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Author Ari Weinzweig offers low cost tips for giving great customer service in the June issue of Specialty Food Magazine. As Mr. Weinzweig points out, “great service is about getting the big and small things right—and in this economy, keeping customers happy has even greater significance”.
Read the full article to learn how you can help your staff give your customers the service they want and deserve. One of my favorite tips that he offers is to “be welcoming on the phone”. Too often, we answer the phone while we’re working on other projects. Possibly, we’re working on something that has been frustrating. Or maybe, we just finished dealing with a difficult situation. What we might not realize is that the caller can “hear” our distraction and moods.
Weinzweig suggests that we answer the phone as we would open the door to welcome a customer. “No one would say to a customer walking in the front door: Hurry up and get in here!” Nor should we answer the phone with that tone, but rather should welcome the caller into our business. Instead of just declaring our business name when answering the phone, we can say our name, and ask how we can of service. Instead of just transfering callers to someone they’ve asked to speak with, we can assure them that we’ll check back to make sure they’re not hanging “on hold”.
Sometimes, it’s the little things that leave the best impression on our customers. What other phone techniques have you tried to welcome your customers to your business?
June 30th, 2009
As we try to regain our share of the market and keep our customers coming back, we often turn to strategies for advertising and marketing. And many of these approaches cost money which we might not have in our budgets during these tough economic times.
In the May issue of Specialty Food Magazine, author Ari Weinzweig offers some “no cost” ideas for attracting and keeping customers. Here’s some ideas that you can easily implement.
- Make Your Customers Feel Welcome. Whether you have a “brick and mortar” store, or you do most of your business by phone, it’s critical that we make our customers “feel good” as soon as they contact us. If you have a store, this can be easily accomplished by greeting each customer with a smile and a big “hello”. Make sure that your employees don’t assume that someone else is taking care of the customer. Every employee should stop what they’re doing for a moment to say hello and inquire as to whether the customer needs some help. Likewise, your employees need to be attentive when they answer the phone. I’ve had many experiences when I’ve called a business and the person answering the phone sounds harried or bored or generally, less than enthusiastic. Frankly, that type of greeting makes me cranky (not a good attitude for a customer)! Ask your employees to stop what they’re doing when they answer the phone and act as if the person is right in front of them. In other words, smile and say hello with warmth…and mean it!
- Actively Engage the Customer. Whether the customer is in your store or on the phone, your employees should spend as much time with them as possible (instead of trying to finish up the sale quickly). Taking some time to “chat”, and using good questioning techniques coupled with good listening, an employee can learn a lot. While the customer might be purchasing a gift for her mother, she might remark while chatting that her husband’s birthday is around the corner or a friend just had a baby. These could be two more opportunities to sell a gourmet basket.
- Make Time for Employee “Tune-ups”. While we might do an excellent job with orientation and training with our new employees, we sometimes forget that our long-term employees could also use a refresher course in customer service. In addition to traditional training opportunities such as workshops, have your older employees help train the new recruits. Ask them to tell the “newbies” how they treat new customers: what they do to keep the customers happy and coming back. This might be just the reminder they need to “perk up” when they are greeting and waiting on your customers.
Read the full article and take advantage of these “no cost” ways that you can increase customer loyalty and satisfaction AND see the results in your bottom line. Please share your ideas on “no cost” ways to make your business grow.
May 16th, 2009
Just a quick post to wish all my readers a very happy holiday season.
I will be on vacation through the end of December, but will start posting again in January, 2009.
Best wishes for a healthy and joyous New Year full of laughter and good will.
December 22nd, 2008
Are your email campaigns successful? Do you get orders? Are you attracting new customers? Are established customers responding to your emails? Periodically, we need to ask ourselves these questions and think about what we can do better.
Here are some simple, yet helpful tips from Target Marketing, May, 2008.
- Do you know what your email looks like when received by your customer? Before you send an email to your customers, send it to yourself. Is the format attractive? Is the font readable? Are the graphics or photos that you included clear and sharp? Are the colors used appealing? You might also send it to some friends to give you some feedback about these questions. They don’t need to understand your business or have in depth knowledge about your products to be able to tell you whether your email piece is appealing.
- Do your recipients immediately know who the email is from? Your name should be right at the top of the email with contact information easily found. Have you ever scrolled up and down an email to find a phone number or other way to contact the company? Frustrating to say the least! If you have a logo, you might want to incorporate this at the top of every email so that your customers recognize your brand.
- Is your offer clear? Have you offered solutions to problems relevant to your customers? Talk to your best customers and find out what “problems” they experience most often? Are prices too high? Are they looking for products that will save them time when designing? Are they looking for products that appeal to a certain audience? Your marketing campaign can then explain how your products or services will address these particular needs.
May 3rd, 2008
This year, the Jewish holiday of Passover will be celebrated April 19th - 27th. Passover is a holiday that commemorates the time in history when the Jewish people were freed from slavery in Egypt.
If you are planning to promote gourmet baskets for this holiday, now is time to learn more about the holiday traditions and guides about kosher foods that are permissible for the celebration.
To give you some backround about the holiday, check out these links:
For a line of kosher, gourmet treats, go to Apex Gift Foods.
March 17th, 2008
Thinking about starting your own gift basket business? Then think about franchising!
Franchise Development Services describes franchising as a “business marriage” between an existing business (the franchisor) and a newcomer (the franchisee). It provides an opportunity for a new business owner to start a new business and take advantage of “tried and true” methods that have already been worked through by the franchisor.
I recently came across a company called The Original Basket Boutique that offers franchising opportunities in the gift basket industry. Check out their web site to get more information about the details of franchising: your commitments, their commitments, benefits, training and support, costs and a thorough description of how their franchising process works. On the web site, you can also email the company to request information from current franchisees who have been willing to share their stories and experiences with franchising.
Today one new franchise outlet opens every eight minutes of each business day, according to the International Franchise Association. Franchising directly, or indirectly generates $1.53 trillion per year, and creates 18.1 million jobs.
There is also a lot of information about franchising on the internet. Following are some great resources to help you understand how franchising works and decide if it’s right for you.
Wikipedia
Franchise Development Services
International Franchise Association
June 2nd, 2006
