A ban on smoking means that smokers all over the United Kingdom are being forced outside in order to smoke. This can cause a smoker to be quite unhappy when the weather decides to act badly. No longer can one sit inside, watching the snow fall outside, on a cold and windy day as they enjoy a satisfying cigarette. To make the ban more pleasurable for smokers it is a good idea to invest in a free standing smoking shelter. It will help protect you and your friends from the elements while you enjoy a couple smokes.

These smoking shelters have been uniquely designed for easy smoking access and the dispersal of finished cigarettes. These structures are comprised of the highest-quality of raw materials on the market today. The use of these materials ensures that this smoking shelter will be able to withstand the wear and tear of many years of usage. A free standing smoking shelter is not only a cost-effective solution to the smoking ban, but it’s also quite convenient as well.

A free standing smoking structure is constructed out of heavy duty rectangular steel. The steel is then topped with an exterior powder coat, AKZO Nobel that is guaranteed for fifteen years. The structures are rust and corrosion free causing them to be highly durable in many different types of weather. With these high quality durable materials, you won’t have to worry about constantly fixing your shelter. Instead, you can concentrate on just enjoying a cigarette.

The sides of the smoking structure are smartly constructed of polycarbonate panels. Polycarbonate is a clear plastic that is UV resistant, which protects against the sun. This type of plastic is several times stronger then the use of glass and has many different benefits that you can take advantage of. Since polycarbonate is amazingly fire resistant and shatterproof, it makes for the perfect material to create a smoking shelter from.

A free standing smoking shelter is anchored to the ground with foot plates with expandable bolts so that it won’t sway under harsh weather. These foot plates are an easy fix if anything happens to them. The roof is made from polycarbonate sheets and is designed to slope and overhang from the framework of the smoking structure. This allows for the people inside the structure to have optimum coverage, so you and your friends won’t have to worry about getting wet or snowed on.

These smoking structures take no time at all to set-up and are very convenient to have. The structures only have to be bolted together, a simple process with just a few basic tools that you can find around the house. When the free standing smoking shelter is purchased it comes with all of the necessary supplies for an easy installation, so you won’t have to worry about going to the store for anything extra.

These shelters come with a warranty and guarantees, too. These rock solid guarantees are great to have, in case the unexpected happens. Businesses are invited to take advantage of the delivery and quick installation service that is available. Smokers will definitely appreciate having a place to smoke that is covered, sturdy and protects them from harsh weather.

NIM Ltd Engineering provide worldwide distribution of smoking shelters. Now’s the time to act with many countries bringing out bans on smoking in public places, ensuring that your business caters for smokers and non-smokers alike.

27 years of experience owning my own successful businesses, in good times and bad, have given me an insight into what makes some businesses grow year after year, and others just meander along, barely making it.

Working with franchisees, each of whom had access to the exact same merchandising, advertising, marketing, buying and operational programs, made me keenly aware that some business owners instinctively know what to do, and some, simply do not.

The ones that ‘know’ operate from a “Customer-first” orientation. There is nothing they won’t do to satisfy their customer base. It is precisely this ‘Customer-first’ philosophy that drives their business growth.

Your business should be experiencing annual growth. If it is not, perhaps it is time to analyze it - to look hard at your operational, financial, marketing and sales strategies, as well as your overall plan for growth.

> Is there consistency in what you think you do and what you actually do?

> Are you keeping pace with the expansion you’ve projected?

> Are you constantly considering new ways to develop and grow your business to the next level?

> Do you constantly Think Sales with every business breath you take?

> Do you know who your customer are and how to effectively communicate to them?

> How do you show your customers you value them?

> Do you understand every line item on your financials?

If you answered no to any or all of these questions, it could be time to re-evaluate your business.

Gail P. Zelitzky is the founder and principal of Silver-Robins Consulting, a business performance coaching firm offering both individual and group coaching. Silver-Robins Consulting helps businesses grow by developing and implementing new sales, marketing and business strategies. The end result is greater revenue and profitability. Gail has 30 years of entrepreneurial experience that offers practical, no-nonsense solutions to the challenges faced by small business owners.

In addition to individual and group coaching, business owners can participate in a Business Performance Roundtable, a peer advisory group format facilitated by Silver-Robins consultants, where participants set realistic goals, focus on priorities and gain objective feedback on the business challenges they face. Only one client per industry may participate.

Silver-Robins Consulting also creates custom-tailored seminars to meet training objectives on sales & marketing, customer service, leadership and management.

For information call 773-665-2340 or email info@silver-robins.com

In any business, keeping in touch with your clients is important. It is especially important if you are in a service or product related company. In order to get repeat order, referrals, and increase customer loyalty, the customer needs to remember your name and needs to know how to find you.

Who to Follow Up With
There are many people you would want to follow up with, not just those that are considered to be “clients.”

–Those that placed an order.

–Those that tried a product/service.

–Those that have not placed an order, but were waiting for some reason.

–Those that gave you a referral.

Ways to Follow Up

You can also follow up in many different ways. Phone calls, personal mail, flyers via email or real mail, and regular email correspondence are all effective ways to follow up with a client. You want to have a good balance between all areas. Try to use all the methods to keep in contact. You cannot call everyone all the time and you should not email everyone all the time. Email is cheap, but can easily be ignored. Phone calls are direct, but can become annoying. Real mail is effective, but can be costly. There are positives and negatives to each option. Balance each type to be effective.

Why Follow Up

Most do not ask why we should follow up. You may find more benefits than just repeat sales. Nothing is better for business than customer loyalty. The endless referrals, sales, and word of mouth advertising are priceless. You may also want to contact a client to show your appreciation and to give them a special promotion. The more you follow up, the better name recognition your client will have with you. You may also want to follow up to provide more product knowledge. This will expand the types of products or services the client is exposed to within your company. By sending your client information about your products, services, and company, the client is not only building a relationship with you but also building a relationship with your company. They may become one of your prospects!

When to Follow Up

Follow up is not just a one time event. You can follow up immediately for trying the product, placing an order, thanking them for the referral, or attending an event. Between 2 weeks to a month, you can follow up on their product order or service: are the products working/ any problems, possible exchange, possible additional orders? You can also send information on events, referrals, and special promotions. Two to 3 months after their initial order, you should contact them for reorders, referrals and continue to inform them on new products or services, special events and promotion.

With effective follow-up, you can build business relationships that will continue to help your business grow and thrive. A great company to send follow up cards and postcards is Send Out Cards. If you would like to try out the service, visit I-Love-Sending-Cards.

Rebekah Kogelschatz is a stay at home with her two children in rural Florida. She is a co-founder of the site SmartMoms-SmartBusiness.. You can read her blog at The Day of A Mom.

Whenever a discussion of growth takes place, the issue of customer service necessarily comes into play. Why? Because, the simple truth is that an organization only grows when it is effectively communicating with and satisfying the needs of its customers.

You can be the best at what you do, but if your billing is inaccurate or late, if you take too long to produce what you are being paid for, if your calls do not get through to you, if you do not return your messages in a timely fashion, if the person answering your phones is not pleasant, if you are not reachable, if, if, if, if… You may be losing clients and not understand why.

Customers are a strange breed. They either love you or they don’t. If they did, and now they don’t, and you do not know what turned them off, you lose more than that one customer. You lose:

* -current bu$ine$$

*-good will

*-time invested in them

* future busine$$

*-their referrals

You cannot love your customers too much!

When is the last time you called a valued customer just to say, “Hi, how are things going?” Have you ever sent out a birthday or anniversary card? Do you offer current customers opportunities to save money? How many times do you reach out to your customers in any given month? Do you email them articles pertaining to their business? Do you think about ways to help them and let them know what you are doing?

It is absolutely true that it’s easier to keep a valued customer than it is to create a new one. As with other strategic growth, a firm customer service approach requires planning, focus and implementation. Knowing which areas of your business adversely affect client relations is the start to creating an effective plan.

Gail P. Zelitzky is the founder and principal of Silver-Robins Consulting, a business performance coaching firm offering both individual and group coaching. Silver-Robins Consulting helps businesses grow by developing and implementing new sales, marketing and business strategies. The end result is greater revenue and profitability. Gail has 30 years of entrepreneurial experience that offers practical, no-nonsense solutions to the challenges faced by small business owners.

In addition to individual and group coaching, business owners can participate in a Business Performance Roundtable, a peer advisory group format facilitated by Silver-Robins consultants, where participants set realistic goals, focus on priorities and gain objective feedback on the business challenges they face. Only one client per industry may participate.

Silver-Robins Consulting also creates custom-tailored seminars to meet training objectives on sales & marketing, customer service, leadership and management.

For information call 773-665-2340 or email info@silver-robins.com

I received this inquiry asking how I would assess this Customer-Gone-Wild episode. After I share it with you, I’ll affix my answer, which I hope everyone will find useful.

Two women came into the store and I greeted them with a smile and a pleasant hello and one “lady” proceeded to tell me what a rotten company (ours) was and how disgusting that the figurines were now being made in Thailand, not England. Said she had over 100 figurines and started saving them over 40 years ago. She never would have started if she had known. It went on for several minutes, no matter how I explained what we have been advised to, she just kept on and on. Telling me I will never convince her that it was wise or a smart move and she raised her voice.

At first I tried to tell her what companies like ours do when they open new factories {as we have been trained}, then I tried to show her the figurines that are still manufactured in England –they start at $550.00 and upward for these prestige pieces. Most pieces run into several thousand dollars.
The average person cannot afford that. So by having them made offshore they have become affordable again.

This all took place over approximately 12 - 15 minutes. When I started to leave her to attend to other priorities she followed me and kept it up….. I finally made a comment about our clothing and said just about everything we are all wear is not made in North America. There aren’t many items now.

I know not to take this personally but when it keeps
up for as long as it did, how do you handle it?

Hi B,

Thank you for your “war story.”

In no special order of significance, here are my
reactions:

The real key is this question: “What is VALUE to the
customer?” In her case, the answer is complicated.

Value, I suspect, for her means a certain snob appeal,
a sense she is part of something exclusive, having
bragging rights, impressing her friends.

Collecting your products served these purposes
for her, but no longer. She is HUGELY disappointed
that your firm decided to cater to from her view, a
downscale clientele.

This is a classical example of the fact that a company
cannot serve everyone perfectly, that it will
inevitably disappoint many by making strategic and
sourcing and pricing decisions as yours has done.

Instead of being able to cast a spell on her friends
as they listen aptly to how and where she acquired
each unique piece, there will always be a cynical voice
threatening to seize the stage and her limelight,
trying to take her down a notch by inserting, “Well,
you know they’re made in THAILAND now!”

For her, the decision to offshore is a disaster,
devaluing her entire collection, EMOTIONALLY and
EGOTISTICALLY.

Possibly, the value of her overall collection may have
decreased, and this could be an undisclosed fear on
her part. Maybe in a pinch, she always felt she could
fetch a premium for it, but perhaps no longer.

We’re getting into something that is probably called,
“collector psychology.” Come to think of it, those
folks who insist on using ORIGINAL PARTS to repair and
recondition old cars, are similar. They’re PURISTS.

You can argue all day long that cheaper, foreign parts
are made to exactly the same specs and standards as
those made in Canada, or the U.S., but they won’t buy
it.

Piano buyers are disappointed and shocked that so many
models that bear distinctive German nameplates are
actually made in China.

YOU cannot personally restore her lost status or the
luster of your products.

The best you could probably do is to use transition
phrases such as: “I understand that, but” and “I
appreciate that, however,” and “I respect that,
though.”

My concern is her ranting might have infected other
buyers in the store, so it is important to learn
techniques for nicely and firmly abbreviating these
negative encounters.

Moreover, a person such as this, expressing vitriol
and such negativity, infects YOU and all of your
associates, which is a huge pity. It takes time to
recover from her.

Your company might want to invest in some training and
methods for doing damage control, especially if her
generation of buyers feels the same.

I do this, professionally, and I am at your service.

Hope this helps.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman is the
best-selling author of 12 books and more than
a thousand articles. A frequent expert commentator on radio and TV, he is quoted often in prominent publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Business Week.
His seminars and training
programs are sponsored internationally and he
is a top-rated faculty member at more than 40
universities. Dynamic, experienced,
and lots of fun, Gary brings more than two decades
of solid management and consulting experience
to the table, along with the best academic preparation
and credentials in the speaking and training industry.
Holder of a Ph.D. from the
Annenberg School For Communication at USC,
an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management,
and a law degree from Loyola, his clients include several
Fortune 1000 companies along with successful family
owned and operated firms. Much more
than a “talking head,” Gary is a top mind that you’ll
enjoy working with and putting to use.
He can be reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.

How can you be sure that the chiropractor, plastic surgeon, psychologist, or attorney that you’ve selected is professionally competent, that he or she is likely to handle your case with skill and due care?

The short answer is you can’t.

In his book, THE TAO OF NEGOTIATION, author Joel Edelman, a mediation specialist and law professor, says 90% or more of the professionals he has encountered he’d consider so inept that he would not personally use their services.

People who seem to have some of the best credentials staring down from their high-rent walls may have once been super at what they do, but if they’ve grown lazy, or they’re distracted by personal problems such as drug or alcohol addictions, or they’re “phoning it in” during summer days, or they simply don’t take your matter seriously, you, your objective, and your money may be in jeopardy.

I believe there are at least 5 signs that you may have selected an incompetent practitioner and that as soon as you can, you should at least call a “timeout” in your work together, or halt it altogether.

(1)-They agree to handle your case or problem without performing a thorough interview to determine all of the relevant facts. For example, any attorney worth his salt will know that each case has its own peculiarities and dynamics, and by investing “intake” time with you on the front end, they’ll make their jobs smoother and less subject to nasty surprises.

(2)-They don’t show patience in answering your questions, they’re not open to hearing more about your needs or concerns than you expressed in the initial interview, or they simply won’t return your phone calls. After you agree with a surgeon to do a little nip and tuck your friend tells you that her face is still partially numb 36 months after her procedure was done, and you’re worried. Will that surgeon take your call, or set aside a few minutes to go over the potential risks and side effects of the operation you have chosen?

(3)-They reverse delegate to you. One lawyer I used actually typed my legal motion into his computer as I spoke, using my language without editing it. I happen to have legal training but still, he should go over any draft once or twice to assure he has captured not only the facts and recited proper legal authority, but has adopted a suitable and sympathetic tone in his text. It’s not your job to do their work for them.

(4)-They’re too willing to spend or to sacrifice your money. An attorney who urges you to settle your case, at significant financial cost to you is maximizing his odds of seeing a speedy payday, especially if he’s operating on a contingency basis. Settling may not be in your best interest, but rather in his. A self-serving professional is breaching a fiduciary duty to put your interests first, above his or her own. At the same time, settlement may be in your best interest, and it is a lawyer’s duty to swiftly convey any offers of settlement that may come along.

(5)-They refuse to, or are dragging their feet in conferring with outside experts to assure you are likely to get a favorable result. A lawyer who won’t summon the services of an economist to support your claims or to refute the impending testimony of the opposition’s expert may pretend to be saving you money, but that’s probably bogus. He could be so stretched that he doesn’t have time to find a proper expert, or he may feel he should have told you up front that you’d have to pay for one, and he didn’t properly predict this cost, and senses he’ll cause a spat in trying to recover it from you, now.

Much incompetence goes undetected and therefore, undeterred. Despite what you’ve heard in the press that there are countless malpractice lawsuits, there probably aren’t enough to punish the inept.

If you feel you’re getting short shrift, you could very well be right.

Don’t doubt your feelings; doubt the professionals you have chosen.

Then, do your homework, and get second opinions to determine if you need to make a change, well before any significant or irretrievable damage has been done.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman is the
best-selling author of 12 books and more than
a thousand articles. A frequent expert commentator on radio and TV, he is quoted often in prominent publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Business Week.
His seminars and training
programs are sponsored internationally and he
is a top-rated faculty member at more than 40
universities. Dynamic, experienced,
and lots of fun, Gary brings more than two decades
of solid management and consulting experience
to the table, along with the best academic preparation
and credentials in the speaking and training industry.
Holder of a Ph.D. from the
Annenberg School For Communication at USC,
an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management,
and a law degree from Loyola, his clients include several
Fortune 1000 companies along with successful family
owned and operated firms. Much more
than a “talking head,” Gary is a top mind that you’ll
enjoy working with and putting to use.
He can be reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.

This is the last in a series of articles devoted to communications in relation to Customer Service.

If you are in a busy Customer Service environment (phones ringing, people asking questions and as usual, shorthanded) I am sure that a tool that is easy to use and implement would be helpful.

I have been reading a lot about Behavioral or Personality Profiling and studying the different types.

This is the culmination of what has been a career journey and learning experience. We all have different ways of profiling people. (And if you have been in Customer Service any length of time, you have developed your own profiling system) I’ve included some of my own profiles below. (They are for illustration only. If you are crazy enough to use them, you get what you deserve.)

Your examples might include;

Mr. or Mrs. Nice Person: Generally pleasant, lots of time on their hands, easy to work with. They are great Customers, however, if you do not treat them right, they become easily offended and leave without saying anything. And you’ll never know why. (Unless you bump into them in the produce aisle, and then they’ll let you have it)

Mr. Hothead: Whenever he comes in you get a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach as you realize you get to work with him today. Quick to anger and argue over anything that does not seem right, he really has been a victim of bad service in the past and has made a vow not to be taken advantage by anyone, including you. If you make a mistake with him, he generally ends up in the Mangler’s office or the BIG CHEESE, THE OWNER’S OFFICE! (I said Mangler on purpose; you who are in Customer Service know who that is)

Ms. Yuppiepreppie: Whenever she comes in the Dept. stops functioning. This Customer has the uncanny ability to draw everyone in the Department to her. This Customer normally only takes half of the recommendations as she is usually purse challenged as the latest shoe sale made a big dent in available funds. Whenever this Customer becomes disappointed, you most likely will end up talking to Mr. Knowitall Boyfriend.

Mr. Knowitall Boyfriend: Shows up after being summoned by Ms. Yuppiepreppie. Most times in to make a point, although not sure what the point is. Can be easy to work with if you can cut through the exterior gruff and get him to see reason. He will become an excellent Customer if you can demonstrate the benefits of working together.

Ms. or Mr. Extremelybusy: These Customers can be exceptional Customers if you can demonstrate superior time management skills. Have things ready to go and completed on time, and you will make a loyal Customer. If you disappoint however, there will be major trouble. These folks head straight to the BIG CHEESE, bypassing the Mangler. Although challenging Customers, well worth the effort to make them loyal Customers.

Mrs. Wonderful: These are your favorite Customers, a ray of sunshine on an otherwise cloudy day. They are great Customers because you feel a connection with them. You probably know their children’s names and can talk intelligently on what Junior has been doing in school. If only every Customer was like Mrs. Wonderful.

Right.

And we have not even addressed co-workers and other people you come in contact with. Some might include;

Schleprock: This guy has an opinion on everything and they are all bad. Nothing ever goes right for this person and they’ll be happy to tell you all about it. 1st to complain, last to congratulate. Stay away if you can, or learn to limit your exposure.

Ms. Efficiency: Can tell everyone how to do their job better. And why. She waits at her workspace to trap anyone who comes within range and then proceeds to pass on all of her helpful hints. This is really an evolution from being a Ms. Busybody.

Ms. Busybody: The name says it all. If there is dirt, she is first with the dustvac, sucking in all the details to regale all of her co-workers later. No one person knows more about the history of the company and everyone in it than her.

Mr. Quietdesk: He prefers desk work and is quite good it it. Not the person you find at the water cooler or coffee pot, except by accident. In a large company, only those that need to work with him or sit near him know his name. Generally liked by all especially the Mangler because he never rocks the boat.

As you can see, we all have labels we attach to Customers and Co-workers based on our past experiences, their past performances and our interaction with them.

I have given you some extreme examples (I hope) so you can see that labeling someone does not lead to better communication. It really comes down to understanding them.

If we communicate better, understand better and have a little “live and let live” mindset we can become better at what we do. That’s a lot of “better” isn’t it!
So, there is one place we can start. That’s with our style of communication and who we are. If we have a better understanding of who we are, we can then understand why we don’t connect with a Customer or co-worker.

I like to keep things simple. I started looking around for an easy way to see myself and keep that in mind as I worked with others.

I found that system in Dr. Tony Alessandra’s Platinum Rule. I am fortunate enough to be able to work these concepts into seminars I am leading, as I have found not only extreme interest from the participants, the concepts apply to everyday situations with everyone you come in contact with.

Basically you are working with 4 personality behavoirs. And once you understand where you fit in, you can adjust your communications to fit the style of the person you are speaking to.

This is not a new concept. The study of behaviors and types has been around a very long time. I am sure many of you have had exposure or been tested with Meyers-Briggs or Keirsey type profile tests. Me too.
It wasn’t until I was exposed to Dr. Alessandra’s system however, that I began to see this as a tool to use everyday.

Basically, the 4 types break down into styles you can determine from verbal and non-verbal cues that people are giving off every time you come in contact with them. And once you understand what the cues mean, you can adjust your style to theirs and communicate on a level that they feel connected to you.

The cues are easy to learn and apply. In fact, most people can start right away with people they know, love and care about. Yep. Practice on your family first.

You might be surprised at how well you suddenly see someone once you know what to look for.

Leonard Buchholz is a Certified Trainer, Speaker and Author. If you are looking for a seminar leader that is “High Touch and Low Tech,” look no further. Leonard is known for energetic seminars that involve the participants. Seminar subjects include Customer Service, Difficult People and Difficult Situations, Management and Communications.
Reach him at leonard@bizprotraining.com or call 760-529-5635.

I like to find examples of companies who offer what the French Creole refer to lagniappe…a little extra. I contend that the best companies are the ones who offer a little extra in their service…something that sets them apart.

I found this recently in Nashville, Tennessee.

I was to speak to a breakfast meeting to a group there and needed to find a location near the venue. I went on line and “Googled” hotels near the venue to avoid rush hour driving. I found the Hotel Preston.
I was impressed enough with their website to feel comfortable to book a room there. The rooms looked nice and comfortable, and I felt comfortable with my decision to stay there.

What I discovered when I got to my room was what impressed me.

On the bed in my room was a little laminated card that read:

“You have worked hard all day…Nothing worse than an uncomfortable pillow to ruin your night’s rest. The Hotel Preston has the answer. Please select from our pillow menu to ensure a perfect night’s rest. Dial 0- We are awaiting your call.
Soft, medium, firm, extra firm, hypoallergenic”.

As an observer of companies who offer lagniappe (pronounced lan-yap) as part of their service offering, I was obviously impressed. I am still impressed enough to use the Hotel Preston as one of my lagniappe examples each time I speak.

I decided to look a little further and contact the Hotel Preston general manager, Bill Ghumm.

“The pillow idea came from listening to our guests at other hotels. They were consistent in saying that they wished they could have pillows like the ones they had at home” said Ghumm.

What a unique idea…listening to your customers!

“The response has been fantastic” Ghumm goes on to say. “People love to choose their pillow”.

The Hotel Preston also offers other “little” extras, such as pet fish companions, milk and cookies, CD selections, and games. Ghumm says “if our guests want it, we will get it.”

I hope readers of this article will ask themselves about their own company lagniappe. What are you doing that sets you apart? What are YOUR customers telling others about the way you do business?

Or are you the same as everybody else?

Why not learn from the Hotel Preston? Take the following steps and see if your customers will start talking about the service you provide.

1)-Be bold and ask your customers what “little extra” you could do to make your service memorable and different from the others. This can be done via an anonymous survey or small focus group. It doesn’t make any different…ask them.

2)-When they tell you what it is, do it! Find a way. You’ll probably find, like the Hotel Preston, that it won’t cost a lot.

3)-And the best part…don’t make a big deal out of it. Make it happen and let your customers talk about it as opposed to YOUR making a big deal out of it.

Give your customers the pillow they want and they’ll dream of your service at night.

Ed Horrell is the best-selling author of “The Kindness Revolution” and nationally syndicated columns. To learn how to start a kindness revolution in your business, go to http://www.edhorrell.com

The handling of customer orders within the distribution centre; involving the keying of customer and order details into the computer system in order to produce invoices for picking.

Large quantity of call center services where companies can outsource their customer telephone contact operations. These call center service providers offer competent and professional inbound and outbound call center services utilizing modern and state-of-the-art telecommunication technologies to meet the needs of their clients. The wide range of call center services-including voice, email, fax, and live chat support-all have one specific purpose. That is to serve all the communication needs of a company.

Principally Call Centers are providing order processing service it’s including in inbound call center service. There are actually two types of call center agents: inbound and outbound. Outbound-center agents are the people who instigate calls to customers. They do telemarketing and market research work. Inbound-center agents, on the other hand, reply to calls, chat or emails and order taking from customers. They do catalog and other sales work, customer service, and help desk or technical support. Both groups are usually strictly monitored to make sure that they meet employer standards for speed, accuracy and customer handling.

Order Processing Companies now look at third-party sales representatives as a viable option. You need to find an establishment that will be able to handle all of your order-processing needs. Check if they can easily turn estimates into a number of orders instantly. Some firms even have automatic order registries which make an order easier to be fulfilled and processed. Thus, it would turn into a quicker profit for the company.

Customer Self-Service

Customer Self-Service is like when customer would like to see order execution with the connection to payment info. Typically this should be enabled over the web or extra net security realm. Self-service functionality, including web-based self-service, IVRs, and, increasingly, speech recognition, has become indispensable to contact centers of all sizes. Even small contact centers are using voice prompters or call routers to improve the efficiency of call handling.

Sale Order Processing (SOP)

This service is the most popular connection point for e commerce developers - the same should be said about service industry. Sales Order Processing provides your office, and remote sales workers with an intuitive web-based application for sales order taking. Sales Order Processing systems can be securely accessed over the Internet to enter sales orders for customers. Call Centers makes order taking faster, simpler and more accurate, and provides an application that can be rolled out to an expanding sales team.

Order taking and processing

Telephone order-entry and processing, also called call center order-taking is a fast growing aspect of contact center services. The Order Taking Agent for the Retail industry is trained to take in-bound calls to make purchases. The Order Taking Agent can take credit card numbers, perform a match on name and address based on a U.S. database, and complete the purchase. The Shopping Agent and Order Taking Agent can be used together to offer a complete self-service solution for retail.

Posted by:
Marketing Team
Call Centers India Inc.

We http://www.callcentersindia.com providing resources to everyone in call centers arena and this site is designed specifically to fulfill your information needs regarding call centers with special reference to Indian Call Centers and offshore call centers.

Customers are utmost important in business. Without customers, or loyal customers, businesses are next to non-existent. Even if customers are wrong, they are “always right” as they are the “kings” to one business. Loyal and satisfied customers normally will spread their experience to the friends, thus, promoting the business by “word of mouth”.

How to tackle complaints or customers’ dissatisfaction in order to ensure that they will keep coming back to us? Follow these four simple steps. Most of the times it works;

Hear

Most of us are good in using our mouths than our ears. We are good speakers but poor listeners. In handling complaints listening skills are vital. Listen more, talk less! Try to understand the nature of the complaint. Let the customer to express what the dissatisfactions are all about. More often, complainants were just wanted to be heard. This will make them “feel good” as somebody is caring enough and willing to listen to them. Listen with anticipation, good eye-contact and proper body gestures. Ask details should you need more clarification. If required, repeat what they said to ensure their message were correctly interpreted.

Empathy

Try “putting yourself in their shoes”. What will be your reaction should the same thing happen to you. If you were they, what will be your expectation? Try to view the complaint in their perspective. Make them feel that you really understand their problems.

Accept responsibility

Somebody have to be accountable to the complaint. That will be “you” as the owner or representative of the business. That is the least that the dissatisfy customers need to know. Satisfy them first. They just need to know that somebody is taking the responsibility.

Take action

Proceed with the remedial actions. If you are unable to do it immediately, give a time-frame and inform the customer. Do not forget to update the customer the outcome from time to time. You are in a process of trust-building so the customer will keep coming back to you.

In addition, do not forget to use those “magic” word; “sorry”. If you are unable to accommodate to their needs, tell them how you wish you can help but you really can not. Impress upon them that you are trying you best to help. Give alternatives if you are capable of doing so.

Remember the four steps; Hear, Empathy, Accept responsibility and Take action (H-E-A-T). Do not let customer to “bad-mouth” your business with their word-of-mouth. Remember, they are kings and they are always right.

Azizee Rabu a.k.a kanjeex is an MBA holder. Novice but passionate in writing. More articles can be found at ;
http://dailyimprovement.blogspot.com, http://quityourjobforbetter.blogspot.com and http://kanjeex-anytopics.blogspot.com