Small Business Toolbox

A library of business management info


Small Business Customer Service Tips

  • Project a Unified Message: Handle Company Matters Out of Customer Earshot
    08/11/2008
    Not long ago I viewed a very unpleasant incident in a local retail store. As I was working with a sales associate to set up details of the service I was ordering, a manager interrupted us. The conversation between the manager and the associate escalated into an argument. Apparently, the associate helping me was supposed to have gone on lunch break about the time I walked in. This seemingly minor infraction—which was, after all, only the result of good customer service—resulted in a visibly shaken sales associate helping me with my order after the manager left.
  • Tips for Rewarding Long-Term Customers
    08/06/2008
    In the quest to gain new business, it's easy for business owners to forget about the clients who have been with them year in and year out. But long-term clients are largely responsible for a small business' growth, which is why savvy business owners should let them know they're appreciated. Here are some ways to reward customer loyalty, making it more likely to continue.
  • How to Connect With Customers Using Twitter
    07/30/2008
    You might have heard some of your colleagues and friends talking about Twitter, the latest social networking site that keeps your contacts updated frequently on your whereabouts and activities. But did you know that Twitter could potentially provide you with a fresh new marketing strategy? Read on to find out how Twitter could benefit your business.
  • How to Pique Customer Interest With Promotions
    07/09/2008
    I once received promotional material for a new mall that included a letter with a car key attached. The letter explained that during its opening weekend there would be a new car at the mall and my key might just be the one that opened it. Did I really believe that out of all the keys they sent out mine would be the lucky one? Not really, but that didn't stop me from giving it a shot and visiting the new mall. I didn't win the new car of course, but I did help fulfill the promotion's true purpose: I visited the new stores and went home with several shopping bags.
  • Surviving Economic Slumps
    06/11/2008
    Sales slumps are an inevitable part of business cycles, whether they are seasonal or due to a market downturn. Here are some survival tactics to help you weather financial storms.
  • Make Your Web Site's Frequently-Asked-Questions Page More User-Friendly
    05/07/2008
    If you've ever scoured a Web site's frequently-asked-questions page without finding the answer to your question, you know firsthand that an incomplete FAQ has the power to taint a customer's impression of an otherwise well-meaning company.
  • Retail vs. Online Sales: Which Area Needs More Attention?
    04/23/2008
    Like many of today's entrepreneurs, you may be trying to divide your attention between a physical storefront and an online presence. As you only have so many hours in a day, you may feel torn as to where to spend the bulk of your energies.
  • Beginner's Business Mistakes
    03/12/2008
    Going into business for yourself may feel like a gamble, but unlike an honest card game, there are several things you can do to stack the deck in your favor. For example: learning from the mistakes of others can give you a leg up on the competition. Here are some of the most common errors new entrepreneurs make, and a few tips on how you can avoid them.
  • Selling Longtime Customers on Price Increases
    03/05/2008
    Inflation and the rising costs of business often make it necessary to increase prices. While it's easy to introduce new customers to new rates, some business owners may feel hesitant about raising prices on longstanding customers for fear that customers will react by taking their business elsewhere. But there are ways to make a price hike easier for regular clients to bear, so they are rewarded for their loyalty and your business earns the money it deserves.
  • The Spirit of Giving
    12/07/2007
    Christmas is getting closer, and with all of the focus on fourth-quarter profits, closing out the books for the year and present buying for family and friends, it's easy to let the materialism in the marketplace overshadow the true spirit of the season. Looking for a way to regain perspective? There are multitudes of meaningful ways to share your generosity and give back to your community. Why not get your whole business in on the act? Here are some ways to inspire the spirit of giving within your company and make a lasting difference.
  • Simple Ways to Thank Your First Clients
    11/28/2007
    The first clients bringing business your way deserve special acknowledgment. These people took a leap of faith, perhaps even leaving other service providers, to come on board with you — though your record was largely untested. Showing your appreciation to this group of people will assure that they’ll be with you for a long time to come.
  • Let Mystery Shoppers Put Your Employees to the Test
    10/01/2007
    If your employees interact with customers, you may want to utilize a mystery shopping service. Mystery shoppers pose as customers and actually evaluate employees to make sure they're doing their jobs efficiently. They then report those results to management.
  • Collecting From Customers
    09/27/2007
    Consideration of how you'll collect from a customer shouldn't wait until the invoice or statement has gone out. Instead, this should be an active concern from the beginning of the business relationship. Unless a given transaction is cash on the barrelhead—where your product is handed over or your service is performed for immediate cash payment— whenever you issue a bill or invoice for later payment you are extending credit.
  • Letting Customers Go
    09/12/2007
    When Sprint said "bye-bye" this summer to 1,100 of its wireless customers it deemed too troublesome to keep, people were agog. It was the dumping heard across the nation, and it had folks wondering: Was the axiom "the customer is always right" headed the way of typewriters, eight-tracks and analogue?
  • Polite Behavior: You Can Bring It Back!
    09/11/2007
    You can't change the impolite behavior of the world. But by practicing a few simple habits yourself, you can often change the behavior of the people around you—and dramatically improve the civility of your small business.
  • Watch Those Speed Bumps: Avoiding Six Common Sales Mistakes
    08/29/2007
    Not all sales interactions run smoothly; even the best salespeople inevitably hit a bump in the road. Maybe you've hit that bump because you unwittingly mishandled a situation, or your customer had conflicted feelings about a sale. Either way, if you want to salvage your hard work and make sure the sale goes through, you must learn to deal with these obstacles to meet your customer's needs.
  • Responding When Your Company Is Criticized Online
    08/01/2007
    Before blogs and online forums began proliferating the Web, a company could quietly take care of its product quality and customer-service problems. But today, everything from manufacturing snafus to controversial statements by executives is potential fodder for a debate in cyberspace. And not only on blogs and traditional forums. Critiques and praise about products and companies are multiplying on MySpace.com, Facebook.com and other social networking Web sites.
  • Putting Six Sigma Ideas to Work at Your Small Business
    07/18/2007
    Chances are you've heard about classes, seminars and Web sites devoted to the Six Sigma principle. Maybe you've even heard that it's a management tool used by companies like Motorola and General Electric. But you might not have heard a concise definition of exactly what Six Sigma is.
  • Maximize Your Chances When Responding to an RFP
    07/12/2007
    If your company becomes involved in a Request for Proposal process (RFP), there are specific issues that require careful attention, not only to maximize your chances for selection from among other candidates, but to avoid getting into a situation that could prove extremely time-consuming and costly, both before and after the selection.
  • Boosting Your Memory Power
    07/02/2007
    Memory is a complex phenomenon. It’s not fully understood by experts. But scientists do have clues about the causes of momentary memory failure, which often range from common fatigue to overstimulation. Better yet, memory experts offer a variety of tips you can use to help remember important ideas.
  • Personality Traits of Small-Business Owners
    06/27/2007
    How would your best friends describe you? If they use words like friendly, loyal and kind, not only will you do well in your personal relationships but also in the business world. Your personality traits will go a long way in determining how successful a small-business owner you'll be. If you come up short in any of the following areas, don't despair. While we often think of personality traits as innate, they can be cultivated like anything else.
  • A Soldier and a Small Businessman
    06/25/2007
    Bob DeSousa is used to being on the front lines. As CEO of the Vartan Group, a Harrisburg, Penn.-based real-estate investment and management company, he calls the shots, sets the strategy and fights every day to keep the $3.5 million-dollar business thriving. So when DeSousa, also a National Guard reservist, learned last fall that his unit might be called up for active duty in Iraq this summer, he was more than willing to step up and accept his duty.
  • Crash Course for Campus CEOs
    05/22/2007
    Randal Pinkett is best known for surviving Donald Trump's scathing boardroom criticism on season four of NBC's "The Apprentice" and impressing the billionaire real-estate mogul enough to hire him. But before that, Pinkett was known around his college campus at Rutgers as a student entrepreneur who juggled business classes with running a thriving CD business out of his dorm.
  • Take a Tip From Your Waiter
    05/11/2007
    The fundamental laws of business operate all around us whether we notice them or not. Sometimes the simplest transactions we’re involved in through the day can be instructive, showing us how to improve our own business operations.
  • Know Your Customer
    05/09/2007
    How do you engage your customer in the right conversation? First and foremost, listen carefully, and you'll learn which core need he wants met. Then you can build your conversation around that need.
  • Why You Want Some Customers Who Complain
    04/30/2007
    It's vital for a business to encourage customers to complain when they're dissatisfied. Complaints should be thought of as opportunities for improvement. While every small-business owner would like to have a perfect company that satisfies every customer who walks through the door, in the real world, this isn't possible.
  • Recreating Company Loyalty
    04/13/2007
    Company loyalty, the once traditional bond between an organization and its employees, is rapidly becoming an obsolete concept. As the employment scene becomes more volatile, with manufacturers shrinking and folding and rapid technological change driving endless change in the business world, company loyalty is a thing of the past to many people in the workforce.
  • 10 Tips for Selecting an Internet Fax Service
    04/04/2007
    You’ve seen the studies and know that you can save as much as 93 percent on the cost of adding fax capabilities and 89 percent of the monthly cost by using an Internet fax service instead of a fax machine or fax server. You also know you can improve privacy, simplify document management, and extend your faxing capabilities everywhere. Now the question is which one do you choose?
  • Marketing to Baby-Boomer Women
    04/04/2007
    Women in the baby-boomer generation are fast becoming the most powerful consumers in America, influencing as much as 80 percent of the $2.1 trillion that boomers spend on consumer goods and services, according to a Boom: Marketing to the Ultimate Power Consumer--the Baby Boomer Woman (American Management Association, 2006). At the peak of their careers, these women have more discretionary income than ever and make most of the purchasing decisions for their household. How do you get their attention? Before revamping your marketing materials, Authors Mary Brown and Carol Orsborn recommend considering these facts about the boomer woman.
  • Handling Complaints From Employees and Customers
    04/03/2007
    An anonymous person once said, "Might as well forget your old troubles; there are more coming." Chances are, there are not many managers who consistently welcome complaints from employees or customers. Complaints come at the manager as problems demanding attention--annoyances that consume their precious time. It's easy to see complaints as unwelcome troubles; we know that although today's problems may be history by the day's end, tomorrow will bring new ones. Like it or not, complaints are an inevitable part of supervising employees and serving customers.
  • Handling Growth: It's All in the Transition
    02/26/2007
    It's the stereotypical catch-22. Your personal involvement with your clients has contributed to your success, and growth seems inevitable. Yet, if you do take that leap, you jeopardize the face-to-face involvement you've built your business--and your success--on. How do you become less present without alienating your customers and risking your bottom line?
  • Cyberslang: Does it Have a Place in Your Small-Business Correspondence?
    02/02/2007
    I bet it wouldn't take you long to remember the last e-mail that you received with "LOL" or "IMHO" or even a :-) in the text. Maybe you even received one just this morning while sipping that coffee. Was it from a friend? A family member? Or was it from a business contact? If it was the latter, shame on them. They just used cyberslang.
  • Customer Service 101: Enroll Today!
    01/18/2007
    Sitting at my desk today, I heard a co-worker hang up the phone and mutter, "Well, he had the personality of a potato." She simply called to ask about a hotel reservation she had recently made, and the so-called customer service representative on the other end of the line made her feel like she was interrupting his day. Out of the hundreds of hotels in town, she chose to spend her time at his business, giving him money. Wouldn't you think he could muster up some kindness and consideration? Or have common courtesy and good customer service become a thing of the past?
  • Employee Consideration Is Equal to Customer Consideration
    12/28/2006
    In 2004, a University of California at Santa Barbara survey of nearly 900 MBA graduates from 11 universities in North America and Europe determined that more than one-third were willing to sacrifice some financial benefits in order to work for a company whose employers were caring and ethical.
  • First Impressions: Making Good Ones With Your First Clients
    12/27/2006
    In a perfect world, your work would speak for itself. But like it or not, your clients won't be judging your output alone but also your appearance and attitude. These are especially important when you're first breaking into your field, so take a look at these tips to be sure you're making the best impression you can.
  • Attract and Keep Customers by Offering an Ironclad Guarantee
    12/21/2006
    A guarantee is a statement, usually accompanying an advertisement for products or services, that gives assurance of customer satisfaction. It is, in effect, a formal promise that money will be refunded or some sort of compensation given for a product or service that is not found satisfactory.
  • A Brand New Show
    12/01/2006
    The list of names in Sew What? Inc.'s portfolio reads like a major concert lineup: Dave Matthews Band, Sting, Neil Young, The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Their work has even graced the cover of Rolling Stone magazine and has helped a family find comfort in a new home on ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."
  • Arranging Payment Schedules With Customers in Advance
    11/20/2006
    Here is a business axiom worthwhile to follow: Arrange payment schedules during, not after, the initial sale. Doing so can essentially eliminate late payments, streamlining cash flow and letting you focus on your business instead of on collection. This is especially important for a small company that can't afford to allot employee time to calling in overdue payments.
  • Bag of Tricks
    11/07/2006
    Not every small-business owner can afford to launch a slick marketing or advertising campaign or pay for a public relations professional to help with publicity. For most small-business owners, it is up to them to create a buzz about their products and services. If your marketing/advertising budget is limited, how do you promote your business enough to attract a steady stream of new and loyal customers? It may be easier than you think.
  • The Importance of Being Honest
    11/06/2006
    Advertising is regulated both by the Federal Trade Commission and at the state level, and non-compliance can be costly. Before you release any advertisement, it pays to check out the state and federal rules to make sure you are in compliance.
  • Mastering Voicemail
    11/03/2006
    You know how it goes: Someone calls, and you can't get to the phone. Your voicemail picks up and takes a message. You check the message only to find out that the person on the other end has rattled off the phone number so quickly that you have to listen to it three times before finally digging through your e-mail inbox to find a phone number for them there. What a waste of time!
  • Tried-and-True Marketing Tactics
    10/30/2006
    Marketing principles have been tested for decades; yet many small-business owners refuse to make a commitment to marketing. Here are some common marketing strategies to help you get the correct message to your targeted customers.
  • Networking 101: Getting Outside Your Friends and Family Circle to Make Business Contacts
    10/25/2006
    Your roommate and your mom may very well always be your most faithful customers; but if you want your business to grow, you can't depend on them to be your only customers. To continue cultivating new business, it might be time to enter the world of networking. Here are a few places to start.
  • Publicity Part I: Do You Have a Plan?
    10/11/2006
    You're running your business on limited budget. As the owner, you wear more hats than you can even remember on a given day. But we're going to ask you to put on one more, one that is often overlooked but can be the key to bringing you more customers and growing your business: publicity.
  • Don't Undercharge for Your Services
    10/09/2006
    During the start-up phase of a business, pricing of products and services is a key issue. In fact, accuracy in pricing is one of the key factors in whether a company will exist through the all-important first few years.
  • Appearances Count: Making Your Business Look Appealing to Customers
    09/14/2006
    It's important to evaluate your business' physical appearance through the eyes of your customers since it's the first impression they'll get of you and your employees. What do they see when they drive up to your building? What do they see when they walk through the door?
  • Learning to Listen
    09/08/2006
    You hear things all day long––traffic outside your building, telephones ringing down the hall, employees talking about the game coming up this weekend––and you've probably learned to tune most of it out as noise. But how much of what goes on in your small business are you really listening to? If you want a business relationship to flourish––whether with employees, clients or customers––you need to be a good listener.
  • Nurture Marketing: Always Being Connected
    09/07/2006
    The concept of nurture marketing has been around for a long time. However, with narrowing customer markets, fierce competition and an abundance of consumer purchasing options, nurture marketing is changing from a want to a critical need for survival. Much of nurture marketing involves basic common sense: Treat others the way you would like to be treated to keep in touch with prospects (new and existing customers) and develop and cultivate relationships to generate new business.
  • Building Loyalty in Your Business
    08/30/2006
    Why spend time and money chasing new customers with glossy marketing campaigns if you can't be sure that they'll stick around? Selling to people you already know is much more profitable and predictable. And part of the payoff is that your regulars will spread the word about your business to everyone they know––advertising you can't buy.
  • Keeping Callers Waiting Without Irritating Them
    08/09/2006
    In your business, you will sometimes have to keep callers waiting while you figure out answers to their questions or find the right person to answer their questions. You could just leave the phone off the hook, perhaps, but callers' eavesdropping is only desirable to a point.
  • The High Cost of Low Prices: Discounted Prices Don't Always Guarantee Bigger Sales
    07/25/2006
    When Yvonne Shortt started Rego Park, N.Y.-based Waddevah five years ago, she knew how she was going to win sales: low prices. But slogging it out on the sticker price meant losing money in her wholesale and online retail accessories business.
  • Simply the Best: How to Find and Keep the Best Customers
    07/25/2006
    When Scott Kremp decided to close six branches of Kremp Florist, a business his father started 50 years ago in the Philadelphia suburbs, and devote more resources to his two main stores, he knew he risked losing customers. Instead, he gained more than ever before. "Another flower shop may offer a different selection or a lower price, but if we focus on what we are doing well, customers will realize that and come back to us," Kremp says.
  • Stop Selling: New Sales Technique Encourages Backing Off
    07/25/2006
    In his courses on effective sales techniques, Doug Harvey tells students that the best way to sell something is not to sell it at all. "Selling is not, 'Here's a great product or service with all these wonderful features, so buy it,'" says Harvey, who teaches sales classes for Aquascape Designs, a Batavia, Ill.-based pond manufacturer.
  • Class Act
    07/25/2006
    Small-business owners who offer educational classes to customers have discovered: If you teach them, they will buy.
  • Curtain Call: Winner of the 2006 Dell/NFIB Small-Business Excellence in Customer Experience Award
    07/25/2006

    Sewing is a lot more than a needle pulling thread at Megan Duckett's Sew What Inc. Technology plays a starring role at this Los Angeles-based small business that specializes in theatrical drapery and custom sewing jobs for the theater, cinema and special events industries.

  • Web Site Magic: Eleven Ways You Can Engage Visitors
    07/13/2006
    No question about it: the World Wide Web has become a powerful marketing arsenal, responsible for an ever-growing volume of profit in virtually every industry. Whatever the trends show, at the end of the day what matters is your own Web site. Does your content have what it takes to fully engage visitors and motivate them to buy? If you're not able to answer this question, you might be missing sales volume and profit.
  • Creating the Proper Work Atmosphere
    07/07/2006
    Choosing the wrong work atmosphere will cost your business. You want to choose the work atmosphere best suited for your business to maximize the number of people willing—and wanting—to do business with you. Though all businesses should be professional, you can demonstrate that professionalism formally or informally. So, on which end of the pendulum should you err? Business professionalism is a form of formality, and friendliness a form of informality, and both profit a business, so how do you choose?
  • Overcome Your Fear of Cold Calling
    07/05/2006
    What can strike terror into the heart of even the most successful sales professional or entrepreneur? What can crush self-confidence, destroy self-esteem and leave even the most seasoned sales professional quivering with humiliation and defeat? Cold calling.
  • Starting a Summer Business
    06/28/2006
    Instead of going to work for someone else next summer, learn how to strike out on your own. If any of the following criteria applies to you, you might want to consider putting the books away for the summer and becoming a business owner.
  • Designing a Customer Satisfaction System
    05/25/2006
    The first and, perhaps, most important task in designing a customer satisfaction system is impressing the principles of effective customer service and the importance of them upon employees.
  • Brushed With Greatness
    05/25/2006
    After spending a week styling hair at the White House, Luna Howard knew her small business had made the cut.
  • Just Say “No” to “No”
    05/22/2006
    Caught in the conundrum of wanting to keep and please a customer or client, but constrained by company policy or the reality of requests that are too impractical or impossible?
  • Nine Things Your Customers Will Never Tell You
    05/17/2006
    Make a serious mistake, and your customer will let you know about it––fast. Payment errors, quality defects and other obvious problems will motivate your customer to call you quickly.
  • Balancing Staff With Supply and Demand
    04/28/2006
    Matching supply and demand in a service business can be tricky, but entrepreneurs can learn to balance the process through careful analysis.
  • Keeping Customers Happy While Downsizing Services
    04/27/2006
    Sometimes, small businesses must take stock to see what’s working and what’s not, and in doing so, they may find that certain products or services aren’t profitable. If this is the case, it’s time to make some difficult decisions about whether you should discontinue these practices, and how to tell current customers about the changes.
  • Make the Right Contact
    04/24/2006
    It’s no surprise that it takes multiple customer contacts to make a sale. So what is the magic number of contacts, and what constitutes a sales contact? Recent studies have estimated that it takes at least five progressive calls, on average, in order to get the business. However, the same study also indicated that almost all salespeople quit calling on the business after the fifth call. Successful businesses systematically prospect and build partnerships to achieve outstanding results.
  • Losing a Large Client
    03/20/2006
    Losing a large client can be scary. Most businesses, however, will face this scenario at one time or another. The key to getting through such a loss is keeping it in perspective and learning the lessons that the experience can teach.
  • Bartering: A Viable Alternative to Doing Business
    03/15/2006
    If you examine its history, you will see that bartering--trading what you have for what you want without exchanging cash--is, perhaps, the oldest form of business and commerce, a practice dating back to the days of hunters and flint spears.
  • Revamping Your Telephone Technique
    03/10/2006
    How you answer telephone calls says a lot about your business. An employee answering the phone may express an affirmative, helpful attitude or convey an I-don’t-really-care one. Callers frequently mirror the treatment they receive; if you sound friendly, your callers will usually respond in kind.
  • Business Ethics Programs Encourage Loyalty, Teamwork and Honesty
    03/01/2006
    With the almost universal awareness of the need for ethical behavior in today’s business environment, establishing a formal business ethics program benefits a small company in many ways. You can state such a program in a written document attesting to your company’s dedication to honesty, fair play and ethical behavior in all aspects of business.
  • Avoid Sticking Your Foot in Your Mouth Via E-mail
    02/16/2006
    E-mail is the most common form of business communication today, yet many people communicate poorly through it.
  • Five Ways to Make Your Web Site Stand Out
    02/13/2006
    Excerpts from Web Site Cookbook, the following are five ways to make visiting your Web site a meaningful experience for your customers.
  • The Art of the Handwritten Note
    02/10/2006
    There are many occasions related to your business where a personal note would be appropriate and have more impact than a quick e-mail message.
  • Increasing Sales by Capitalizing on an Untapped Market
    01/23/2006
    In order to reach target objectives and stay ahead of the competition this year, it is critical for businesses deliver better services to existing customers and expand their markets by developing new customer bases. One largely untapped market is the disability market—which can be an economically advantageous niche for business.
  • Drawing the Hispanic Market
    01/20/2006
    Being able to effectively communicate with as many people as possible is a key element in promoting and maintaining a business. One way to do this is to consider the needs of the fastest growing minority group in the country––Hispanics.
  • Creating Momentum in the New Year: Building Upon Successes of 2005
    01/12/2006
    It's natural to look back on the previous year and focus on all of the things you want to change. But if you want to enhance your small business' success, you must also look at all of the things that went right. By focusing on these areas even more in 2006, you can take your business to even greater heights.
  • Customer Loyalty Programs: A Win-Win Situation
    06/24/2005
    Once only accessible to airlines, hotels and large grocery stores, customer loyalty programs are now in reach for even the smallest business. Customer loyalty programs are an increasingly popular way to boost customer retention while simultaneously providing you with a wealth of information about your customers and their purchasing patterns.
  • Keeping a Customer Is Just as Important as Getting a New One
    06/10/2005
    One of the biggest mistakes service-based companies make is believing that great service alone will keep a customer. "People often think that giving good service is all that's required, but that's a fallacy," says Bob Johnson, executive director of the National Association for Information Destruction, an international association for service-based companies that provide information destruction services.
  • Are You Ready for an E-zine?
    06/07/2005
    In his great book Purple Cow, marketing guru Seth Godin suggests that the way for a business to stand out in today's crowded marketplace is to "be remarkable." And while that is a great suggestion, it begs the question: How does one let their customers know that they are in fact remarkable?
  • The Most Solid Foundation for Your Growth: Knowing Your Customers' Complaints
    06/02/2005
    It's a basic truth that satisfied customers usually refer only a few people to a business, while dissatisfied customers simply walk away in silence but may tell a dozen or more people about their dissatisfaction. This is reason enough for any business to go out of its way to address customer complaints, even before customers leave the store.
  • Opening a Second Location Without Going Broke… or Bonkers
    05/23/2005
    Opening a second office or store might multiply your sales, but it can also multiply your headaches if you don't take the time to plan ahead.
  • Service Recovery: Create Loyal Customers for Life
    05/04/2005
    Service recovery is a foreign concept to many businesses. They don't understand it, so they don't practice it. As a result, they are struggling to survive.
  • Reconnect With Former Customers
    04/27/2005
    While it is always important to look ahead for new clients and customers, it may also be worthwhile to look to your past. With a little effort and creativity, you may be able to convince former clients and customers who have not purchased your products or utilized your services in a while to do business with you once again.
  • Ethics as a Marketing Tool: Customers Respect Companies With Core Values
    04/18/2005
    In the wake of Enron, Worldcom and other highly visible corporate scandals, customers are focusing more than ever on the integrity of companies with which they do business. Maintaining ethical relations and honesty with customers can help a small company attract new business while improving its own internal operations.
  • Do Your Part During National Volunteer Week and Beyond
    04/14/2005
    As a small-business owner, you realize more than most the importance of community. You build a relationship with the people of the community – they become your customers and your support system. What better way to return their kindness than to give back to the community by volunteering, and with National Volunteer Week right around the corner (April 17-23), there’s no better time to pick a project than now.
  • Newsletters: Low-Cost Strategy to Create Loyal Customers
    04/06/2005
    Customers are always interested in learning more about what interests them and what helps them in their own business activities. Creating newsletters that are filled with pertinent information is one of the best ways to give added value to customers and keep your name in front of them, and thereby encourage them to continue doing business with you.
  • You've Lost Your Biggest Customer. Now What?
    03/30/2005
    It is an axiom of business that no customer is guaranteed to stay with you forever. Regardless of how loyal your customer may be, there are any number of factors that could prompt them to take their business elsewhere. It may be no reflection on the quality of your product or service; a customer might be merging with another firm that uses software or hardware that isn't compatible with your product.
  • The Fundamentals of Creating a Long-Term Client
    03/23/2005
    The ideal situation for most service providers is to develop a number of stable, long-term clients. These clients serve as a foundation, providing steady work and a resulting steady cash flow.
  • Mixing Friendship With Business Is a Mixed Blessing
    03/07/2005
    Most of us have formed friendships with people we have met through work. But when those friends are also your customers, the work-friendship mix can become toxic.
  • Recovering From a Sales Disaster
    12/29/2004
    Whether you’ve been selling for years or find yourself new to the business, chances are you’ve been faced with a sales disaster. You make a bad presentation, mispronounce the prospect’s name or the demo product doesn’t work. Can you possibly recover?
  • 'Tis the Season: Early Planning Is Key to Holiday Gifts and Promotions
    11/01/2004
    For consumers, the holiday season is a time for gifts, food, parties and merriment. But for savvy small-business owners, the holiday season is a time to show clients and customers an appreciation for their business and further cement the professional relationship in the process.
  • You Can’t Have Loyal Customers Without Loyal Employees
    07/14/2004
    As experienced small-business owners know, it costs much more to acquire new customers than it does to keep the ones you already have.
  • How Friendly Should You Get With Clients?
    05/03/2004
    John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil, once said: "It's better to form a friendship based on a business relationship, than to form a business relationship based on a friendship."
  • Solo Acts Need a Follow Up
    05/03/2004
    "This is the only person who handles our accounts" is the type of comment that may come back to haunt a business of any size.
  • Handling Phone Calls from Customers With Strong Foreign Accents
    05/03/2004
    Many businesses today, both large and small, work with customers globally.
  • Reward Your Customers for Giving You Great Ideas
    05/03/2004
    Many companies have instituted company wide suggestions systems, that reward employees for valuable suggestions to improve operations, streamline office-flow, enhance customer service, etc. Another vital source of suggestions is your customers
  • Put Employees on the Front Line
    05/03/2004
    The heart and soul of your business is the relationships your company forms with customers.
  • Don' t Let Technology Isolate You From Your Customers
    05/03/2004
    Use of technology may allow your company to be more efficient with fewer employees, but many customers are complaining that technology is cutting them off from any personal touches a company has to offer.
  • Letters of Complaint
    05/03/2004
    In business, we tend to think of complaints coming from our customers.
  • What Do They Really Think?
    05/03/2004
    To gather the most honest and helpful feedback, grant your clients permission to speak freely.
  • The Crystal Ball
    05/03/2004
    Wouldn't it be wonderful if there was a crystal ball on your desk that would show you just what was needed to keep your business on the cutting edge?
  • Seven Refresher Tips on Business Etiquette
    04/23/2004
    As the owner of your business, you understand the value of every single customer who walks through the door, and you treat them accordingly.
  • Winning Back Lost Customers
    04/21/2004
    Winning back lost customers usually costs a lot less than acquiring new ones. Often, no more than a single phone call is required to attract them back to your business.
  • The Pros and Cons of Customer Loyalty Programs
    03/31/2004
    From grocery store club cards to frequent flyer miles, customer reward programs are ubiquitous in today's shopping environment.
  • After the Sale
    03/10/2004
    Following up long after a customer has made a purchase increases customer loyalty, which translates into repeat buyers.
  • The ABCs of Guarantees
    03/09/2004
    Offering a guarantee is a strong marketing tool that can give you a competitive edge.
  • Focus on the Customers
    02/25/2004
    Sales staff and receptionists deal directly with customers, but many small companies have key employees who work completely behind the scenes, never having direct contact with the customers.
  • Customers Respect Companies with Core Values
    02/04/2004
    It's critical for a company not only to operate honestly and ethically, but also to inform customers about the company's commitment to such standards.
  • Build Customer Loyalty Using Everyday Common Sense
    02/02/2004
    Gaining and maintaining customer loyalty is critical to ensuring healthy, long-term customer relationships.
  • Satisfy Customers Before They Walk Out the Door
    01/28/2004
    It's traditional for many types of businesses to send out customer-satisfaction questionnaires after a transaction or an interaction with a customer.
  • Ace the Customer Service Quiz
    01/14/2004
    Once you determine what is good or poor customer service, take this customer service quiz to find out if you are treating your customers the way you'd like to be treated.
  • Build Customer Trust with Online Privacy Policies
    11/17/2003
    All it takes to avoid trouble and earn the trust of customers and prospects is a comprehensive, straightforward policy.
  • Keep Customers Happy
    10/30/2003
    Businesses should focus on addressing complaints before the customer walks out the door.
  • Business Ethics, the Foundation of Customer Relations
    10/17/2003
    There is an old saying: "A customer doesn't have to like his banker, but he has to trust him."
  • Service Success
    09/15/2003
    If you own a service business, ask yourself if your business can identify with each of the following.
  • The Changing Language of Customer Service
    07/22/2003
    If you want your small business to have an edge with this important demographic, consider asking your employees to learn Spanish.
  • Creating Customer Loyalty
    07/14/2003
    Maintaining contact with customers and constantly striving to meet their needs can translate into repeat visits, new business and increased revenue.
  • Sizing Up Client Relationships
    06/30/2003
    As there are various reasons that client relationships crumble, it is easy to miss the signs of destructive business relationships. Take into consideration the following when assessing your client relationship:
  • Suspicious Transactions
    06/06/2003
    Most credit card users are honest and use their cards in good faith; but there are instances, however infrequent, when individuals try to pay with stolen, expired or unauthorized cards.
  • Watch Out for Customer Fraud
    05/07/2003
    In the excitement and satisfaction of working with a new customer, it's possible to overlook red flags that could indicate fraudulent activity.
  • When Customers Don't Tell the Whole Truth
    04/30/2003
    As a small business owner, you probably know that not all of your customers will be 100 percent truthful with you all the time.
  • Customer Service: Looking at the Whole Package
    04/09/2003
    Does every aspect of your business focus on customer needs and expectations? Here are a few things to check.
  • Finding New Clients
    04/07/2003
    In today's tight economy, gaining new customers may seem like a lost cause. It's not.
  • Keeping Customers Satisfied
    03/10/2003
    What can you do above and beyond providing high-quality products and services to keep your customers happy? Here are a few ideas.
  • Bending Too Far for Customer Satisfaction Could Break Your Company
    02/24/2003
    In today's economic environment, businesses are trying to lure spending-wary customers by offering value-added services.
  • Firing a Client
    02/12/2003
    Some customers can put such a strain on you and your employees that their business is just not worth it.
  • Providing High-Quality Service
    02/12/2003
    In todayÆs tight economy, many customers need to be assured that every dollar they spend is worth it.
  • Asking the Right Questions
    01/07/2003
    Your goal should be to ask open-ended questions that will lead your customer to give you as much information as possible.
  • Due Diligence
    01/02/2003
    Ensuring satisfaction up front earns these owners repeat customers.
  • Create a Guarantee for Your Service Company
    12/31/2002
    How can you promise a money-back guarantee on a project for which you may put in several days, weeks or months of full-time work? Jeffrey Moses shows how in today's Tools and Tips article.
  • Hook 'Em!
    12/30/2002
    Fun ways to gain new customers.
  • Improve Results in Service
    12/20/2002
    Besides reducing expenses, increasing sales and profits, and using good overall management practices, there are other steps you can take to improve results in your service-oriented business.
  • Open Up
    12/17/2002
    Grow your business by targeting new customers.
  • Point Taken
    12/16/2002
    If you're starting a frequent buyer program, keep these tips in mind.
  • One Step Ahead
    12/12/2002
    Loyalty programs keep customers coming back.
  • Creating Your Return Policy
    11/15/2002
    How many times have you and your employees had customers argue with you over returns?
  • Take Advantage of Being Small
    11/08/2002
    Being a small business allows you to offer superior customer service and a personal touch that can be difficult for a larger company to replicate.
  • Coordinate Your Billing With Your Customers' Payment Procedures
    10/16/2002
    Too many small businesses begin a relationship with a new client and simply begin sending invoices at various stages of completed work without discussing it first.
  • Prepare Before You Call Referrals
    10/08/2002
    When you get a referral, you should never immediately pick up the phone and place a call.
  • Handling Upset Customers
    09/16/2002
    Company customer service representatives can be thrown off when suddenly encountering an irate customer, whether in person or on the phone.
  • Mobilize!
    08/22/2002
    These businesses get moving.
  • Your Best Marketers: Satisfied Customers
    08/19/2002
    A businessÆs best marketers are satisfied customers who will tell others about their positive experiences. But dissatisfied customers are much more likely to talk.
  • Don't Be Penny Wise and Dollar Foolish--Avoid Charging Customers for Incidentals
    08/13/2002
    Employees should be instructed and authorized to avoid "nickel and diming" customers.
  • Five Questions Salespeople Can Ask to Grow Your Business
    07/01/2002
    Many salespeople don't know what questions to ask in order to close a sale or keep the business relationship viable.
  • Winning a Contract All Over Again
    06/21/2002
    Here are some tips to help your business win the contract all over again.
  • Develop a Loyal Customer Base
    06/17/2002
    It is always more profitable to have a base of loyal customers than it is to have a large number of customers who are fickle.
  • Be a Partner in Customer Success
    06/14/2002
    DonÆt let your customers think of you merely as a supplier or vendor, but also as a partner in their success.
  • Simple Ways to Collect Key Demographic Information
    05/31/2002
    To find out where your customers live, try the following.
  • What To Say When a Client Asks You To Lower Your Rates
    05/09/2002
    Lowering rates on request may help retain a customer, but you can't count on it.
  • Act Quickly When Your Contact Is Replaced
    04/22/2002
    Your new contact will probably have a period of adjustment in his or her new position. As a supplier, this is a crucial period for you.
  • Using the Internet to Establish Customer Loyalty
    04/15/2002
    Use your Web site to stimulate customer ties by cramming the site with extensive information about your industry and the products you sell. Today's Workshop tells how.
  • Five Ways to Irritate Customers
    04/15/2002
    Today's Workshop lists five things to avoid when designing your site.
  • Don't Spam Potential Customers--Use Opt-in Email Vendors
    04/15/2002
    Internet etiquette says email should be sent only to individuals who are expecting it--or who have authorized email to be sent to them on specific topics.
  • Little Gifts Help Keep Customers Happy
    04/11/2002
    "Relationship Marketing" became a popular concept in the 1990s. In the current economic climate, it's even more relevant.
  • How to Estimate the Length of a Job When Bidding for New Business
    04/11/2002
    As a self-employed service provider, you may be asked to bid an entire job, rather than work at an hourly rate.
  • The Downloading Epidemic
    04/11/2002
    There's an epidemic of downloading going on in the business world today--and I'm not talking about the Internet.
  • Lessons Learned From Town Striving to Improve Customer Service
    04/11/2002
    Was Lynden, Wash., really the town too good to be true?
  • Achieving Your Ideal Percentage of Repeat Customers
    04/11/2002
    Today's workshop discusses determining your ideal percentage of repeat customers and offers advice on achieving it.
  • How to Keep Phone Customers Happy
    04/11/2002
    Personal selling over the telephone is a very important business tool that incorporates the human factor critical in the marketing mix.
  • Going Above and Beyond
    04/11/2002
    Perry Moy's customer service is guided by the bond he and his mother created with members of the McHenry, Ill., community in the 36 years since opening their Chinese restaurant Plum Garden.
  • Coordinate Your Invoices With Customer Preferences
    04/11/2002
    Each of your customers has specific ways they prefer to do business. Your excellence in customer services addresses the uniqueness of these preferences.
  • Why Freelancers ShouldnÆt Give New Clients Too Much
    04/11/2002
    While you canÆt expect to make money on new clients from the first meeting, you should be careful that they are not taking advantage of your time.
  • A Tip to Get Customers
    04/11/2002
    Wouldn't it be great if customers kept your business card in their wallets for years and pulled it out to see your company's name on a weekly basis?
  • Creative Client Gifts Set You Apart From Competitors
    04/11/2002
    It's not too early to think about holiday client gifts. Besides avoiding a last-minute rush, you'll also have time to go beyond the traditional fruit basket and popcorn tin.
  • Consider the Risk Factor When Attracting or Retaining Customers
    04/11/2002
    Today's Workshop shows why almost all customers base their purchasing decisions on the risk factor--and how your company can benefit from this knowledge.
  • Accepting Your Competitors' Coupons
    04/11/2002
    Today's Workshop discusses the advantages of accepting competitor's coupons.
  • How to Read Your Customers
    04/11/2002
    Today's Workshop discusses the importance of reading your customers more accurately.
  • Customer Service Counts
    04/11/2002
    Today's Workshop discusses some areas to closely examine in improving your customer service techniques.
  • How to Handle Multiple Deadlines, Part II
    04/11/2002
    As your business continues to expand, you may have times when you're facing more than one deadline.
  • How to Handle Multiple Deadlines, Part I
    04/11/2002
    As your business continues to expand, you may have times when you're facing more than one deadline.
  • Establishing Trust With Your Customers
    04/11/2002
    Honore Balzac, the great French writer, once said: "You don't have to like your banker, you just have to trust him."
  • Is Your Customer Service Just Lip Service? Part I
    04/11/2002
    It's easy enough for a business to tout its excellent customer service, but unless this is backed up by a real emphasis on satisfying customers and remedying any concerns they have, this claim is mere pretense.
  • Five Traits All Retail Employees Need
    04/11/2002
    Oh, the aggravation of it!
  • Don't Underestimate Your Customers
    04/11/2002
    It was H.L Menken, an American humorist, who said: "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public."
  • How to Help Customers on Their First Visit to Your Office
    04/11/2002
    Just yesterday I got lost trying to find a place of business.
  • Secrets for Holding Onto Existing Customers
    04/11/2002
    You've worked hard to build your clientele or customer base, and now you don't want to lose them while you focus on marketing for new customers.
  • How to Build a Primary Customer Profile
    04/11/2002
    Having a clear picture of your primary customers is very important in business planning.
  • Handling Buyer's Remorse After Making the Sale
    04/11/2002
    There's an old sales adage that states: "You have to sell everything twice."
  • The Seven Dynamics of Customer Service
    04/11/2002
    "Better service for the customer is the true purpose of enterprise." Konosuke Matsushita, founder Matsushita Electric.
  • Making Sure You and Your Customer are on the Same Page
    04/11/2002
    When you finish a project for a customer, the last thing you want to hear is that the customer feels you didn't do it correctly, or that you didn't finish it.
  • Watch What You Say: Customers Remember
    04/11/2002
    An often unmentioned aspect of customer service is customer trust.
  • Following Up With a Customer
    04/11/2002
    How many times have you started sales negotiations with a customer and found that, after a week or so, the sales momentum lags?
  • Mystery Shopping Can Boost Your Customer Service Strength
    04/11/2002
    Making it easy to do business with your company is always a good idea. Playing hard to get with merchandise or service is one sure way to turn customers toward your competitor.
  • Look at Your Business From the Customer's Viewpoint
    04/11/2002
    Too often we get caught up looking at our business only from our own viewpoint.
  • Give Employees the Ability to Say 'Yes' to Customers
    04/11/2002
    Customer satisfaction frequently is based on the quick and efficient handling of problems, or upon the satisfying of specific and unusual customer requests.
  • The Language of Business
    04/09/2002
    If you're targeting customers outside the U.S., at some point you'll need to translate your materials into another language. Here, we give you the scoop on translation options for a small business.
  • Increase Your Business by Setting Up a Club
    04/02/2002
    This Workshop discusses forming clubs or sponsoring activities in order to grow your business.
  • Customers Wanted
    04/02/2002
    Are you a business owner who underrates the Classified section as an advertising opportunity?
  • Why Privacy Matters  
    03/29/2002
    Although it's being propelled by the Internet, proposed privacy legislation could affect all small business owners.
  • Keeping Customers on the Edge of Their Seats
    03/27/2002
    A small Alpharetta, Ga., company is working to repair some seats of power in the White House.
  • Making Your Faxes as Professional as Possible
    03/22/2002
    Even though E-mail is becoming the communication method of choice for many business and professional people, faxes still play an important role in modern communication.
  • How to Fire Troublesome Customers
    03/12/2002
    Have you every heard of the 80-20 rule?
  • Is Your Customer Service Just Lip Service? Part II
    03/12/2002
    It's easy enough for a business to tout its excellent customer service, but unless this is backed up by a real emphasis on satisfying customers and remedying any concerns they have, this claim is mere pretense.
  • Sharing Your Customer Service Vision With Employees
    03/12/2002
    Today's Workshop offers tips on inspiring employees to maintain your original vision of customer service.