Ten Ways to Help You Improve Your Customer Service

1. Stay in contact with customers on a regular basis. Just
as it is bad news to send out too many emails to customers,
it is just as bad to not stay in contact with them.
Customers don't want to feel abandoned. So don't.

Here are three things to help you stay in touch.

(1) Offer them your ezine subscription at least once a
month.
(2) Ask customers if they want to be updated by e-mail when
you make changes to your Web site.
(3) Follow-up after each sale to see if they are satisfied
with their purchase. Send an e-mail out a few days after
their purchase, another in a week or two, and then another
in a month.

2. Create a customer focus group by inviting 10 to 20 loyal
customers to meet regularly. Alternatively, send out a
monthly survey to this group asking for ideas and input on
how to improve your customer service. Give them a reward.
Pay them, give them a gift certificate, or send them free
product.

3. Have a web site that is easy to navigate. Add a
frequently asked question's "FAQ" page and explain anything
that might confuse your customers or visitors. Follow-up
with an electronic survey with questions on how to increase
your site's user-friendliness.

4. Resolve customer complaints quickly and completely.
Answer all e-mail and phone calls within a few hours. This
will show your customers you really care about them.

5. Don't make your customers or visitors hunt for your
contact information. Make it easy for them to contact you.
Offer as many contact methods as possible. Hyperlink all
your e-mail addresses so they don't have to find or type it.
Offer a toll free number.

6. If you have strategic alliances or employees, make sure
they are familiar with your customer service policy. Give
your employees bonuses or incentives to practice excellent
customer service. Tell employees to be flexible with each
individual customer, each one has different concerns, needs
and wants.

7. Give your customers more than they expect. Send thank you
gifts to long time customers. E-mail them greeting cards on
holidays or birthdays if you have their address or online
cards if you only have their e-mail address and name. Give
bonuses to your customers who make a big purchase or
multiple purchases.

8. U-welcome, please, and thank you and can never be over
used. Be polite no matter what. Admit and apologize for
mistakes quickly and make it up to them in BIG ways if you
want them to continue being a customer.

9. Reward in points -- give customers a point for every
dollar they spend. Set up a points-earned sheet. E-mail the
customer an update monthly. If they send you a referral they
get 10 points, if they buy something add 10 more points.

10. If your business is local, invite customers to your
office for lunches, parties, barbecues, dances, seminars or
other special events.

It isn't what you perceive as valuable but what customers
see from their eyes. Yet, sometimes, you just can't please
some folks. If that occurs, do you best and then let it go.
You don't want them for clients anyway.

Catherine Franz, a Certified Professional Marketing &
Writing Coach, specializes in product development, Internet
writing and marketing, nonfiction, training. Newsletters and
articles available at: http://www.abundancecenter.com
blog: http://abundance.blogs.com

---

Google News Updated : Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:25:52 GMT Experts: Silver lining for ‘viable’ Mitt Romney - Boston Herald Experts: Silver lining for ‘viable’ Mitt Romney Boston Herald - 8 hours ago By Edward Mason Mitt Romney - once a top contender to be John McCain’s running mate - may have suffered a bruised ego when he was passed over for the little known Gov. It's not Pawlenty, it's Palin Worthington Daily Globe Pawlenty, after the pick, another day at fair Minneapolis Star Tribune Post-Bulletin - Washington Post - Grand Forks Herald - CNN all 2,700 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 30 Aug 2008 04:13:29 GMT Sign of the times - BBC News San Diego Union Tribune Sign of the times BBC News - 1 hour ago As Russia and the West warn of a new Cold War after the Georgian conflict, the BBC's Humphrey Hawksley in Moscow tries to imagine what it would look like. European Union to Hold Urgent Meeting on Russia Voice of America last straw" for Russia Reuters New York Times - Financial Times - Wall Street Journal - Jerusalem Post all 333 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 30 Aug 2008 11:10:28 GMT US Oil, Gas Producers, Pipelines Brace for Gustav (Update1) - Bloomberg ABC News US Oil, Gas Producers, Pipelines Brace for Gustav (Update1) Bloomberg - 1 hour ago By Margot Habiby Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc plan to finish shutting oil and gas production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico and Enbridge Energy Partners LP will close pipelines as Hurricane Gustav gains strength and moves ... More volatility seen with hurricane, payrolls Reuters Airlines bounce as oil gives up early gains MarketWatch Forbes - DesMoinesRegister.com - CNNMoney.com - guardian.co.uk all 3,463 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 30 Aug 2008 11:21:02 GMT Comcast to Place a Cap on Internet Downloads - New York Times ABC News Comcast to Place a Cap on Internet Downloads New York Times - 3 hours ago By BRIAN STELTER Comcast, one of the country’s largest Internet providers, said this week that it would place limits on customers’ broadband usage. Comcast's Answer to ... InternetNews.com Critics Question Comcast Broadband Caps PC World CNET News - Wall Street Journal - ZDNet - InformationWeek all 386 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 30 Aug 2008 09:08:14 GMT Hurricane Gustav Strengthens, Accelerates, Heads for Cuba, Gulf - Bloomberg BBC News Hurricane Gustav Strengthens, Accelerates, Heads for Cuba, Gulf Bloomberg - 1 hour ago By Patrick Donahue and Robin Stringer Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Hurricane Gustav strengthened and picked up speed as it headed toward western Cuba and the US Gulf Coast cities ravaged by Katrina and Rita in 2005, after lashing the Cayman Islands with ... Video: Gustav Follows Katrina's Path CBS Some leave Gulf Coast ahead of likely evacuations The Associated Press Reuters - Minneapolis Star Tribune - New York Times - Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal all 6,069 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:40:06 GMT Obama campaign buoyed by convention - Los Angeles Times ABC News Obama campaign buoyed by convention Los Angeles Times - 5 hours ago He sees an unusually strong jump in support after the carefully choreographed event in Denver. By Peter Nicholas, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer DENVER -- Amy Pearl is the sort of Democrat who made the Barack Obama campaign nervous. Look out, Palin The Hillary factor . . . Chicago Sun-Times Hillary supporters aren't bitter; they're concerned Chicago Tribune The Associated Press - CNN - Philadelphia Inquirer - New York Daily News all 8,528 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 30 Aug 2008 07:00:48 GMT S. Ossetia to be absorbed into Russia - United Press International BBC News S. Ossetia to be absorbed into Russia United Press International - 1 hour ago TSKHINVALI, Georgia, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- South Ossetia says it will become part of Russia and host Russian military bases under a new agreement. Video: UN does have double standards RussiaToday Kremlin announces that South Ossetia will Times Online The Associated Press - AFP - Civil Georgia - New York Times all 6,104 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 30 Aug 2008 11:01:52 GMT Data Feed Content for Web Pages Amazon RSS Feeds

PARLOT::Ebooks, Scripts, Websites, and more...

Adsense websites

Keeping Clients Happy Keeps them Coming Back

Whether you are a seasoned small business professional, or you... Read More

Basic Levels of Consumer Integrity that Presently Permeates Society

Reality is not always pretty. But here is a tad... Read More

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

However, in the world of business, this cliché may not... Read More

The Logic of Emotion!

Homebuyers are an interesting study. Watching people make their home... Read More

The Great American Customer Service Unawareness Campaign

Q: I'm so sick of you so-called business experts always... Read More

Customer Loyalty

Loyal customers are the foundation of almost every business. Going... Read More

The Drawback of Hacking Off a Blogger Through Weak Process Gaps and Pathetic Customer Service

With all of the recent data theft in the financial... Read More

Top Ten Strategies for Delivering 5-Star Customer Service

Customer satisfaction is valuable, but customer loyalty is priceless. In... Read More

Small Business Customer Service Can Work Against You

Is the special treatment you designed specifically to keep customers... Read More

Marketing as a Spiritual Practice

"Marketing as a spiritual practice." It sounds contradictory ? how... Read More

Listen to Suggestions

If you are up to your ears in a stressful... Read More

Minimize The Pain of Check Recovery

$350 million in bad checks are written each and every... Read More

Empowering Customer Service Vital

It never fails to amaze me how many companies have... Read More

Debt Elimination Scam

May people these days have a problem with mounting debt.... Read More

Get Customers to Stop Calling You--12 Easy Ways to Save Money with Online Customer Support

Despite rumors to the contrary, the Web is not dead.... Read More

Making Customer Satisfaction Surveys Work

Why bother? Good customer service is the life blood of... Read More

Make An Action Plan To Improve Customer Service

Customer Service is a critical factor for keeping your clients... Read More

The 7 Principles of Business Integrity

If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't... Read More

CRM - Its Relevance

In today's demanding economy, the first line of any business... Read More

The Dissatisfied Customer

We, as small business people, naturally dislike complaints from our... Read More

What Every Employee Should Know About How to Prevent Customer Service Conflicts

There are five techniques that have been proven to be... Read More

Finding Out Why a Potential Customer is Calling On You

Our challenge as the business owner/sales person answering the telephone,... Read More

Customers - What They Really Want - 6 Secrets of Customer Service

What customers really want can be divided into two areas.Firstly... Read More

Importance of Good Customer Support in Online Computer Peripherals Shops

Looking for hi-fi computer peripherals? Finding it tough to decide... Read More

Astonish your Customers With These Customer Service Tips

Customer service today is getting worse. Win customers over and... Read More