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

December 13, 2017 by Patricia Lotich Leave a Comment

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 8 Comments

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 1 Comment

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

10 Steps to Developing and Managing a Budget

November 30, 2016 by Patricia Lotich 14 Comments

Having a formal and structured budgeting process is the foundation for good business management, growth and development.

Every organization needs a budget. Developing and managing a budget is how successful businesses allocate, track and plan fiscal spending.

A formal budgeting process is the foundation for good business management, growth and development.

Very similar to our personal finances, discipline and planning should be the cornerstone of a business budgeting process. Read the Full Article →

Filed Under: Small Business Management Tagged With: Budgeting Process, Business Goals, Business Strategy, Customer Retention, Customer Satisfaction, Employee Fraud, performance management, Strategic Plan, vision

How to Turn Customer Satisfaction into Customer Loyalty

May 18, 2016 by Patricia Lotich 2 Comments

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

8 Steps for Creating a Customer Service System

May 11, 2016 by Patricia Lotich 1 Comment

Organizations need to focus on how the system supports the customer. It doesn’t matter how well trained a salesperson is if the product getting to the customer is delayed by a poor order fulfillment or delivery process.

Have you ever interacted with an organization that provided great service in one area and terrible service in another?

How can there be such a cultural disconnect in the service that is provided by the same organization?

Every interaction a customer has with an organization is an opportunity to win or lose that customer. Read the Full Article →

Filed Under: Customer Service, Quality Management, Small Business Management Tagged With: Business Goals, Business Strategy, Customer Retention, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Service, Customer Service Standard, Customer Service Training, Employee Goals, Flowchart, Focus PDCA, Organizational Chart, performance management, Process Improvement, vision, Vision Statement, Visioning Session

5 Reasons You Should Welcome Customer Complaints!

April 13, 2016 by Patricia Lotich 1 Comment

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

Free Customer Comment Card Template

August 18, 2015 by Patricia Lotich 13 Comments

Businesses rise and fall based on their ability to understand the experience and expectations of their customers. This is why so many businesses use customer comment cards to get immediate feedback.

Organizations spent the time to assess their customer’s experience to help them manage customer satisfaction.

There are several ways to obtain customer feedback – focus groups, customer satisfaction surveys and text analytics. Read the Full Article →

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

Will Toyota Recover?

March 2, 2010 by Patricia Lotich 1 Comment

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 →

Filed Under: Quality Management, Small Business Management, Strategic Planning Tagged With: Business Goals, Business Strategy, Customer Complaint Management, customer complaint procedures, Customer Retention, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Service, Quality Control, Quality Management, Quality Managment System, Quality Managment System Defined

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