The Thriving Small Business

tips for small business

10 Tips For Soliciting Customer Feedback

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Customer satisfaction is paramount to the success of any business.

For this success, a business must understand who its customers are, what they want, and have systems and processes in place to, not only meet, but exceed their expectations. 

This simple, yet difficult objective is what sets the successful businesses apart from the rest. Read the Full Article →

13 Examples Of Empowered Employees

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Empowerment is a buzz term that we hear a lot about in leadership. A culture that embraces employee empowerment, understands the role workers have by taking care of the needs of the customers they serve.

Empowerment is defined as “the giving or delegation of power or authority; authorization; the giving of an ability; enablement or permission.”

Empowerment is based on the belief that employees have the ability – and want to take on more responsibility. 

Empowerment is a way to give employees greater authority and responsibility to take care of the needs of the customer and to provide employees with the means for making influential decisions. Read the Full Article →

Service Recovery – 5 Tips For Successful Service Recovery

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Great customer service is the cornerstone of any successful business. Knowing who the customers are, what they want and making an effort to exceed customer expectations – is the key to business success.

Unless an organization understands this very basic principle, it will have a difficult time achieving desired results.

What is service recovery?

Read the Full Article →

5 Tips To Instantly Improve The Customer Experience

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We all know that it is the customer that purchases our products and services, and ultimately pays the bills.

Too many organizations lose sight of this reality and ignore the very basic things that could enhance the customer experience.

If you are like me, you can probably give countless examples of a bad customer experience, and hopefully,  remember those times that you interacted with an organization that “got it” and made the experience enjoyable and memorable. Read the Full Article →

24 Tips For Office Etiquette Training

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I admit that I have been in the work force for a long time, however it is disheartening to see the deterioration of basic etiquette and professionalism in the workplace.

Some say it is just “this generation”. I am not convinced – because I see it in all demographics.

I believe it is a symptom of a culture that is modeled from the top down. Read the Full Article →

7 Steps to Creating a Customer Service Strategy

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Effective managers help employees understand the importance of the customer experience. And, a customer service strategy can help create a service culture.

Organizations should incorporate customer service into their business goals.  As well, those strategies should be incorporated into employee goals to ensure the organization reaches their customer service objectives.

Employees only perform at the level they are managed and it takes great leadership to help employees understand the importance of the customer experience.   Read the Full Article →

Did You Know That There Are 5 Levels of Customer Satisfaction?

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Customer retention is the result of an organization’s ability to create customer loyalty.

This is done by providing the systems, processes and support, to not only keep a customer happy, but to transition them into an advocate for the organization – who is not only loyal but also recruits others. Read the Full Article →

Do You Pay Attention to the Questions Your Customers Ask?

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Customers pay the bills and are the reason we exist.

Many organizations miss opportunities by not paying attention to simple requests that customers make.

There are many tools available to solicit feedback from customers – which is an active way to learn about the consumer’s experience.

Focus groups, comment cards and satisfaction surveys are all great tools that can be used to solicit  feedback that can be used to improve products and services. Read the Full Article →

Do Your Employees Know How To Answer The Phone?

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At the risk of dating myself, I have to say things have changed.

Back in the day, we were taught the importance of answering the office phone with the customer in mind.

We were held to very high standards for meeting those expectations because of the direct effect a phone call can have on how well a customer’s needs are met. Read the Full Article →

5 Examples of a Customer Guarantee

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Customers buy products and services with an implied guarantee.  They want to know that their purchase will be backed and guaranteed to give them what they expected.

Customer service guarantees are part of a customer service strategy and can be simply stated or very complex.

Either way, these guarantees communicate the company’s commitment to stand behind the product or service they provide. Read the Full Article →

6 Ways to To Give Your Customers a Great First Impression!

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Some organizations provide a great first impression. Others do not. By first impressions I mean the first point of contact a customer has with an organization.

The reality is, customers have choices and organizations that get it pay attention to the details that matter to customers.

Every organization has a slightly different first impression moment. Read the Full Article →