|
|
| Customer Service Tip | Skills | Information | Articles |
|
Client Appreciation - It Means Everything!
Want to know the secret for keeping your clients forever? And what if you could keep your revenue growing by 25 percent every year, because your clients loved the way you appreciated them? In this article, you will learn how easy it is to develop a powerful client appreciation program. Once in place, an appreciation program will forever change the way you operate and manage your business. Developing a monthly appreciation plan: At the beginning of each month, develop some fun ideas to "thrill" your customers. Start by planning a short brainstorming session with your sales manager, your marketing director, customer service and your sales team, so you can hear their unique insight about ways to make the program a giant success. Their input is critical as each company has its own special client profile, so customize your appreciation plan accordingly. Once your appreciation plan is finalized, provide a written recap for your team so everyone will know exactly what their role will be. Clear communication makes for perfect implementation. Tip From The Coach: Consider building your client appreciation plan for six to twelve months in advance. This makes for better financial budgeting, a more thoroughly developed appreciation plan, and your team will have the time to evaluate several competitive proposals for each month's theme. Building appreciation themes: As you consider the theme for each month's appreciation program, start by looking for specific holidays or seasonal times of the year. For example, summer time is perfect for bringing an ice-cold drink to all your clients, as appreciation for their business. Your clients will not care how much you spend on them each month, but they will be very impressed by the way your team shows how much they care. Another appreciation theme, depending on the profile of your clients, might be more educational. For example, have a local computer store give a live demonstration for your clients at your office, focusing on how the Internet can improve their business. Your clients will be thrilled to hear more about this cutting edge technology and the computer store gets to meet lots of potential new customers? a win-win for all. Lastly, hundreds of companies provide all kinds of promotional items you can order in small quantities with your company name imprinted on them, and these items will fit perfectly into your client appreciation program. Tip From The Coach: Certainly your clients will love the appreciation you show them each month and so will your prospects. If appropriate, include every prospect in your appreciation program. Take this small step and watch your closing ratios double! Evaluating the success of client appreciation: Start by asking your team to make written notes of any nice comments shared by your clients or prospective new clients. Next, evaluate the number of clients or prospects who attend your educational seminars, as this helps for planning future programs. Of course, monitor your client retention percentages, as this is the critical measurement of how well your appreciation program is working. Tip From The Coach: Remember, your clients will feel important when they know they are a top priority. Implementing a client retention program will not cost much. But the return on your investment will be significant based on less turnover, happier clients which means more referrals, and more fun for your team. Why? Because The Coach says so! Plus, good news travels fast and so will the sterling reputation you earn with your clients. Want to hear more about this important topic or ask some additional questions? Fax a note on your letterhead to 435-615-8670 or send an E-mail to ernest@powerhour.com and The Coach will fax/E-mail back to you a free invitation to be a participant on a TeleForum conference call. On this call we will discuss 25 appreciation themes your clients will love. Author's note: Ernest F. Oriente, The Coach, is the founder of PowerHour® a professional business coaching/recruiting service and the author of SmartMatch Alliances?. He has spent 17,500 hours [since 1995] delivering customized training, by telephone, in leadership, traditional/Internet marketing and sales for fast growing sales companies and entrepreneurial businesses worldwide. PowerHour® specializes in global distance learning by telephone, using their state-of-the-art conference call system for interactive and dynamic TeleForums. Twice-monthly TeleForums link 10-100 executives/professionals/individuals who are geographically dispersed, in a time efficient and profitable format. PowerHour® is based in Olympic-town?Park City, Utah, at 435-615-8486, by E-mail ernest@powerhour.com or visit their TeleForum website: http://www.powerhour.com. To receive a FREE success newsletter, with subscribers in 74 countries, send an E-mail to: ernest@powerhour.com. Recent PowerHour® articles have appeared in 4000+ business/trade publications and websites.
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Is Your Food Establishment Clean? Is your restaurant, bar or hotel clean? I mean really clean. I don't mean "do you stick to all the rules and regulations?". I mean, do you and your staff really care about cleanliness and hygiene? Five Ways To Wow Your Client Running a business is about providing goods and services to human beings. Their experience with you can make the difference between a good day, a terrible day, a nothing-special day, and a "WOW" day for them! Wouldn't you like to be the reason a client's day changes from boring to "WOW?" Marketing as a Spiritual Practice "Marketing as a spiritual practice." It sounds contradictory ? how can sales and promotion possibly be considered spiritual? But the secret is, once you truly understand that marketing isn't all about struggle, jargon, tricks or gimmicks, spiritual practice is the very root of success. What Every Manager Should Know About How to Learn from the Complaints of Customers and Employees Listening to complaints, whether they're reasonable or not, is a part of every manager's job. Sometimes complaints can be overwhelming. However, when we take them in stride with an open mind, we can learn much from our employees' and customers' feelings about the workplace. After all, a complaint is nothing more that a person telling you that his (or her) needs have not been met. As dissatisfied customers, they are giving us a second chance to correct something that should have been done properly the first time around. (In some cases the customer might happen to be your employee.) Creating the Right ?Viral Reputation? Unless you are brand new to business, or have been under a rock for quite some time - one key marketing technique (which isn't new) - is called 'Viral'. Oil Change Customer from Hell or Hoax; You Decide Evacuation, "E-Vac" Oil System for Oil Changing Dont Be Afraid To Give Problem Customers The Boot Q: In a recent column you made the point that the customer is always right, which I agree with. However, in the same column you also said that it is sometimes necessary give problem customers the boot. If the customer is always right, at what point do you think they become so problematic that you should stop doing business with them? -- Gary M. Customer Service: Stop Sabotaging Your Customer Relationships If you've called for customer service recently you're familiar with this recorded message "This call may be recorded or monitored for quality purposes." I immediately think to myself, "Oh great, here comes the game of 20 questions." Mastering Challenging Service Situations During the course of everyday business, many of you encounter unsatisfied customers. How you and your staff handle these situations, will shape your service image and ultimately your bottom line. How can you best handle challenging situations? I have developed and practiced a simple method for just such encounters. If you follow the steps listed below, you will greatly improve the likelihood of achieving positive resolutions to challenging situations. Ten Ways to Help You Improve Your Customer Service 1. Stay in contact with customers on a regular basis. Justas it is bad news to send out too many emails to customers,it is just as bad to not stay in contact with them.Customers don't want to feel abandoned. So don't. What Every Manager Should Know About How to Prevent Customer Service Conflicts There are five techniques that have been proven to be effective in resolving, minimizing, and preventing conflicts. And by conflicts I am referring to any of the following that may take place between two or more people: misunderstanding, miscommunications, arguments, disagreements, mixed messages, fighting, etc. Customer Service For Huge Profits Customer service is the most vital asset for Business either it is online or offline. It's the critical factor which determines if your business has a future or not. There are two vital components to every interaction you have with a customer Raising The Bar For Online Magazine Subscription Services And Customer Service After years of flying below the radar in the magazine subscription service arena online, MagMall.com is gaining traction real fast. In December, the subscription retailer relaunched it's once relatively boring (though clean) site with the express intent of competing more effectively against its rivals. Key to the makeover is allowing customers to manage all their subscriptions online year after year. The new look came after Magmall.com spent 18 months learning about web design and usability with the help of the 2 founding brothers of FuturenowInc.com. Now, the web site has far less colors than before and the navigation system has been uprooted completely to simplify the entire process of finding magazines and filling out an online order forms MagMall's reentry into the highly competitive magazine subscription industry is not only expected to pull in new consumer customers, but provide a lift to its efforts to expand into new markets. Since September, MagMall has created a new division to sell gift certificates to magazine subscriptions in any custom denomination. Plus, it has launched new services just for small and large businesses looking to manage all their magazine and newspaper purchases. "The new site design is a way to pull in new customers and keep them there longer," says Jason Ciment, CEO of Magazine Mall Inc. "Plus, with the new online account management system (which is soon to get a name), we are enhancing customer loyalty in ways we never could before." The Drawback of Hacking Off a Blogger Through Weak Process Gaps and Pathetic Customer Service With all of the recent data theft in the financial sector, it is important to make sure that we don't go crazy trying to protect ourselves from risk. Risk management does have a value but this value lies mostly on the front end. Reactionary risk management almost always produces a point at where the value of protecting oneself or one's customers overshadows the product or service that you are offering. The majority of companies always go beyond this point, some thinking they can even sell it to the customer as a security measure and build their brand with it. Retail Store U-Scan Machines: Self-Serve or Voluntary Part Time Job? Do many of us realize that we are working an unpaid part time job for the grocery stores and some home appliance stores? We are ringing up our own goods, are not getting any price discount for doing so and are saving these retailers money. What Type Of Software Is This? The other day while at the book store, I came across some accounting software CDs strewn with other CDs and books in garage sale box. Handling Customer Complaints Even the best business will receive an occasional customer complaint. Knowing how to resolve these complaints will help you gain loyal customers who will then refer others to your business. Here are some important tips. Are You A Coward? I Was Over the last month, I have come to hate emails and answerphones; not because I get 100 emails every day but because emails and answerphones are fast becoming the tool of the coward. At Beyond Philosophy we worked with a client a while ago whose account managers and sales teams never used to speak to anyone! They just used to send emails. If the customer called in they were greeted by answerphones which were kept on all day. You see the sales teams were all busy doing "real" work. The customers were just interrupting them. Surely this must be the height of "inside out" behaviour. Under Promise & Over Perform: The Art of Managing Customer Expectations I'll always feel warmly about Conrad's restaurant, in Glendale, California. How To Kick Your Customer Service Up A Notch! Welcome to the inaugural issue of Human Tech Tips -- Tip #1. How do we take your customer service and kick it up a notch?
|
|
|
| Home | Site Map | Salesmanship Ebook | Motivational Ebook | Job and Resume Posting| Affiliate program | |
¡¡ |
| 2006 All Rights Reserved. by Mp.sg Term of use and service for the articles and information |