07/ 29/ 2005
Good customer service is crucial to success in business. There's nothing high-tech about helping customers get exactly what they need from your business. But technology can make the process easier and more efficient. Like the rest of the business world, customer service has been transformed by technology.
The finalists in the Dell/NFIB Small Business Excellence in Customer Experience Award understand that coupling the latest innovations with good, old-fashioned people skills can help you and your employees deliver top-notch service.
Small Business Television
St. Louis, Mo.
Susan Wilson Solovic, President
Founded two years ago by Susan Wilson Solovic, Small Business Television is the first television network on the Web devoted 100 percent to the small-business market. SBTV features information on how to run a business as well as inspirational success stories from entrepreneurs across the country.
On being a small-business owner: "I love being in control of my own destiny," says Solovic. "When things go well, it's exciting and rewarding. When something goes wrong, you have no one to blame but yourself. I am truly passionate about what I am doing. I get excited every morning about going to work because I am doing something I absolutely love."
On technology: Solovic uses technology to manage business issues no matter where she is in the world. "I am never out of touch with our SBTV team," she says. Still, there are challenges. "The greatest challenge for us is time and resources. We have lots of great ideas, but money and manpower often prevent us from implementing them."
