The purpose of your business, is firstly to get and then to make sure that you keep your customers. Something that’s difficult to do without some kind of plan. It doesn’t have to be a marketing plan, but at least something that provides your employees with a direction in terms of satisfying customer demands. Here are some things to consider when putting together a plan for encouraging people to do business with you. [Read more…] about How to position your business in the marketplace
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Little Known Ways to Shop The Competition
Too many business people neglect to keep tabs on their competition. How in the world will you know where you stand in your market and your category if you don’t keep a weary eye on the other guys?
Shop the Competition, but go with an open mind. We all have a tendency to look for everything that the competition is doing wrong. It makes us feel better and superior, and it helps confirm that what we are doing is right. Here’s an even better idea :
Send your employees out to do your competitive shopping. Give them the assignment to come back with 10 things that the other guys are doing right. Think about that… What could you possibly learn from paying attention to what your competitor is doing wrong? What you really want and need to know is why those customers are in his store instead of yours.
Your employees will come back with ideas that they can incorporate into their work. Furthermore, you will get better result from your internal customers, your employees, than you will if the boss goes out and comes back to tell the employees what she learned. If that happens, the employees will not have bought into it or internalized it.
Dont do this once and forget about it. Make it a regular program. Send your staff out once a month or once a quarter, whichever is appropriate for your business.
Want to Improve Your Customer Service ? Ask Your Customers What To Do
Most small business owners (and some large ones too) sadly operate under the false notion that their customers will usually say something to them when they are unhappy – unfortunately this is a incorrect assumption.
The thing is: Most customers won’t say anything if they are unhappy, they just stop buying.
The time to start asking your customers what you can do to improve your customer service, was yesterday, last week and last year. The time to start asking your customers what you can do to improve your customer service is definitely not the day your customer becomes angry, nor is it the day that you realize that you haven’t seen the customer in a while, because he has gone somewhere else.
The time to ask your customers what you can do to improve your customer service is when they are currently with you. [Read more…] about Want to Improve Your Customer Service ? Ask Your Customers What To Do
Do You Make It Simple For People To Buy From You ?
This is another one of those tips that seem to be obvious, but many retailers struggle with the concept.
Many retailers adopt overly complicated procedures that make buying from them an absolute nightmare.
These businesses don’t take credit cards, they are hard to get to, they don’t have enough sales staff, you have to order products and then wait weeks and weeks for them to arrive.
All in all they just seem to miss the point ….. [Read more…] about Do You Make It Simple For People To Buy From You ?
8 Proven Ways To Improve Customer Satisfaction
Want to improve customer satisfaction? Be sure you know the best ways to make it happen!
Here are 8 proven ways to improve customer satisfaction by finding out what they value, what they care about, and what they really want: [Read more…] about 8 Proven Ways To Improve Customer Satisfaction