|
|
|
CRM 101: Customer Relationship Management for Beginners
Customer Relationship Management, abbreviated “CRM,” is the term for a business strategy that is designed to improve customer service. CRM is also designed to increase customer satisfaction and gain new customers, thus increasing a business’...
Finding Hidden Telecom Savings on Customer Service Records (CSRs)
Every thorough telecom audit should include a careful study of the customer service records (CSRs) available through your Local Exchange Carrier. Routine analysis of your CSRs will undoubtedly result in thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars...
How To Stay In Touch With Your Ebay Customers 24/7. Yep, Even While You're Asleep!
What's the one great thing you can do for your Happy eBay
Customers?
Sell them something else of course, give them a great deal and
make them even happier.
But how do you keep in touch with your eBay customers on a
regular basis for...
Postcard Printing Bridging Business and Customers
Communication is the key to any business endeavor. But then again not all business owners have the time and the capacity to meet personally or call individually their customers. It would be a tasking as well as expensive endeavor to call every...
Winning Customers Over the Phone
Do you sometimes wonder where your customers have gone? In a
study by the International Customer Research Institute,
individuals gave the following reasons for becoming "non-repeat"
customers:
* 1 percent died (makes you wonder how they...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Is the Customer Really Always Right? No!
How do you handle a customer who is clearly in the wrong?
People always tell you "the customer is always right" - but
that is not always true. However, the way you treat your right
or wrong customer is what will make a world of difference to
your business success or failure. Remember - it's always a
numbers game - and you have to deal with a lot of no's and
a lot of turkeys sometimes to get to the golden client.
Here are some very recent dealings my associate and I have
had to deal with, and how we handled it:
1. I got heavily chewed out because I didn't receive a fax
reply from someone to whom I faxed paperwork to TWICE.
She didn't check to see if her lawyer received my fax - only
asked me if I had received the reply. I told her I hadn't, and it
became "my fault" that her lawyer didn't reply to me. I faxed
the papers out again, and she again chewed me out for her
lawyer not replying. I was not given the lawyer's phone
number to follow up with, so I could never follow through to
see if the fax got through. It is the client's responsibility to
"push" her lawyer to act, however, and not mine. So she
said she will take her business to another company.
I let her know I did fax out the papers more than once, and I
had no phone number to follow up with - if she would provide
me with the phone number I would call, but ultimately it is her
responsibility to get her lawyer to act. I told her I would work
with her if she chose, but if she felt she needed to go
elsewhere, so be it. I would be here if she ever needed my
services. I suppose the client may be difficult to deal with,
so perhaps I am better off. But I didn't try to burn any bridges
in the matter. If she finds the same situation with the next
company, maybe she'll forgive me (or just get angry at one
more person). Whether she refers me to anyone else is not
a goal at this point - the goal is to appease her enough that
she won't try to tell people to stay away from my business -
to try to cool her anger.
2. I emailed a reply stating that I was sorry I took awhile (6
hours) to reply to an email. I told the person I had an
emergency with my daughter and had to go to the hospital.
I figured this person would perhaps understand that it was
serious. Guess what reply I got? The email said "WHAT??
I'll just find another source."
OK, now I was taken aback by that. I thought a family
emergency was a legitimate reason to excuse a less than
prompt reply. I guess I will have to just say I was "out of the
office." Or say nothing and just reply. Is 6 hours really that
late a response? I think not, to tell the truth. But, I did email
back and tell this person that I can work with im if he would
like, and will give him my full attention in the case. Again, I
am just hoping I won't get him telling others not to use my
service. (He obviously doesn't have kids or feel the same
way.)
3. I had a potential client who was very happy with my
attention and said he was going to use my services if I could
match the price of a competitor. I got the "go ahead" to do
this. The client got all the way to the signing process and
suddenly decided to go with another company - and didn't
have the courtesy to let me know. I know he got a "one up"
better offer at the last - the other company wanted his
business, so they scraped in order to make a better offer. It
could have worked to his advantage to tell me - we might
have been able to outdo that offer, as well.
That is life - the competition can be outright sneaky and can
cause havoc in your day. Just smile, send a message to the
client that you lost to let him know you will still give him or
his friends the same service he enjoyed prior to the deal not
working out, if he chooses to work with you again.
4. I gave an answer to a 2 part question and replied that the
first part cannot be done as stated (it could not be launched
on its own - one would have to launch a separate application
within the program to make it work), and I answered the
second part (which was an alternate choice that was better).
The person replied that I had a "poor" response because I
just obviously didn't know "how" to do the first part.
Obviously a "know-it-all" with an attitude. I just let that one
roll off my back, not even to try to tell him I know "how", but
it needs to launch in a different mode rather than directly. In
any case, this person was just being a turkey, and some
turkeys are not worth one's time to deal with.
5. We fixed a laptop and spent over 7 hours overall on it. It
was so screwed up that it ultimately needed to be formatted
and reloaded, but the owner had no driver disks or anything.
We had to search for the components and find drivers to load.
They needed to be done in a certain sequence, as found out
after the loading, so we reloaded again. We charged a mere
$225 for all the work - a low priced fix for what we did (we
figured that a good part of the time was loading and
downloading, so we were able to walk away from it on
occasion). This is much less than any other repair shop would
have charged for the troubleshooting and the formatting and
repair. The owner blasted my associate for charging "too
much" and called him names. Turned out he wanted the fix
for "free" even though he was quoted and updated at every
step.
We just printed the bill and wrote the procedures involved. We
gave the client his laptop and gave him 2 weeks to pay. We
figured he'd not refer us to anyone (would we want to be
referred as the repair team who does work for free?), but we
didn't care. We also decided not to back down on the amount
due because the customer was belly-aching so badly with no
real good reason - and it cost us our time to do the repair. We
also decided we would not take on any more repairs from him,
if that ever came up again. We also are placing new policies
prior to taking on jobs.
So, to sum things up - there are difficult people out there, and
some of them try to become your customers. There are people
simply having a bad day and they are lashing out without
cause. The best thing to do is not necessarily apologize and
tell them they are right - but mainly to try to appease them in
some way. Let them know you are still on their team, if they
want, and leave it at that. The next person they try to work
with will probably end up making them realize that you and
your company weren't so bad after all. They just haven't found
out that others don't give the same pricing or
service or care - yet. Offer the person a discount of their next
purchase from you. You might still come out ahead (and at
the least, not come out "behind").
Oh yes - thankfully the bulk of our customers are considerate
and appreciative. These other types are always the exception.
About the Author
Pauliina Roe has been running her business on the Internet for
over 6 years and has learned a lot of do's and don'ts. The main
business is helping people find funding resources, particularly
in sales of assets. See http://doubleii.com/funding.htm
On the side, she works with her associate in troubleshooting
and repairing computers - see
http://doubleii.com/troubleshootcomuter.htm
|
|
|
|
|
| Customer Service Group: Resources for improved customer service ... |
| Newsletters, books, and free online resources for improved customer service, call center and help desk operations including tools for enhancing rep training ... |
| www.customerservicegroup.com |
|
| Customer Service Training Customer Service Skills Training Service |
| Service Quality Institute is the leader in Customer Service Training with customer service training skills products and consulting with over 34 years ... |
| www.customer-service.com |
|
| ICS: Institute of Customer Service |
| The Institute of Customer Service is the professional body for customer service whose primary purpose is to lead customer service performance and ... |
| www.instituteofcustomerservice.com |
|
| International Customer Service Association |
| Promotes the development and awareness of the customer service profession through networking, education and research. Activities, publications ... |
| www.icsa.com |
|
| Customer Service Jobs on CareerBuilder.com |
| Looking for customer service jobs? Start your job search at CareerBuilder, the leader in job search sites, and access hundreds of thousands of jobs today. |
| customer-service.careerbuilder.com |
|
| The New York Times Home Delivery - Subscribe |
| Sign up now to save 50% on your first 12 weeks of Home Delivery. Learn more. As part of Home Delivery, you'll also get free access to TimesSelect premium ... |
| homedelivery.nytimes.com |
|
| Customer service - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| The modern concept of customer service has its roots in the craftsman economy ... Delivering customer service begins with understanding what customers want. ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| Customer service representatives |
| When working in call centers, customer service representatives are likely to be under ... Customer service representatives working outside of a call center ... |
| www.bls.gov |
|
| Customer Service Training |
| Customer Service Training, Seminars, Coaching, and free articles to improve repeat business, happiness, and professional image. |
| www.proedgeskills.com |
|
| Customer Service |
| (It may help the reader to notice the role of customer service in the overall ... Additional Resources in the Category of Customer Service and Satisfaction ... |
| www.managementhelp.org |
|
| azcentral.com faq - azcentral.com Help - Arizona Republic Customer ... |
| azcentral.com faq - Welcome to the azcentral.com help center where you can find answers to azcentral.com and Arizona Republic customer service questions. |
| www.azcentral.com |
|
| CafePress.com : Help Desk : Customer Service |
| Email Us Send us an email and we will respond to you within 24 hours. Call Us Toll Free 1-877-809-1659 Customer Service Hours ... |
| www.cafepress.com |
|
| Customer Service Week - The Celebration Source |
| Provides how-to information, gifts and decorations for successful Customer Service Week celebrations. |
| www.csweek.com |
|
| Nashville - Tennessean.com - Middle Tennessee Customer Services |
| Customer service, advertising or news-related questions or problems (615) 259-8000. ... (615) 242-7253. Email Customer Service customer @tennessean.com. ... |
| www.tennessean.com |
|
| Customer Service Institute of Australia - dedicated to Australian ... |
| CSIA is a professional, membership-based body dedicated to improving the standards of customer service both at an individual level and at a corporate level ... |
| www.csia.com.au |
|
| The Globe and Mail: Home Delivery Customer Care: Home |
| The most authoritiative news in Canada featuring articles from The Globe and Mail, breaking news coverage, national news, international news, sports, ... |
| https: |
|
| Customer Service from FLORIDA TODAY |
| We're here to bring the finest customer service to your doorstep. ... Customer Service Hours Monday - Friday: 6:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. ET Saturday: ... |
| www.floridatoday.com |
|
| magazine customer service |
| https://secure.customersvc.com/ servlet/Show?WESPAGE=mo/home.html&MSRSMAG=MO - Similar pages |
|
|
| Customer Service – 8 Rules For Good Customer Service |
| Good customer service is the lifeblood of any business. You can bring in as many new customers as you want, but unless you can get some of those customers ... |
| sbinfocanada.about.com |
|
| Help | IndyStar.com |
| Customer Service • Terms of Service • Send feedback about IndyStar.com • Subscribe Now • Jobs with us. Use of this site signifies your agreement to the ... |
| www.indystar.com |
|
|