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Loyalty Programs – How to Win Customers and Keep Them for Life

July 17, 2019 by Patricia Lotich

How to win customers and keep them for life

Coupons, loyalty programs, and customer incentives seem to be in most establishments these days.

I have to admit I love coupons but I also love reward programs that can utilize my phone number to track visits and rewards.

We used to purchase the Entertainment Book for my kids every year and sneak one in for myself. Read the Full Article →

Filed Under: Small Business Management Tagged With: Customer Loyalty, win customers for life

Say This, Not That – 7 Things Retail Businesses Should Not Say To A Customer

December 13, 2017 by Patricia Lotich

Small business owners need to understand who pays the bills – the customer. And anything that can be done to improve, not impede a customer’s experience can only lead to more sales and a loyal customer base. Don’t forsake a possible sale for a determination to force customers to follow your rules. You may never know how many paying customers are simply voting with their feet.

As I was out and about this holiday season shopping, I made a point of supporting small business retail shops.

What I learned through the experience is that many small retail shops undermine their own success by doing silly things that turn off customers – and most likely costing them sales. Read the Full Article →

Filed Under: Small Business Management Tagged With: Customer Loyalty, Customer Retention, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Service, Customer Service Standard

7 Steps to Creating a Customer Service Strategy

December 14, 2016 by Patricia Lotich

Employees only perform at the level they are managed and it takes great leadership to help employees understand the importance of the customer experience. This is why it is important to have a strategy to help create and reinforce a service culture.

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 →

Filed Under: Customer Service, Quality Management, Small Business Management Tagged With: Customer Comment Cards, customer complaint procedures, customer feedback, Customer Loyalty, Customer Retention, Customer Satisfaction

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

December 7, 2016 by Patricia Lotich

Take the time to understand who your customers are, what the customer wants and create systems and processes to meet those expectations. This practice is the foundation for successful organizations. If you can’t keep your customers happy, there is always someone down the street who will!

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 →

Filed Under: Customer Service, Small Business Management, Strategic Planning Tagged With: Business Strategy, Customer Loyalty, Customer Retention, Customer Satisfaction

How to Turn Customer Satisfaction into Customer Loyalty

May 18, 2016 by Patricia Lotich

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

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 →

Filed Under: Customer Service, Quality Management, Small Business Management, Strategic Planning Tagged With: Business Goals, Critical Success Factors, Customer Comment Cards, customer complaint procedures, customer feedback, Customer Loyalty, Customer Retention, Customer Satisfaction, Employee Goals, performance management, Strategic Goals, Strategic Planning Process

5 Reasons You Should Welcome Customer Complaints!

April 13, 2016 by Patricia Lotich

Customer complaints help you identify ways to improve what you do and how you do it.

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 →

Filed Under: Customer Service, Quality Management, Small Business Management, Strategic Planning Tagged With: Customer Complaint Management, customer complaint procedures, customer feedback, Customer Loyalty, Customer Retention, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Service, Customer Service Standard, Customer Service Training

Top 10 Customer Service Irritants

August 5, 2015 by Patricia Lotich

Eight out these ten irritants have to do with phone calls and dealing with employees who either haven’t had proper training, aren’t held accountable for actions or there is a disconnect between they way the customer expected the experience to be like and the way the call was handled.

Customer service has come a long way – at least we think. The past century has provided businesses with new technologies that help the business owner to keep in contact with their customers and to modify products based on customer feedback.

We can all remember a time when we had an over the top customer experience. Read the Full Article →

Filed Under: Small Business Management Tagged With: customer, Customer Complaint Management, customer complaint procedures, Customer Loyalty, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Service

3 Reasons to Pursue BBB Accreditation

March 1, 2012 by Patricia Lotich

We have all heard the horror stories, and even the news documentaries, about businesses that scam the public or fail to follow through on promises made to customers.  The Better Business Bureau is a a great resource for those of us who want to find out if other consumers have had issues with an organization and how those issues were resolved.   Read the Full Article →

Filed Under: Small Business Management Tagged With: customer complaints, Customer Loyalty

2010 Raises

March 8, 2010 by Patricia Lotich

As companies rebound from the great recession, they are cautiously going into 2010 with the hope of a slow recovery on the horizon. Budgeting has been difficult at best for many organizations and specifically budgeting staff increases has been even trickier.

There has always been a challenging balance between being competitive in the market and controlling costs when it comes to salary increases. Read the Full Article →

Filed Under: Human Resources, Quality Management, Small Business Management Tagged With: Business Goals, Customer Loyalty, Employee Relations, Employee Satisfaction, performance appraisals, performance management, Salary increases, Vendor Contracts

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