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Category: customer service

Helpful Strategies to Meaningfully Increase Sales at Your Store

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by Kent Boehm

Conversion Rate Optimization ToolStarting a business is the easiest thing that you can do. Running it successfully is the hard part. If you are business minded and have the finances to support the opening and execution of a business plan, you are well-positioned to set your business up for future success. The hard part, however, is consistently increasing sales and making sure that your customers return to you for their particular needs.

Moreover, when it comes to sales, the success of a business isn’t only about increasing them. You want to benefit from a rise in profits – after all, an increase in sales is meaningless if you aren’t actually generating money after your expenses are taken into consideration. Do you want to know how to increase sales? The following tips in this article will help you get started on the path to greater profitability. Continue reading “Helpful Strategies to Meaningfully Increase Sales at Your Store”

Fostering a Positive Business Image and Culture

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by Kent Boehm

Humor at the meetingHow you conduct yourself in the business world has real-world ramifications on how potential customers perceive you. Large corporations collectively spend billions of dollars curating an image that encourages people to spend their hard-earned money on what they’re selling. With the emergence of social media over the past twenty years, even local and independent businesses take advantage of the exposure they get. While you can put out slick ads and videos to raise awareness of your brand, ultimately the way you conduct yourself and the values you embrace will be the deciding factor for many people. Continue reading “Fostering a Positive Business Image and Culture”

Ten Keys to Customer Loyalty

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by Kent Boehm

Young couple agree to the dealThe goal when creating a customer is to give your customers an unexpectedly positive experience that keeps you and your product at the top of their mind.

Your goal is to have frequent interactions with the customer, so when the time arrives for them to purchase your product again, they will think about you and your business first.

By doing this you start to add value to them that your competitors aren’t doing. This value is often the point of difference that sets you apart and stops your competitors moving in on your key customers. Continue reading “Ten Keys to Customer Loyalty”

Why Customer Complaints Are Great for Business

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by Kent Boehm

Customer complaints can create a sense of doubt about how we run our business, however, what if we approached them as opportunities? The reality is complaints are ok, if you respond and do something about them. If no words were spoken by our customers about how we do business the same mistakes would go unnoticed. Only a small amount of people will speak up while the majority of others will quietly ignore and move on. In fact, only 4% of customers who are unsatisfied take the time to speak out.  You would never know that you are losing potential business if some complaints did not arise and you weren’t proactive in making needed changes.

Employees

Customers may make complaints about a specific employee.  This may be an innocent mistake or a continual recurring problem that again is affecting all the customers they come in contact with. By channeling the problem to a specific individual you can deal with that individual one on one and ensure that the issue does not affect the company as a whole. We are not involved in every interaction that our individual employees do and therefore when customers speak out it’s a great opportunity to really learn how that individual is handling their job. Continue reading “Why Customer Complaints Are Great for Business”

What Does It Mean to Be Customer Centered?

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by Kent Boehm

What Does It Mean to Be Customer Centered?

Did you know that some of the most successful companies in the world run a customer centred approach? A recent article was published highlighting the top ten companies rated by J.D. Power.  They range from automotive, to finance to insurance; but they all have one main similarity, and that is that they are customer centered. A customer focus is one of the main factors in business success. So what does it actually mean to be customer centered, and how do you know businesses are following through in the process?

A Customer-Centered Business:

Listens to Their Customers

They get to know their customers, understand their needs and then act on it. TD Bank is a great example of this.  One of the reasons they have landed the first in overall customer satisfaction on J.D. Power’s annual Canadian Retail Banking Satisfaction study for the last 10 years is that they listen to their customers. They have launched marketing campaigns such as #TDThanksYou which gave away big ticket items to customers, to simply ensure that systems like their online banking system, are in tune with what customers are asking for. They listened and they delivered. Continue reading “What Does It Mean to Be Customer Centered?”

Customer Service on Twitter

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by Kent Boehm

Did you know that you can use Twitter to connect with your customers and provide customer service? With over 99% of brands on Twitter having a reason to stand out is key. A customer service strategy that uses Twitter as a customer service portal is a great way of connecting with your customers and catching inquiries on the spot.

Some brands even have a customer support system already in place on Twitter. Companies such as Nike have a support handle which is a separate account, just for customer inquiries. Any tweet to this account is handled by the customer support team and responses are seen quickly. Not only does this make things easier for Nike, but the account also has over 465K tweets. Continue reading “Customer Service on Twitter”

Serving The Millennial

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by Kent Boehm

Millennials are a powerful generation who are well informed and have strong decision making skills.  When we think of millennials we think of the younger generation, but how young are we talking? A millennial, also known as “generation Y” is someone born between 1980 and 2000 and they account for almost one-third of the country’s population.  According to the 2011 Canadian census, the largest age group in Calgary was a millennial age group of 24-29. Once the 2016 numbers are released the millennial group is likely to remain a large portion of the Calgary population and one of the reasons why businesses need to keep up to this smart and tech savvy generation. Continue reading “Serving The Millennial”

Hiring an Excellent Customer Service Team

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by Kent Boehm

Great customer service in Calgary is essential for a business’s reputation and company image. One poor customer service experience can turn people away indefinitely from your business, whereas excellent customer service is often remembered above and beyond any other aspect of the company.

It’s all about people and that starts with hiring the right ones! If you have a great customer service team you can run your day to day business knowing that your customers will be taken care of properly without affecting your bottom line. It is not always an easy job and can put employees in difficult situations. Some of the skills and characteristics to look for when interviewing a customer service candidate would be: Continue reading “Hiring an Excellent Customer Service Team”

Customer Service Questions?

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by Kent Boehm

Customer ServiceGreat customer service not only leads to referrals and increased business, but it also creates an excellent reputation. Solving customer service problems, however, can be challenging. Do you want to learn more about customer service or maybe you already have some of your own questions about customer service problems? We want to help your business.

Ask yourself the following questions about your customer service experiences and your own business:

Have you had a poor customer service experience in the past 2 weeks?

Do you think there is a customer service problem in Calgary? Continue reading “Customer Service Questions?”

Avoid These Common Customer Service Mistakes

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by Kent Boehm

At Nine Business Group we enjoy helping retail businesses here in Calgary provide the best service to their customers while increasing their bottom line.  Therefore, it is important to factor out any customer service issues that may be hindering your company’s reputation. Here are a few common mistakes to avoid when running a retail business:

Not Listening to Customer Needs

As soon as you have your first interaction with the customer, your job is now to start listening. Hear what they have to say, and then offer help. If you are focused on what to say to them to sell a product, while they are speaking, they are likely not going to make a purchase with you. Your intent may not be what the customer wants, and since consumer needs are always changing and evolving, we can provide the best value by listening to their needs and offering help.  If you are not focused while they speak, then you can’t provide valuable insight. Continue reading “Avoid These Common Customer Service Mistakes”