Business, Customer Service.
How to make your business thrive in the 21st century - the following story is related to my particular business field, but you will see how it relates to all businesses. If you don' t value your repeat business, your competition will. After location, and a business, marketing plan, our customer service is what keeps repeat business coming back for more.
If you have a strong customer service staff, and a mission, good ethical standards statement based upon helping the community, you will see your competition send customers to you. - recently, i had a prospective family visit us for an. initial interview. They don' t do it on purpose, but by grooming an adversarial relationship, these businesses send abused customers seeking refuge, where they are treated fairly. They were interested in martial arts classes, but looked at Yoga on the premises as a bonus. They were still studying with their current sensei, but not sure if they wanted to stay for anymore abuse. This family had been abused by their sensei( karate teacher) , and they were seeking some gentle guidance. One of the things they found at our center is a mission statement that all of my family and staff live by.
Upon asking this question, the sensei told this student to do 1000 push ups. - they were so impressed, that one of their children went back to ask if their current martial arts school had one. Needless to say, that family joined our center shortly. afterward. In fact, this type of business is working hard to make" service minded" competitors look good. The above - described business doesn' t see the true worth of good paying repeat business. Now, what does this have to do with your business? How often do you see customers mistreated by banks, and department stores, restaurants?
This has everything to do with all of our businesses and your job security. - this occurs far too often, and the attitude starts at the top of every organization. Some customer service departments have the same atmosphere as a collection agency. When you send your customers to your competitors, you might as well advertise for them too. The customers are visualized as the enemy and treated like prisoners without a choice. For decision makers, the action is clear: Clean up your customer service or be prepared for extinction.
If this sounds like your customer service department, you may find yourself out of business. - for employees who don' t have a say in the decisions, be prepared to" jump ship, " if you see customers making a mass exodus out the door. "the writing is on the wall, " when we forget who is really in charge. That' s who pays your salary, gets you a bonus, sends you on vacation, and helps you get your kids through college. Your real" boss" is the customer. To thrive in any economy, we must promote a helpful product or service. Customer service exists to" close the back door, " not by force, but by listening to suggestions and establishing a common bond with your existing customers. (C) Copyright 2005 - Paul Jerard/ Aura Publications Otherwise, you might as well give up promoting, and marketing, advertising, all together.