Author : Elinor StutzThe reference is being made to making a purchase that requires servicing In recent years it has become apparent that the new business model is to withhold telling the prospect about all of the fees involved until after the sale is made This is done in order to make the product appear to be less expensive

Most typically, a prospect will purchase a product such as disc storage space The prospect turned client is relieved the decision making process is over as the product was finally selected and is excitedly anticipating receiving the product But to the great disappointment of the prospect and annoyance, after the fact, the businessperson from who he purchased reveals service is not included

The prospect turned client is now told that if service is desired, there will be an added fee And, not only is the service fee additional but many times it is more than the actual product The prospect is so far into the process there is no turning back and must agree to acquire the pricey service agreement

This practice may inflict further ramification of the problem The client consequently may not have budgeted properly thus making it a difficult situation for everyone concerned

Relationship selling involves putting oneself in the mindset of their prospect and working accordingly Because the service contract was not mentioned during the sales cycle, the client assumed that service was included You can imagine how the client felt receiving word after the fact that not only is the service not included but costs twice as much as the product

Here are two questions to seriously consider:

1 Will this new client be a returning client?
2 How much damage will bad word of mouth do to the business?

Too many businesspeople are so concerned about making a quick sale that they do not stop to think about earning repeat business, referrals and testimonials or building goodwill in the community These are the companies that are most likely to lose market share and potentially go out of business

The practice of hiding fees is diametrically opposed to my advocacy of relationship selling No one can afford to take the road of greed and not do the right thing by their clients

The wisest approach to take on a first meeting with a prospect is to build relationships, discuss pricing upfront and sell value Should the frank discussion about price scare off a prospect, then he was not a good candidate However, when you have the frank discussion with a qualified prospect, she will be appreciative of receiving all of the information upfront in order to make an informed decision and deal with budgetary issues

Have you ever made a purchase when it was implied training was included, but after you paid, it was revealed the training was not included? Did you become angry due to an apparent lack of ethics on the part of the selling party?

As a salesperson in corporate and as a businessperson, make it a practice to explain to your prospects all of the fees involved upfront and the value they will gain from your products and services

When a range of possibilities exist for product and service, lay out packages that are easy to compare Help your prospect make the right choice for them, not for you They will be appreciative you did and the returning clientele will be coming your way along with testimonials and referrals to help you grow business more quickly Elinor Stutz, CEO of Smooth Sale, LLC and author of Nice Girls DO Get the Sale trains others on her proven relationship selling techniques through services and products. Her book sells worldwide. Services include training, coaching, and speaking. Her products suit all learning styles. She writes for Diversity Edge Magazine.

Visit Smooth Sale or call 800-704-1499.

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Author : Bob SommersI first saw the idea implemented while visiting the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee It was pure genius There was a steady stream of guests waiting to check-in to the hotel who were all cheerfully greeted by friendly front desk clerks wearing name tags But these were no ordinary name tags They had a magical quality about them that transformed the attitude of each and every guest

Everyone working at the hotel wore a name tag with their first name and the name of the city and country they called home “Chris - Marietta, GA” “Dennis - St Louis, MO” “Erin - Cork, Ireland ”

Guest after guest approach the counter with a smile and a comment about the employees hometown “I went to high school in Marietta ” A guest yelled from down the counter “How about those St Louis Cardinals? I think they’re going to win the pennant again this year ” Another guest roared from the back of the line

There were people who had waited in line for over 20 minutes and had allowed others to move ahead of them so they could talk to a clerk from the city of their choice

The Opryland Hotel is not the only place on earth that understands the value of a name tag There’s a young man named Scott Ginsberg from my home town of St Louis who’s been wearing a name tag 24/7 for over 2,500 days Scott was so impressed with the results of wearing a name tag, that he wrote a book about it entitled, Hello, My Name is Scott

We like people who are like us We like people who have the same interests, the same background and the same experiences We like these people because they validate us They make us feel good about who we are, where we came from and what we’re doing with our lives

They identify with us at a level no one else can possibly understand which creates a heightened level of attraction And the more unique the similarity, the greater the perception of understanding Let me give you an example

I live on the island of Maui in Hawaii with my family When I’m on island I don’t start a conversation with everyone I see wearing a Maui t-shirt On the contrary, when I’m in St Louis visiting my family, I’ll track down a complete stranger wearing a piece of Maui clothing and strike up a conversation about Hawaii

I’ve gone so far as to invite a handful of these people to my home when they visit Hawaii I’ve never invited my dentist or letter carrier to my home, but I’ve invited a complete stranger just because he or she was wearing a Road To Hana t-shirt in a place other than Maui What’s up with that?

There are only two ways you’re going to unearth common ground with people It doesn’t matter if you’re in sales, customer service or looking for a date Either they’re going to tell you something about themselves, or you’re going to disclose something about yourself to them

And not every piece of personal information shared is going to resonate with everyone It’s a numbers game well worth playing But don’t wait for the other person to make the first move They won’t do it You need to take the risk and reveal something unique about yourself first Here’s what I suggest

The next time you’re at a convention or party or social function, convert your name tag into a likability magnet Add a simple word or phrase to your name tag that discloses something about yourself that will generate conversation

Over the years my name tags have included: Fireman, SLUH, SWM, New Father, Bart Simpson, St Louis Cardinals, UMR, Atlas Shrugged, 5 miles/day, Atlanta, Mizzou, hemorrhoids and Ten days to go Each word, number or phrase was intended to make it easier for people to start a conversation with me and to attract people with similar interests It worked

Who knows, one day you may be at a convention wearing your new name tag and someone might just walk up to you and say, “Hey, I just had a colonoscopy too Let’s do lunch ” And maybe, just maybe, that stranger will be me Bob Sommers is a likeability expert and he teaches Web Marketing in Hawaii. Learn how to be more likable by signing up for Bob’s likeability e-class.

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Author : Anna WoodwardHow do I find you, how do I find out where you are, and how fast can I talk to you? These questions are ones we all wish a consumer would ask and then pursue aggressively to find our business The problem is that the consumer is often fleeting in their pursuit if it is not easy, thorough, and cost effective

Think about how you look for a business or vendor when you have a broad choice

If your two choices are to look through a phone book or look something up online, which one will you choose? You choose online, if you’re like me, since you can’t remember where the hardcover phone books are, if you still have them, and not to mention they’re out of date when they’re printed When you do eventually find those phone books, they’re not particularly helpful with outdated listings So the real question is, how fast can I get that information reliably?

Following this train of thought, it seems that the best option is to do a search online But, once you get online, where do you go? Most people have identified one or two search engines or sites and frequent them regularly, but when those options run out or yield information that is not convenient for them to use, without 800 numbers, they will most likely find somewhere else to look

If you do a search by business type or title, often you will come up with several businesses to choose from Sometimes selecting the right business will depend on their advertising, who else uses them, or these days, what kind of positive feedback is received That is if you believe the feedback posted

Is it honest, is it part of a larger marketing plan, and how recent is it?

The business could have taken a nose dive in service years ago, but we wouldn’t know it by reading the feedback Most of the time, though, we choose the option that won’t take money out of our own pockets If there is a choice between contacting a business via a toll free number or incurring a cost, most will decide to use the 800 number every time

The frustrating part of the search can often be the process of being forced to look through several different sites using the same key word in your search, trying to find the same information There are occasions when we will see the same listing again and again on different sites, but since the number listed is a long-distance call, we will not dial that number No matter how reputable a business might be, many of us are loathe to call long distance on a chance

The safer and more cost-effective bet is to call toll free

The more the toll free numbers appear in our searches, the more apt we are to contact those businesses, and anything that makes consumers contact a business will certainly create opportunities to sell our services or our products Better still, if there is an 800 number directory, that surely would make life easier and allow us the opportunity to shop around easier and give businesses a better chance that we will contact them

And as everyone knows, any increased traffic to a business is welcome It gives more opportunities to convert that call into a paying customer In the long run, it seems a small price to pay to have a toll free number listed on an 800 number directory to bring in more business Published by the editorial staff of National Tollfree Directory. For more information about the 800 Directory, Toll Free Directory and 800 Numbers, visit The National Tollfree Directory: http://www.internettollfree.com. Please direct any feedback on this article to editorial@strbusinessmedia.com.

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Author : Ingrid CliffHave you heard of the quest for the Holy Grail? Not the Monty Python version or the Indiana Jones version, but the real Holy Grail?

According to legend, if a person finds the Holy Grail it will grant miraculous powers to the finder - in some version of the tales everlasting life But searching for the grail is challenging as its origins are shrouded in mystery and everyone has a different version of what it really is and how to find it

Holy grail of customer service

This is remarkably like the quest for customer service Businesses quest after customer service and like the grail find that it is not as easy to grasp as they thought Many businesses questing after the customer service grail find they may create some great customer service systems, but they fail in practical implementation They may give great service once or twice - but keeping it up is a greater challenge than finding the Grail in the first place

Unfortunately, inconsistent customer service can be more damaging to a business than a history of average service Think about it You go to a restaurant and are blown away by the amazing service you receive The chef comes out and shakes your hand and compliments you on your choices The waiters become your best friends and everyone knows your name

You tell everyone how great it is, and then bring a huge group of your friends to the restaurant proud and anticipatory That night the chef is having disasters in the kitchen, so all you hear is a lot of swearing and certainly no visit to the table They have hired a new waiter, who treats you efficiently - but at a distance No one can remember your name

Now if you have really boasted about this restaurant you would naturally feel a bit embarrassed in front of your friends Will you dine there again? No Would your friends dine there again? No

Inconsistent customer service can be a real challenge to business - so how do you get around it? What you need to do is to make customer service integrated into every action of your employees and your service

How you can do that is to:

Create checklists to be completed on every task

Customer Service Checklist

One hotel chain in the US does this to a great extent requiring everything to be checked off for each room including favourite spirits in the fridge, favourite newspaper on the table, favourite music playing on the CD player They have worked out what is important and for each of those points there is a checklist that must be completed by room staff to make sure nothing is missed

In a service business you can create checklists of everything that needs to happen when you have a new client sign up to the company, to ensure no steps are missed

Create reminders at Point of Sale

Most POS systems allow you to enter in reminders which range from the ubiquitous “would you like fries with that” up-sell recommendations to reminders to thank the client by name once the frequent shopper card has been swiped so the name appears in the POS How can you maximise your POS to create consistent customer service?

Introduce one thing at a time and get it embedded as a habit

Many businesses go hell for leather and introduce lots of customer service strategies at the one time This is like deciding to go on a fitness kick and deciding to radically change your diet and exercise for 1 hour per day every day if you have been a couch potato living on junk food You are setting yourself up for failure!

Introduce one initiative at a time and get it embedded into the culture of the organisation so that it is reliably and consistently performed before you add in another one This will maximise your long term success Yes, it may be slower, but the system will be sustainable

Outsource It

In small business it is really hard to remember (or find time) to do all of the stages of a regular customer care program This is where a great virtual assistant can help you You create the system and let them take care of implementing it

Measure and reward success

In life what is measured gets done and what is rewarded gets repeated Using this knowledge you need to measure the most important parts of the customer service cycle and reward the employees who consistently perform well at these key areas

Consistency of customer service is the key for business If they do achieve the Holy Grail of consistent customer service - they won’t achieve everlasting life, but they will get business sustainability and success Ingrid Cliff is a freelance writer and the Chief Word Wizard of Heart Harmony - a writing services studio that helps put your business into words. For a free copy of the ‘7 Secrets of Compelling Copy & Powerful Words’ visit her website www.heartharmony.com.au .

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Author : Shaun ParkerAll businesses need to be contacted by their clientele and unfortunately now this is something most customers dread The thought of being put on hold for a long time or just hearing an engaged tone is intensely frustrating Although the technology has advanced in this area, it would seem that people would to know that they are not being ignored and that they will be able to get through to the customer service they need

A company that organises its phone service so that customers are not ignored or left on the end of a phone line with an engaged tone are those that are more successful There are several ways to be able to enhance customer service and then go on to improve your business Firstly, a good tip is to change your business number to a non-geographic number, which is done by becoming a 0845 number A non-geographic number creates a nationwide image to your company and instantly makes it look more professional

Using 0845 numbers psychologically makes a customer feel as though they are ringing a proper company and that is not a scam The cost of all the call becomes lower for the customer and will encourage them to call your company in confidence It can also offer protection to smaller businesses that may be based at a home address They do then not have to put out their home number on any of their advertising Again, for a smaller company this makes the business seem much larger and recognised than it would with a geographical number

Another way to maximise and utilise customer services as well changing your business contacts to 0845 numbers is to make sure that customers are not left waiting A call management system can benefit your company greatly Although people do not like to be kept waiting, being told that they are in a queue and where their position is more encouraging than an engaged tone Other options within these call management system is missed call alerts If a customer has hung up before speaking to someone, your company can be sent an email with their number This will then allow you as a company to offer a high level of customer service, a company that calls its clients back will be looked upon favourably to one that does not

Due to the financial climate currently, it is worth considering creating a 0800 number for your company, a company with a free number will generate much more business than one that charges and much like 0845 numbers, gives a sense of a company being very well reputable Small details like this may seem quite insignificant but can make a large impact on how your customer’s may consider your level of service to them, something no company can deny is important

It is apparent that customers now find small factors like cheaper and even perhaps free phone lines to be integral to their choice of company to spend money with In a day and age when competition between businesses is getting increasingly tough, it is small considerations such as these that will end up benefiting your company in the long run Much of it will also rely on your company’s ability to deal with its customers obviously, but it is usually the small things that make all the difference Shaun Parker is a business expert with many years of experience in the customer service industry. Find out more about 0845 numbers at http://www.blueboxtelecom.com

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Author : Janet DriscollIn tough economic times, it’s more important than ever to ensure good client renewal rates as new business can become harder to find and close So I thought I’d share my top ten tips on how to create and maintain good client relations, which in turn can help you renew more existing contracts

10 Be on time! I can’t tell you how many marketing firms I’ve partnered with in the past that actually show up LATE for meetings - consistently! Be on time Be on time for calls, meetings, everything Being late all of the time tells others that your time is more important than theirs- and you NEVER want to send that message to a client Clients are typically understanding if there are unique, one-time situations (traffic, etc ), but call ahead if you know you’ll be late! It’s OK for the client to be late, but not the vendor- EVER

9 Be a “solutions provider,” not just another vendor What is your client’s main goal? Likely to sell more products/services So help your client by be a solutions provider not just another vendor If your client is looking for a web designer, do you have one you be comfortable recommending? If you see a PR opportunity that might fit your client, do you pass it on to him/her? The little solutions you help provide show your client you WANT them to succeed- not just with your efforts but overall

8 The customer may not always be right, but tread lightly here In our world, the customer can’t always be right There are times when a fact, for instance, about how algorithms work outweighs a client’s desire for the truth to be different (Example: AJAX is not indexable You have to have a workaround That’s just the way it is!) Be sure that while you speak to your client as the “expert” that he/she has hired that you don’t make the client feel that his/her concern is unimportant You’re both working towards the same goal, so be sure to structure your conversation in that way and be a “solutions provider ”

7 Get contracts up front- don’t begin work without having one Seems like you’d be doing a nice thing to start work without the contract finalized, right? Wrong Without a document stating everyone’s expectations and responsibilities, the waters can get murky quickly What expectations does the client have? That you’ll do SEO AND PPC for this price while you’re planning on just SEO? It’s important to get everyone on the same page from the beginning so that there are no questions about the direction you’re taking, right from the start It keeps everyone happy in the end

6 Schedule recurring calls (weekly, monthly, etc ) The recurring client call allows the client to express his/her feelings about how the project is going and to interject information you may not know- such as an upcoming event, announcement, etc that may also help your work Be sure to touch base with clients regularly I find that a scheduled call at least monthly allows clients time to get their thoughts together and is accepted as a regular calendar item

5 Visit in person when you can Nothing beats face to face interaction It allows you to guage your client’s body language Does the client’s body language say one thing while they are saying something entirely different?

4 Send a small gift One thing you should always be doing with clients is showing them how thankful you are for their business A small gift at the holidays, on a client’s birthday, etc is a great way to show your appreciation

3 Write Thank You notes More than a gift, however, a HANDWRITTEN thank you note is even better It tells the client that you took the time to make it personal I’m from the South, and I flat out expect thank you notes - from interviewees, vendors, etc People really appreciate the time and thought, so take the time!

2 Keep it personal If you’re not using Facebook to help your business, why not? I love Facebook for connecting with clients because it helps me get to know them better as PEOPLE I can learn their likes, dislikes, birthday, etc things that wouldn’t normally come up in a business meeting or call And then I can treat them accordingly- send a birthday card or some special treat they would enjoy I personally think it’s one of the greatest values of Facebook for business

1 If you’re upset, sleep on it There are always times that clients frustrate us But instead of firing off an angry email, sleep on it I found this works well not just for my personal life, but also my business You need to work with clients with a level-headed approach- let yourself cool off before responding Don’t lose a client if you don’t have to!Janet Driscoll Miller is the CEO and Lead Search Strategist of Search Mojo a full service search engine marketing firm. Her company offers both Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services and Pay Per Click (PPC) Management services to help clients improve search engine rankings.

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