Providing better customer service is an obvious competitive strategy that creates the platform to achieve success in your market. For that reason, is is almost unbelievable that customer service is so poor from so many businesses. Most business owners I talk to want to provide better customer service. However, their attempts to develop customer service policies and behaviours throughout their business are often frustrated. In this article, we highlight why providing better customer service is not optional if you want to achieve business success and some ways to achieve better customer service, by approaching the topic somewhat differently than you might anticipate.

Provide Better Customer Service by Identifying Unmet Needs

One reason many businesses fail at providing better customer service is that they try to compete head-to-head with their competitors. They take them on at their own game. This strategy is difficult to make work, because of competitor reactions. Both you and your competitor either get stronger at customer service, or someone tries to take a shortcut and ends up undermining the reputation of everyone in the industry. A better approach is to try to identify unmet needs within your market that no competitor is paying attention to. This is a strategy that can propel your success to market domination like no other.

One company that used this strategy and grew from a neighborhood outlet to a world-wide phenomenon was Domino’s Pizza. In a commodity market such as pizza restaurants, where they were getting killed, Tom Monaghan identified a need that no one was paying much attention to - home delivery. At the time, home deliveries were seen as a way to top up the down times when the eat-in restaurant was a bit quiet. As a result, home deliveries were given low priority and often the customer received their pizza order after a long wait, by which time it arrived cold and unappetising.

Guarantee Better Customer Service to Achieve Market Domination

Monaghan saw a way he could provide better customer service by targeting this unmet need. He came up with a strategy to deliver to this market “fresh, hot pizza in 30 minutes, or it was free.” He saw a need and used a powerful guarantee of better customer service to gain a foothold in this market. His strategy was so successful, that the market for pizza grew phenomenally, as he created a whole new market of pizza lovers who preferred home delivery who would not eat at a pizza restaurant. He not only changed his business’s fate from a struggling also ran to a hugely successful multi-national operation, all on the strength of a uniquely audacious guarantee that no one else had the courage to copy.

Achieve Better Customer Service by Selling Them More

One of the disappointing aspects of customer service in many businesses, particularly obvious in retail stores, emanates from the lack of sales skill of most retail sales people. Many business owners and sales people seem to think that selling is the antipathy of providing service. People don’t want high pressure, you say. Absolutely correct. But neither do they want insipid sales people who cannot offer quality service because they can’t think proactively about what customers may need and are too weak to offer additional opportunities to buy when they have a willing customer giving them their attention. This poor service comes at a high cost to both the customer and the business owner, as well as thttp://articlebin.com/validate_article.phphe salesperson if they earn any type of remuneration based on performance.

Better customer service can be achieved by being aware of what else your customer might need if they buy a particular item, and ensuring that your sales people ask if they would like it. McDonald’s made this an art form with the question, “Would you like fries with that?” You need to think about what products or services, or combinations of products and services, go naturally together. Offering these extra items is not high pressure sales tactics. It is better customer service to help someone who needs your product to identify what they want and how they can get them. If you don’t offer these things to your customer you are negligent and uncaring. As long as you offer them without pressure and allow your customer to decide, you are providing better customer service.

Provide Better Customer Service by Building Intimate Relationships

Intimacy is about knowing more about another person than the norm. When you build intimate relationships with your customers, you are get to know them in a way that you can anticipate their needs and provide better customer service. When you are aware of what your customers want and find a way for them to get it, you are not being pushy, as long as you relate to your customer in a way that honors and respects them. These days there are many tools you can use to increase your ability to communicate with customers and get to know their needs and wants. You don’t enhance your ability to provide better customer service by being back-footed and waiting for customers to ask first. Your service levels increase greatly when you let your valued customers know how they can get their special favorites first, or how they can jump the queue to get the newest item that may take their fancy, before it is made known widely to the general public.

Be creative and find ways to develop intimacy with your customers.

Providing better customer service is not difficult if you use your imagination and creativity. Don’t go head-to-head with your competitors and try to out do them where can compete directly against you. Come up with innovative ways to provide better customer service by looking for unmet needs, or selling your customers more, or by getting to know them better. It’s not that hard and the results can be phenomenal.

Article Source: http://articlestoreprint.com

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Years ago, you could begin internet marketing by placing ads in newsgroups or free classified sites. If you want to take your website to a different level, drive more traffic, and increase your sales, you need to consider the benefits of marketing online. The interactive nature of Internet marketing, both in terms of instant response and in eliciting response, are unique qualities of the medium.

Internet Marketing is mainly a part of electronic commerce. Internet marketing, as of 2007 is growing faster than other types of media. As internet covered the whole world you can take your products to any part of the world or make it a brand around the world using online marketing.

Some Benefits from Internet Marketing;

With a contact email or web form, you have also proven to site visitors that you are reachable. Some of the benefits associated with Internet marketing include the availability of information. Unique items that could previously be found at flea markets are being sold on eBay instead.

Consumers can access the Internet and learn about products, as well as purchase them, at any hour, any day. For help visit: www.squeeze-page-profits.com it is a means of pushing the message on the audience instead of waiting for the audience to find out and then approach. The Internet has brought many unique benefits to marketing including low costs in distributing information and media to a global audience.

Some Internet Marketing Strategies:

In order to reach more people, Internet Marketing has incepted ideas like Social networking, article marketing, forum marketing, bulk emailing, direct emailing, and targeted emailing campaigns. The easiest way to keep up with internet marketing is by subscribing to newsletters. The email conveys convincing messages- commercial or fund raising to the prospective clients. Finally, you need to remember that a successful Internet marketing strategy is not written in stone. Among the various measures adopted for internet marketing, email marketing promotions contain some of the best benefits of gaining a nice surge of traffic.

Article Source: http://articlestoreprint.com

If you have a company that is into selling of a product or service than you would definitely be concerned about driving the targeted traffic to your website. Here the main issue is to get list of the targeted or potential customers that can convert into clients. This list of potential clients is very valuable for fixing the target in internet marketing.

Install an auto responder for building up the list of customers. It offers the facility to frame pre-write letters and keep it on pre-determined time schedule. Thus providing you the facility to keep in touch with the customer’s list whether in or out of office.

After installing auto responder in your website, create a page that gives the site visitors chance to subscribe to your mailers. Put proper series of letters into your list. Keep the letters simple in language yet informative and interesting.

After you have set up internet marketing campaign, consider mailing the mailer to the customers listed in the list for higher website traffic. Articles are inexpensive and sureshot methods of attracting greater traffic and improve search engine ranking.

In order to reach to your target audience build up a strong internet marketing campaign. It operates even when you are offline thus a continuing procedure.

In the present market scenario you need to publicize your products and services which will spread its awareness among the potential clients. Some points are to be taken care of with respect to the marketing campaign.

Get a perfect public image designed by your website designer so as to exhibit your company image that is professional and classy. It should be strong enough to leave a positive first impression on the user as everyone seems to be running short of time! Therefore hire a reliable and expert website design company for creating eye-catching design. Create internet presence that is attractive and appealing to the masses.

You can do internet marketing in various ways like SEO, PPC, emails and conversion rate optimization. Develop marketing strategies that can do branding for your business right from logo designing to corporate image development. A brand speaks for itself and is considered as the backbone for any business.

Article Source: http://articlestoreprint.com

Information about the Author: SPINX website design company LA offers Los Angeles design studio, Online Web Marketing, website design San Francisco, SEO Company CA, graphic design Orange County & much more.

After getting a thorough knowledge of the business opportunities a person should not waste any time for starting the business. If the opportunities are limited then the wasting of time might make a person to lose an opportunity. A person before starting the business should decide if he has knack for it. One who has a knack for a particular opportunity can flourish easily. There are multiple business opportunities and the experts have recommended grabbing the opportunity in which a person is interested.

A person can search the internet to get the best home based business opportunities. There are multiple websites offering these types of business. One can also find websites that gives information about the home business opportunities. An individual can take the help of emailing and web conferencing for starting a home business. Anyone who is willing to start a home based business should consider how a home business can make him to flourish and improve his life style. As everyone knows that the internet business is full of spams, it is necessary to check the authenticity of the advertisement.

At the initial stages, a person who is going to start an internet business might get confused with the process of making money online. To know the right way of making money online a person needs to search the steps of earning money and gather adequate information. A person can found websites which guides the internet business about the income opportunities. The income tips on the websites are posted by the experts of internet business and a person can follow them to run his business. It is always good to choose a business that requires less or no investment so that a person who fails to run the business does not have to bear a great loss.

To get the best web based business opportunities a person can visit the forums of home business. They guide the people who are interested in starting a home business. Thus a person can easily get a mentor for guiding him to select the best home business. If a person follows the tips of the mentor then he would not have to lose his money on scams and know the easy ways of income.

Article Source: http://articlem.com

Chris Gillis is author of this article on Internet Business. Find more information about Home Based Business here.

Article Source: http://articlem.com

Wishing all a Merry Christmas and a great New Year. Thanks again for all the support you have given.

I’m a recovering workaholic/perfectionist, not to mention having delusions of superhero syndrome.               I know I’ll never be cured. But I can at least work on controlling it. I also know I’m not alone. Plenty of entrepreneurs and small business owners suffer from this same condition. (In fact, it’s so prevalent I’m thinking about starting a recovery group for this.) Do you suffer from workaholic/perfectionism/superhero syndrome? Take this short quiz to find out.

1. You think working all the time, including nights and weekends, is a sign of:
   1. Success
   2. Insanity
   3. Just one of the sacrifices you have to make when you own your own business.
2. Your to-do list resembles:
   1. War and Peace (actually, War and Peace might be shorter)
   2. No more then 5 tasks per day
   3. It’s pretty long, but that’s okay. You know if you buckle down and REALLY focus, you can get everything done. (Of course, you never have, but that’s beside the point.)
3. The last time you took a vacation was:
   1. Vacation? Who needs a vacation? Vacations are for wussies.
   2. A couple of months ago and it was fabulous.
   3. You’re too afraid to be gone for more then a couple of days, especially if you don’t have your laptop and can check in every day. What if something happens? A new client calls? You could lose the business. Or some crisis might come up and there wouldn’t be anyone to take care of it. It’s just too risky to leave, better to stick around.
4. You believe:
   1. People who don’t work very hard yet still are making money are pretty lucky (and also pretty lazy).
   2. Being successful also means having a life (and having time to enjoy it).
   3. The only way to be successful is to work longer and harder then anyone else. (After all, when you’re not working you’re not making money. So how can you be successful if you’re not working?)
5. Taking time for yourself is:
   1. A luxury for only rich (or lazy) people.
   2. Something you make a priority each and every day.
   3. Nice in theory but unrealistic in practice. After all, your clients have to come first. They’re the ones paying the bills.

Scoring: Well, let’s just say you know who you are.

As entrepreneurs and small business owners, I think one of our biggest challenges is balance. How much time to spend on our business? With our families? Ourselves? And how do we fit it all into the only 24 hours we have?

For me, this has been one of the most challenging lessons. I grew up in Wisconsin, the heart of workaholic-ism. That Midwest work ethic can put people into the ground faster than anything else out there, I think.

I grew up equating hard work with success — if you wanted to be successful, you’d better be prepared to work your tail off. So when I started my business, I immediately put that ethic into play. If I could get all my work done during the week, there must be something wrong. I must not have enough clients. And I must not be successful enough.

But when you combined my workaholic nature with my perfectionism, that’s when things started to get out of control. There was ALWAYS something I should be doing for my business. Therefore, it was difficult to justify taking ANY time off for myself. Worse yet, I had a little voice in the back of my mind that would say things like if I wasn’t working, then I’m being lazy or procrastinating or something.

And since my husband grew up in the same state with the same work ethic, he supported my need to be working all the time. Plus, he worked equally as hard himself.

So what was the outcome of all this? I burned out. My burnout took place in 2003. After I recovered, I realized I had to start doing things differently or I would end up right back where I was again (burned out and unable to help anyone, much less myself). And since I still wanted to help people and I was still passionate about marketing and copywriting, I realized I would have to learn how to run my business differently if I was going to stay in business.

That was really the catalyst for me to change both myself and my business. I had to change a lot of things, including my mindset. It also has made me realize I have to value taking time off for me. If I don’t value it, it won’t happen.

Basically it comes down to this — as entrepreneurs and small business owners, we are our business. Even if we have a team to support us (which I sincerely hope all of you do), how far we can grow and take our business ultimately rests on our shoulders. And if those shoulders are slumped over, exhausted from overwork and poor health and lack of sleep and loss of passion for what we do, then that’s going to ultimately affect how far our businesses will grow. It’s that simple.

Michele PW (Michele Pariza Wacek) owns Creative Concepts and Copywriting LLC, a copywriting, marketing communications and creativity agency. She helps people become more successful at attracting new clients, selling products and services and boosting business. To find out how she can help you take your business to the next level, visit her site at http://www.michelepw.com Copyright 2008 Michele Pariza Wacek

I love BlackBerry. I love the functionality and the convenience. I’m actually on my 5th BlackBerry now. Gotta keep up with the latest. It is definitely a must have for me in my line of business.

Lately, my fiance has been trying to gradually wean me off the device. He says that he will not share me with a handset. I keep trying to tell him the BlackBerry is not a handset. It is an extraordinary device. Handsets are just boring and ordinary. The BlackBerry is not.

Personally, for a long time I’ve always felt he exaggerated my so-called ’addiction’. Ok, so I sleep with on my bed and if in the odd instance I forget it at home and I am on my way out, I’ll drive miles back for it.  A special attachment, yes. Addiction, no. I just can’t help but have a special attachment to the device but addiction is a strong word. He, my fiance, says he will hide the phone from me for a day to show me how addicted I am and force me to function without it for a day as part of the weaning process. I keep telling him the  BlackBerry is way more than a phone. It is the perfect way to be in the know when I’m not in my office. Still, my fiance insists that I have an unhealthy attachment to the device.

Recently, we were out and I kept checking my email and replying to queries. He got so upset that he took it and hid it away until the night was over. Needless to say, I did not enjoy the night to the fullest, particularly since I would have to wait for the night to be over to learn if the new prospect I had been communicating with would sign. Still, I refused to see this as an addiction. My argument.. ….I am a consumate professional, always trying to be one step ahead.

So yesterday I go to the store to get the newest and latest BlackBerry on the island. I’m excited. I believe that the fact that I got the last one on the island from my provider is a good sign. I spend a few hours ensuring that all my email addresses are on, my ring tones and folders are in order and go to sleep feeling really good.

Off to Church I go this morning. My BlackBerry, which I forgot to turn off is disturbing the service. I quickly take it off and continue to fellowship with the saints. After Church, I turn my BlackBerry back on and guess what? My beautiful LCD screen is all blurred. I’m about to pass out, right there in the Church. Seriously. Was God trying to tell me something? I mean, not even 24 hours in my ownership and the LCD screen is gone! I did not squeeze it or sit on it, as a matter of fact, I kept it in the case, handled it like a baby, which is how I handle all my new BlackBerry devices until the newness and novelty has worn off. Then I don’t pamper them so much. What a pickle I’m in! I’ve just given away my old BlackBerry Curve, I basically do not have a new phone since the LCD screen in the Bold no longer works which makes the BlackBerry nothing more than a phone to me now. I don’t want to ask for my old one back, lest I appear like an Indian-giver and I’m hear on the verge of tearing my hair out as I’m faced with the task on checking my numerous email accounts online (so retro) to see what’s new. I feel like crying each time I hear an alert indicating that I have email and don’t know which account to check, and I’m not excited about the fact that my provider does not have any other BlackBerry Bolds on the island since I got the last one. I’m going slightly crazy and hubby says I’m being paranoid and over-reacting.

Oh yeah, I’m definitely an addict.