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In Business, Image Isn't Everything; It's The Only Thing!
We have all heard this lament, but how much do we practice it. With all the relaxed rules today, do we really present ourselves in the best light. It seems all the articles I see today are about how old fashioned today's workers find their...
Analyzing Customers in Your Business Plan
The Customer Analysis section of the business plan assesses the customer segments that the company serves. In it, the company must 1) identify its target customers, 2) convey the needs of these customers, and 3) show how its products and services...
How Merchant Accounts Can Save You Money
We all know that accepting credit cards is the key to online sales. Unfortunately, most merchants are unaware that acquiring a merchant account can actually save them money. And in many cases, big money!
For this experiment, we will use a...
Your Diamond Mine: The Lifetime Value of Your Customers
Copyright 2005 Kinesis, Inc.
In the early 1900s, Reverend Russell Conwell - founder of Temple
University - gave a popular speech called "Acres of Diamonds."
In it, he said:
"Your diamonds are not in far distant mountains or in...
10 Ebay Tips to Insure a Perfect Welcome Email to Your Buying Customers!
Quality merchandise at reasonable prices definitely is the
winning combination when attracting buyers to bid on your
auctions, but the one thing that can make you stand out from
your competition is outstanding customer service. Customers...
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Keeping Customers Loyal
It's a well-known fact that it costs many times more to acquire
a new customer than to keep doing business with your existing
ones. For this reason, the best way to become profitable is to
have loyal customers who keep coming back again and again. It's
all about relationship building.
The new customer-supplier supply chain has been altered
dramatically over the last few years. The "new economy" has had
a great impact on the way we view the predictable ways of this
once status quo-ish aspect of American business called customer
service. So what can you do?
Customers Aren't as Loyal as They Used to Be
It used to be that customers would find one service that met
their needs and stay with it for absolutely years. Now, though,
customers are fickle, and can all-too-easily be tempted away by
a competitor's offer if they feel that it sounds cheaper or
better than yours. So-called 'loyalty management' has become
more of a science than it ever used to be, and it's one that you
need to make use of if you don't want to be constantly failing
to retain your customers.
Offer Discounts for Repeat Business
You will see some businesses who give people a 'first-time'
discount, as a hook to get people to try their services. This is
entirely the wrong way to do it. What you should be trying to do
is reward loyalty by giving people a discount each time they use
your services. Over time, this makes it so that moving to the
competition looks like a ridiculous proposition for them -- why
would they when they get a 20% discount from you every time?
Keep Mailing Lists
You should have at least two mailing lists: one for your
prospects (people who might buy from you), and one for your
customers (people who have bought from you). You should lavish
attention on both lists, but especially on the existing customer
one -- and really lay it on thick for anyone who's bought from
you more than once.
You need to be in contact with your regular customers as much as
you can, always understanding their needs and when they might
need you again. Don't worry about this costing masses in direct
mail, as you can always do it by email. The secret is this:
contact, contact, contact. Send your regulars Christmas cards,
invite them to
Why Is 'Scrubs' Switching Channels?
When the sitcom <em>Scrubs</em> returns for its eighth and likely final season on Jan. 6, it will be on a new network: ABC. What gives? Switching mid-run is actually not as rare as you might think. <em>Taxi,</em> <em>Wonder Woman, Buffy the Vampire Slayer</em> and even <em>Leave It To Beaver</em> did the same.
Obama Asks Congress To Approve Billions
With unemployment through the roof, foreclosures at an all-time high and a wildly fluctuating stock market, President-elect Barack Obama is asking Congress to approve hundreds of billions of dollars in new government spending.
meet with you for lunch -- anything you can think
of. A good tip is to always use the techniques that your
competitors are neglecting.
If your service is one that the customer will need at regular
intervals or a certain time of year, make sure you keep track of
this in your customer database and send something out then.
There's nothing worse than losing out on a customer's business
just because they didn't have your phone number to hand and had
a little extra time to see an offer from a competitor.
Another good thing to send to your mailing list is a newsletter,
either by email or post. Take a few hours each month to write
something with useful information about your industry that your
customers are likely to keep and find useful, and put your logo
on the top so that they can be reminded of you when they see it.
As a bonus, you can keep this material archived on your website
too, so it can be found by people searching for related words in
search engines.
Be Crazy About Feedback
You need to phone up as many customers as you can to get their
feedback after they deal with you. Make sure they were satisfied
with what you provided, offer to fix anything that they're not
happy with, and ask them if they can think of any way you could
improve. Customers will appreciate this -- and they'll like it
even more if you actually implement their suggestions.
Provide a Personal Service
Go the extra mile to make your customer feel like they're your
friend, and not just a tracking number in your database. Tailor
everything you do to their needs, and make everything easy for
them -- don't leave them to do legwork that you could be doing.
After all, they're the customer.
Finally, cheesy as it might sound, customers really appreciate a
little thank you note when you've received their payment. For an
extra personal touch, you could handwrite it.
About the author:
Original Source: Articles-Galore.com
Information supplied and written by Lee Asher of CyberTech SoftShop
Suppliers of the DeadEasy
Ebook Maker and Publishing Wizard.
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