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Customer Service Information |
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Become a Customer Enthusiasm-Guru!
One thing all successful small business owners have in common is the knowledge that their business is based on enthusiastic customers. Despite their multi-tasking titles of bookkeeper, service provider and sales-manager, their most important title is Customer-Enthusiasm Guru. Your question, undoubtedly, is how do I find time in my unbelievably over-loaded schedule to become a customer-enthusiasm guru? Following are a few quick steps you can take to focus on your customer in everything you do: 1. Evaluate your customer base. Who are your best customers and why? What similarities do they share? What are their core needs and how do you solve them? This step is important because every other task relates to your vision of these top customers. 2. Keep the customer in mind. Before initiating new processes ask yourself how it will benefit your ideal customers. Whether you are implementing a new bookkeeping system or hiring help, keep your customer's needs in mind. Always prepare your customers for any changes so they know what to expect. 3. Create systems that maintain customer contact. Use automated e-mail notes to keep in touch with your customer. 4. Communicate even when you have nothing to sell. This doesn't mean take up your customer's limited time to 'shoot the breeze,' but it does mean -- take time to recognize your customer. Some easy ways to do this are to send a note of congratulations when your customer is highlighted in the local press, promoted, or reaches an anniversary (either personal or professional). Other non-sales communication ideas include sending an article of interest or offering tickets to sporting event, show or movie that you know would interest your customer. 5. Ask for feedback and follow through. Ask your customers (either through a survey, an e-mail request or by a phone call) how you can continue to serve them -- even better. Then follow-through. When you follow-through and develop ways to serve your customers better based on their input they will be enthusiastic supporters of you and your company! 6. Foster trust. If you don't know the answer, don't pretend to. If you can't provide what they're looking for, don't say you can. Introduce your customer to someone who can solve their problem -- and you will have an enthusiastic customer for life. 7. Be consistent. Your customers like knowing what to expect from you and your company. Consistency is as simple as always answering the phone the same way, using the same tag-line in all your promotional materials and most importantly, delivering the same outstanding service and product each and every time your customers hire you. 8. Be easy to work with. Don't make your customers jump through hoops to get what they need from you and your company. Make it easy for customers to repeatedly buy from you - whether by adding a special on-line scheduling page for repeat customers on your website, or by providing them with a special access number to order your products. If your customers can buy from you again and again without a hassle, they will. 9. Create a customer-enthusiasm training program for anyone who interacts with customers. As you grow, you will hire other people help you with routine tasks, such as scheduling, answering phones, providing services or resending to e-mail. Teach these important team members exactly how you expect them to interact with your customers. Don't forget that these team members are your customers too - treat them that way. Provided you take the time and discipline necessary to implement them, these steps will have you on the way to being a customer-enthusiasm guru in no time! About The Author Peggie Arvidson-Dailey is the founder of Pet Care Business University and the Pet-Care Business Success System?. She is the author "How to Make Your Customers Crazy?about You" and has been a guest on "This Week in Small Business." As a trainer and coach she has helped people across the country create and build the pet-care business of their dreams. Visit http://www.peggiespets.com for more information.
MORE RESOURCES: AI Chatbots Are Ready to Talk to Customers. Sort of. The Wall Street Journal Pricing, AI, DPA, Customer Service Tools; Bill Emerson Interview; Training This Week; STRATMOR CD Workshop Mortgage News Daily Samsung Electronics Canada Customer Service Wins Bronze in ‘Best Use of Omni Channel' at International CX Awards 2024 Yahoo Finance Qme secures $3M funding to streamline customer service across Africa Techpoint Africa Building Competitive Advantage in Customer Care Through AI The Business of Fashion 311 Customer Service Center City and County of San Francisco FTC Finalizes Order with H&R Block Requiring Them to Pay $7 Million and Overhaul Advertising and Customer Service Practices for 2025 and 2026 Tax Seasons Federal Trade Commission News Ikea expands integration with assembly services platform Chain Store Age JEA is inviting bids for 19-story downtown tower that used to be its headquarters The Florida Times-Union Consumers Demand Enterprises Modernize to Improve Ailing Customer Experience, Says Research Business Wire American Lamprecht Enhances Visibility for Air and Ocean Shipments Using Descartes Solution Supply Chain Dive Women in Fintech: A Conversation About Loyalty Ecosystems in Financial Services with Becky Hill Finovate Neterra Enhances Its Customer Service Monitoring System Total Telecom Gladly Named a Leader in Constellation ShortList™ for Digital Customer Service and Support PR Newswire QueueKiosk™: Saving Thousands of Active-Duty Man Hours & Improving Customer Service at the MPF Office Kiosk Marketplace Finally, hard data on a real-world AI business use case: It’s huge for customer service Sherwood News Liverpool reinvents customer service through digital platform ComputerWeekly.com Firm to expand customer service in Yorkshire with new service centre Golf Business News CSPI & Nutrition Action Customer Service CSPI Newsroom Textron Aviation to Open New Service Facility at Essendon Fields Airport, Expanding Capabilities in Australia Pittsburg Morning Sun Help Department of Taxation and Finance Six Game-Changing AI Customer Service and CX Strategies Hospitality Net Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) New York State Department of Health Cigna's customer-centric strategy could ripple across the sector Modern Healthcare Major AI Success Story: Giftify Achieves 40% Faster Customer Response Times with Enterprise AI StockTitan Contact Us About Your Bill myclearwater.com Customer Service Center apps.tampagov.net Customer Support | Department of Corrections Governor Tom Wolf 311 - Birmingham’s Customer Service Center City of Birmingham (.gov) DESCO's meeting held to enhance customer service and power reliability The Business Standard 70% of customer service to rely on AI by 2028: Gartner Outsource Accelerator Customer Service & Support Hillsborough County (.gov) My experience as a Customer Service and Sales Intern Toby Shapiro's Experience at A.D. Sutton and Sons Chapman University Delta’s annual profit-sharing day spotlights ‘people first’ strategy The Atlanta Journal Constitution 3 Ways To Quickly Make $50 GOBankingRates Welcome to Riverside Public Utilities City of Riverside (.gov) Celebrate Customer Service Week City of Riverside (.gov) Which companies have the best customer service? Amazon, Shein, Costco among top-rated brands USA TODAY Con Edison Proposes Investments to Meet Growing Demand for Clean Energy, Enhance Customer Support T&D World Fulton County Recognized as a 2024 National Customer Service All Star Fulton County Government Contact Reverb Support Reverb America's Best Customer Service 2025 Newsweek 8 strategies for using AI for customer service in 2025 Sprout Social Attorney General Bonta Demands Better Customer Service for Californians California Department of Justice AI for Customer Service Market worth $47.82 Billion by 2030 - Exclusive Report by MarketsandMarkets™ PR Newswire Can artificial intelligence rescue customer service? The Economist Permits–customer services King County Lifeline Support for Affordable Communications Federal Communications Commission Department of Transportation Governor Tom Wolf 11 key elements of excellent customer service Business.com Shep Hyken, HPU Customer Service Expert, Mentors Students and Staff High Point University Summer EBT | Department of Human Services Governor Tom Wolf How Intercom Achieves 86% Resolution Rates with Claude AI: A Customer Service Revolution - Anthropic Office of Developmental Programs Governor Tom Wolf Our Contact Centre achieves national recognition for excellence in customer service Royal Borough of Greenwich |
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