Month: May 2011

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"FINE" is a Dangerous Word in Customer Service

Have you ever had good food at a restaurant but the customer service was terrible? Then, as you are walking out the door, the manager asks, “Did you enjoy your meal?”
Are you truthful or do you just want to leave and not look back? Most often we say nothing for several reasons.

  1.  We don’t want to complain
  2.  No one is going to listen
  3.  We feel nothing will change anyway

After all, you won’t be going back so what does it matter? It does matter. Actually, you are doing the restaurant a severe injustice by not talking about your negative experience to the manager.
Do not be satisfied when you hear the word, “fine” because 65-85% of satisfied customers actually switch to the competition. It means the quality of service you are providing is either average or below average and your customers are on the fence. In other words, they are not loyal and will go elsewhere in a heartbeat. Satisfied customers are neutral and ready to bail. That is as clear as we can be.

Superior Customer Service should always be your goal!

Here’s what could happen to that restaurant:
Read More About Why FINE Is a Dangerous Word

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Building Repeat and Referral Business beats cold-calling any day

Mail Bonding helps companies cement relationships with their clients and build repeat and referral business.

SACRAMENTO, California (April 28, 2011)

To Sandie Marinoble and Jodi Riolo, partners of Client Retention Inc., the most logical way to build business relationships is through mail bonding.

Unlike male bonding, mail bonding does not involve a few beers and a football game. It does however, involve calculated correspondence.
Client Retention (www.ClientRetentionInc.com) sees greeting card mailing programs as a cost-effective tool for companies and entrepreneurs to retain clients and boost employee morale.

Most surveys across industries show that keeping one existing customer is five to seven times more profitable than attracting one new one.

“What comes into play is how much is a client worth to a company? You can’t look at a client as a one-time sale, you have to look at the client over a lifetime” Sandie Marinoble said. “That is the reason Client Retention was formed. We like to help companies and professionals keep in touch with their clients on a regular basis in a very personalized manner. This helps to increase client loyalty and generates repeat and referral business.”
Learn More About Building Repeat and Referral Business

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10 Surefire Ways to Keep Your Customers

We have been noticing and experiencing a tremendous spin on the customer service skills of employees. We mean that in a good way! They seem to be more attentive and engaged lately.

  • Recently at a local restaurant, we observed an employee whose soul purpose was to open the front door for every customer coming and going.  We actually watched the front door for quite awhile and that employee never left her post.
  • Another example was at a theater we recently attended. There was an employee “on post” that actually acknowledged all the patrons one-on-one as we left, and thanked us for coming to the movies.  That’s a first.
  • What about fast food? Employees are getting friendlier, look happy and seem to genuinely enjoy the interaction they have with their customers! (Well, most of them.)

It is so refreshing that companies are finally getting on board by understanding the necessity of creating “the customer experience” by training and hiring the right people for customer service positions. Why the change? Competition maybe? Whatever it is . . . we are loving it!
However there is a flip side. Companies really need to embrace the fact that up to 70% of their employees may no longer be committed to the company or to providing quality customer care.  They are just going through the motions.  Identify these employees and address it.  Unhappy employees have a direct reflection on the bottom line, so it’s critical that your “front line” employees are committed to providing excellent customer care. The “I don’t care” or “it’s not my job” attitude can hurt a business in a huge way. When you want to stay in touch with the customers that mean the most to your business, we suggest setting up a greeting card program where you can thank your customers with no strings attached.
Learn The 10 Surefire Ways to Keep Your Customers