The Thriving Small Business

How to Turn Customer Satisfaction into Customer Loyalty

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Organizations that understand the importance of happy customers, need to think strategically in order to build a loyal customer base.

Successful organizations have learned that there is a difference between attracting customers, keeping customers and developing loyal customers.

Devoted customers are not only loyal to the organization, but also serve as advocates and help to solicit new customers by sharing their positive experiences. Read the Full Article →

12 Steps to Implementing a Quality Management System

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Successful organizations have figured out that customer satisfaction has a direct impact on the bottom line. Creating an environment which supports a quality culture requires a structured, systematic process.  Following are steps to implementing a quality management system that will help to bring the process full circle.

Let’s begin by defining the word quality. Read the Full Article →

5 Reasons You Should Welcome Customer Complaints!

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The sad fact is only about 4% of dissatisfied customers complain. If a customer does not complain and has an issue that is not resolved, they are likely to go to the competition.

The worst part about this is that the organization isn’t even aware that there was an issue. The other sad fact is that a dissatisfied customer is more comfortable telling their friends about a bad experience than the organization. Read the Full Article →

Customer Satisfaction Questionnaire Template

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Customer satisfaction is paramount to the success of any business.

Understanding who your customers are, what they want and having systems and processes in place to not only meet their needs but exceed their expectations is what sets the successful apart from the rest.

Soliciting and monitoring customer feedback should be part of an organization’s overall strategy. Read the Full Article →

2014 Business Planning – 6 Things You Should Be Doing Now!

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 We’re a few weeks into the 4th quarter and I thought it might be helpful to talk about those things your organization can be doing now to plan and prepare for 2014.  I am a firm believer in the old saying “If you fail to plan – you plan to fail”.

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Miss Representation – Are You Aware of the Misrepresentation Movement?

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According to a McKinsey Quarterly report, the glass ceiling is still very real and women are not advancing at a rate they should be despite sporadic corporate efforts over the last couple of decades.

An interesting documentary called Miss Representation will be aired later this month in the hopes of heigtening the awareness of the role mainstream media is playing on the advancement of women in our country.  

Read the Full Article →

Sample of a Great Employee Achievement and Development Book

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I just finished reading Ken Blanchard’s most recent book, “Helping People Win at Work – A Business Philosophy called Don’t Mark My Paper, Help Me Get an A” that he co-wrote with Garry Ridge, the president and CEO of WD-40 Company.

The book is a simplified illustration of a good performance management system. Read the Full Article →

Using Text Analytics to Improve the Customer Experience

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With today’s use of internet blogs, social networks and the like, customers have a voice, an audience and they talk.  They share their experience either with online business reviews, on blogs or social forums.  When customers have a good experience, they may share it but if they have a bad experience, they often feel compelled to share their experience in an effort to keep others from having a similar bad experience. Read the Full Article →

Will Toyota Recover?

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Unless you live in a cave, don’t listen to the news, don’t read the paper and don’t get online, you are aware of Toyota’s current “quality” challenge in dealing with millions of recalled vehicles. The question is, how will Toyota recover from this one?

It’s funny, I’ve never had a Toyota. Read the Full Article →