyota couldn't repair it easily. I was driving a loaner, but had planned to go camping with my kids. It was our summer holiday and it had been planned for months. When Toyota couldn't repair my vehicle in time, they rented an SUV for us to use – without me having to ask. I have since purchased another vehicle from this dealership and recommended it to 6 others who have purchased from them. Coincidence? I think not.
6) Surprise the customer from the time to time. When it is possible to provide an extra level of service, do so. Whether it's an unexpected complimentary dessert in a restaurant, or an upgrade that has not been requested, these special gestures go a long way towards engendering customer loyalty and to winning you new customers. It has long been known that on average, a dissatisfied customer will tell 10 - 16 others, but people who have had an unexpectedly good experience also recount their stories.
7) Provide "full" service. When Successories sends out its framed prints, it includes the hooks and a small levelling device. There's a remote control toy vendor near me who includes the batteries. "My" gas station dispenses free coffee with gas on weekday mornings. A drive-through drycleaner in northern Ontario opens early and hands you the morning paper with your order. Small things, yes. Greatly appreciated? No question.
I spoke to each of my local retailers and learned that in each case, their sales – and profits – have enjoyed double digits increases since they introduced more comprehensive service. Think about what you can add to help make things easier for your customers. In some cases, by looking at what else it makes sense to sell, you can even add a new revenue stream while improving the perceived level of customer service provided.
8) Mea Culpa. When you have made a mistake, admit it and set things straight. When customers have a complaint – listen, truly listen. Then apologize and take corrective action. In many instances, the very act of listening (without interrupting) can be enough to diffuse the situation and make the person feel worthy as a customer. Then ask the customer how they would like you to resolve the situation. In most instances, your client will come up with something reasonable – and often less costly than a solution you might have proposed.
9) Listen to your customers. Conduct your own surveys and get feedback on what they like and don't like - and take corrective action as required. Let customers know that their business is appreciated and that their opinions are important to you.
None of these suggestions takes a lot of time or money to implement, yet they can pay dividends in increased customer satisfaction and retention. The key, though, is to ensuring that employees understand the importance of their front-line role and get good training and supervision.


Donation Letters: Raise More Funds By Thinking Like Your Donors.
One of the shortcomings of direct mail fundraising is that donors are usually thought of as numbers and not as people. Each donor or member in the database has a unique donor number that identifies that individual. You and I are tempted to examine each donor's giving history in terms of frequency, recency and monetary value, all measured with numbers (years, months and money).
We then lump donors in categories and give them impersonal labels—suspect, prospect, major donor, lapsed donor, lybunt (a donor who gave last year but unfortunately not this year).
So the temptation when raising funds with appeal letters is to think of donors in terms of what they can do for the organization monetarily. To think of them as numbers. And yet donors who feel treated this way will not remain your donors for long. Today's donors give to charitable organizations for specific reasons, not simply because they have money to give.
The secret to building long-term, profitable, mutually beneficial relationships with donors is to think the way donors think.
Donors give for dozens of reasons. Some of them rational. Some of them irrational. But behind most decisions to support a worthy cause with a financial gift is a classic motivator. Once you understand what motivates donors to give, you are in a better position to ask them in the right way for the right amount at the right time for the right cause.
Here are three of the main reasons that donors respond to direct mail appeals:
You thanked the donor for the last gift
There are two times to thank donors. One is immediately after you receive their gift. You thank them by mailing a gift acknowledgement letter, note or card. (Or you phone them, which is even better.) The second time is in the next appeal letter that you mail. Somewhere in that letter, preferably somewhere in the first few paragraphs, thank your donor for the last gift you received from them. Like you, donors who feel appreciated are more likely to give again.
You asked them for a gift
This sounds like a self-evident fact, but it's one of the basic tenets of fundraising—people give because they are asked. Which means people don't usually give unless they are asked, and until they are asked. Many development officers can tell stories of major donors they have approached who, when asked for the first time for a large donation, gave immediately. They would have given sooner. But they were not asked sooner. Your donors expect you to ask for a donation. If you do not ask them for a donation, they assume that you do not need their donation. And if you don't ask, be sure that someone else will.
You showed the donor a way to make a difference
"You don't get prospects to come over to your side by explaining the many reasons you deserve support. You get prospects to join you by offering them an exciting, interesting problem to solve," says Conrad Squires in his book Teach Yourself to Write Irresistible Fund-raising Letters. Amen.
© 2006 Sharpe Copy Inc. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the "About the Author" message).
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alan Sharpe is a professional fundraising letter writer, instructor, coach, author and newsletter publisher who helps non-profit organizations to raise funds, build relationships and retain loyal donors using cost-effective, compelling, creative fundraising letters. Sign up for free weekly tips like this at http://www.RaiserSharpe.com


Easy Money On The Internet?
Mark Warren is by is own admission, a high school drop out, who claims to have spent thousands of dollars trying to figure out a way to make money on the internet. His journey over the last few years helped him to create a product called "The Ultimate Wealth Package". In this package, Mark has put all of the positive experiences of making internet money (and tells us of some of the negative), and combined them into one product. An accomplishment that managed to get Mark Warren into Entrepreneur magazine.
In my experience with reviewing these products, it would seem that in order to make money on the internet, purchasing one or more of these products is unavoidable. If you're trying to learn to make money on the internet, I'd suggest that you put aside a certain amount of cash for the sheer purpose of purchasing products such as this. I've so far purchased 6 or 7 of them in order to conduct these reviews, and quite honestly, if you know nothing or very little about the internet, there's very little chance that you could figure out on your own, a large portion of the information that these products contain. I was completely surprised by exactly how much information is given in some of these packages. Have I actually used these products? Absolutely! I don't believe that there's any other way to conduct an honest review.
Anyhow, I digress.
The Ultimate Wealth Package as tested is a good product. It comes in 4 parts. It is entirely possible to make some real internet money with Mark Warren's product. To those of you who are skeptical, I can only say, how else are you going to find out whether or not these things work, if you don't buy them? They're not unlike anything else. If you want to learn how to do anything that has the potential to make a lot of money, you're going to have to spend money on the manuals.
Mark elaborates in his product on how to :
-Get thousands of targeted visitors to your site for free
-How to create websites in an hour that will be profitable today.
-How to earn a dollar or more for every person who visits your site.
...among many, many other things.
Mark Warren's product actually does tell you exactly how to make big money on the internet. The 'reading between the lines' in this product, really isn't difficult at all. He provides you with the bulk of what you need to successfully make money on the internet. It comes with the package. Now, THAT is different from what the other products offer, which is what attracted me to this product in the first place.
The product is currently $46.00 which is about the going rate for products of this caliber, and in my opinion, the quality is exceptional. The package also comes with $4800 worth of bonuses.
Adam Warner.
Copyright 2006 Adam Warner All Rights Reserved