Search Results for: blog whats the big deal about customer service

What Are Your Customer’s Expectations?

We often talk here in the Home Business blog about what our expectations are for ourselves and our businesses, and we also chat a little about customer service—but one thing that comes into play in our businesses is that our prospects, clients and customers have expectations of what they will receive from our business and how well we meet those expectations will influence our success. The tough thing is that we might not even know or understand what those expectations are! Think of your own experiences as a customer or purchaser—when you go to a restaurant, you may be expecting … Continue reading →

Trying Not to Get Crabby With Service People In Front of My Kids

Most people who know me would swear that I am an easy-going person. I tend to be able to handle a great deal of chaos and roll with all sorts of changes and adversity. HOWEVER, I find the impatient side of me comes out so easily when dealing with bad customer service, rude tellers at the bank, and being asked to jump through silly hoops when trying to take care of everyday things. I try to stay calm and controlled when I am dealing with these people, especially when I am with my kids… I really do try and I … Continue reading →

Because Nice Matters – 3 Simple Ways to Charm Your Customers

In my last entry “Because Nice Matters” I talked about why simply being nice is the ultimate home-business tool. Here are a few tried and true ways to charm your customers and gain a loyal following of home-business groupies. 1). Just be nice. Alright, I promise I am not trying to insult my readers by suggesting that you should just be nice. I simply feel it is worth a brief mention. When I was a direct sales consultant, I would often do parties when I really wasn’t in the mood. I had a bad day. My kids were cranky. I … Continue reading →

New Year, Old Customers

It’s a New Year! 2007 is going to be great! Why? Because I am going to make it a wonderful year for my old customers by creating the best customer service possible. Often we tend to forget about those who bought in 2006, even in 2005. If they loved our products and service once, why wouldn’t they come back? Sure, we think they will just call us. But we are not really in the front of their mind. Now is the best time to remind them who do shop with and business with in 2007! Spend the next few days … Continue reading →

Promptness Gets My Attention

I try to notice and look for things that other businesses and individuals do that I appreciate so that I can incorporate them into my home business. This is just one of the ways I attempt to bring new ideas and inspiration into my work. Maybe it is a form of “copying” but if someone gives me really great customer service or a business impresses me, I try to take note of it and see if I can use the same techniques. One of the things I am finding that dazzles is me is quick turn-around and promptness. While I … Continue reading →

First Come, First Serve—Or Other Priorities?

How do you prioritize your customers and/or clients? Do you work with people on a first come, first serve basis—or do you categorize individuals based on need or the value of their orders? As with many aspects of a home business, this can be a personal choice and one that affects our overall customer relations. I tend to attend to clients and prospects in order of how they approach me. Once prospects become clients, the projects become part of my overall calendar and are generally allotted time and focus based on what they need, deadlines, etc. I am not operating … Continue reading →

Base Your Business on Offering Solutions

What do all of our various home-based businesses have in common (other than being based in our homes, of course)? We are all trying to fill a niche and provide valuable products or services to our clients and customers. This is the point we need to get across—instead of making people feel like we are trying to “sell” them something, we need to let them know that we are really about offering solutions to their problems… Think about it—we make most of our purchases because we are trying to get solutions? We buy laundry soap so we can get our … Continue reading →

SunRocket Going Belly Up

It’s a sad day for those of us who have been enjoying SunRocket’s $200 per year for unlimited calls deal. As of August 5, they’re ceasing to exist. Depending upon who you ask (or read), it’s due to abuse of the system, lawsuits, or simple market economics. We were pretty satisfied with their service and their customer relations. Here come all the solicitations for new service. For now, we ported our number over to Vonage with no problem whatsoever. They’re giving us two months free, so we’ll see how it goes and maybe stay with them. Of course, I’ve heard … Continue reading →

“How Can I Help You?”

There is a reason that some of the best customer service starts out with these five words: “How Can I Help You?” It doesn’t matter if it is in person or on the phone, asking your customers or prospects what you can do to help them sets the tone for an interaction that should be based on your providing service, help, information, etc. that will be valuable and helpful to the other person. By keeping the focus on what the customer or prospects needs–instead of on what you want to sell to them or what you want to see happen … Continue reading →

Business Manners and Phone Etiquette–Ask Before Putting Someone on Hold!

I was making notes to myself the other day about “manners” on the job–thinking over what I thought were important considerations and courtesies in the workplace that help build and strengthen business relationships. I’ve written before about how important I think it is to return phone calls and messages, but I also think it is darn good manners to ask someone before putting them on hold! Of course, I know this is tainted by my own experience as a customer being put on hold indefinitely when I really don’t have the time. A couple weeks ago, I was helping a … Continue reading →