Customer Service Tips For Your Small Business

As a small business owner you know the importance of keeping your customers happy. However, many businesses fail in doing so simply because they don't know how to develop and implement "good customer service" strategies.

Here are some useful tips on how you can apply good customer service strategies that will keep your customers happy and your business booming!

• Identify your target customers- What type of customers will your business attract? Who are they? What are their needs? Start by doing some quality research on your customer demographics. The key to making your customers happy is to understand what they really want.
• Anticipate your customers' future needs- Not only is it important to determine what your customers want now, but also what they will need in the future. This will help generate loyalty and repeat customers. You can find out your customers' wants and needs by:
• Conducting online customer service satisfaction surveys. (Some free online survey sites: http://freeonlinesurveys.com/, http://www.surveymonkey.com/, http://polldaddy.com/) 
• Phone/email survey 
• Product testing- Find out what your customers prefer by allowing them to try free testers or even allowing your employees to do the testing. For example, find out which flavor is in more demand, chocolate or vanilla. Have people taste the flavors and gear your business accordingly. 

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• Don't make promises you can't keep- A lot of the times a business will lose a customer because of unfinished promises. You want your customer to be able to rely on your business and trust that whatever promise you make, you will complete it in a timely manner. For example, imagine if you were promised that your bedroom furniture will be arriving on Monday, but instead arrives on Thursday. You have every right to complain and be one not-so-happy customer. The same applies to your clients and customers. 
• Be a good listener- It's important to hear your customers out. They have a voice too. In addition, listening to your customers will not only help your customer, but will also help your business. Talk about a win-win situation. By listening, you get a better understanding of what it is that your customer really wants. A good practice is to repeat back to them what your comprehension of their needs and wants are; this way you both are on the same page.
• Get your customers to interact with you- Use your social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter to talk to your customers. 
• Deal with the complaints- You're a business, and you're bound to get a couple of complaints here and there. You can't please all people, but you definitely shouldn't ignore the complaint. This can be a deciding factor of whether your customer is satisfied with your business. 
• Apologize when needed- It can be difficult to apologize sometimes. But remember, you're a business, and every business makes mistakes. If you make a mistake, it's okay, it happens. Just make sure that you acknowledge it and make it right by the customer.
• Answer your phone- You don't want to be that company that rarely answers phone calls. Answering the phone is your biggest advantage. A customer then knows that he/she can rely on your business and that they will always be helped. These days, technology makes it easy to be accessible 24/7. A cool feature offered by many phone companies is Find Me/Follow Me. It allows you to have calls forwarded to anyone and to any device - your place of business, your cell or another person.     

Customer service can either make or break a small business. Customers are not only looking for service, but also value. Show them that your service (or product) does just that by implementing customer service straegies that make them feel unique, and not just another number.             

Host Meetings With An Easier Alternative!

It's time you put your business in high-tech mode! Let go of the old-school business habits, and take advantage of today's technology to help your business run more effectively. You might be wondering how.

Every business conducts meetings - they could be with employees, clients and/or vendors. Traditionally, these meetings would happen in a meeting room or someone's office; but what if you can take conferencing to a whole new level?

Audio and web conferencing service allows you to conduct meetings anytime, anywhere and with anyone (no matter where they are located!)

It's a SIMPLE and EASY process (probably two of your favorite words!) You can choose audio conference only, or web and audio conferencing combined to host a live interactive meeting.

With audio conferencing you receive a permanent dial-in number, conference code and pin which you can use at anytime. The features include:

• Record and playback
• Project codes for bill back
• Toll-free dial-in
• Operator assistance
• Direct Event - this includes passcode expedited call entry, separate dial-in numbers, optional call registration and call customization.

Web conferencing combines audio, web and video. The features include:

• Host a live meeting
• Create and show multi-media presentation
• Interactively train employees, partners and customers
• Deliver cost effective events
• Use web conferencing as a support center to view, diagnose or solve customer problems online.

Kick up your feet and relax as you conduct meetings with your staff members, customers and vendors from the convenience of your home, office or even your car! Conference with one person or a group, it's your choice. The opportunities are endless.

Business VoIP: Stay Organized, Be Successful

Staying organized in a business can get a bit tricky, especially if your day-to-day activities consist of running around, doing errands and making important phone calls. From the numerous calls you receive and need to make, to all the people you need to meet with, it can all get very hectic.

So what can you do to ease up this hectic life and get a bit more organized? Try considering TouchTone’s business VoIP phone system, a perfect solution for small businesses (2-10 employees) who want to gain a competitive edge. Business VoIP provides powerful calling features to help you stay organized.

Unlike traditional phone service, Business VoIP provides your business with enterprise-class business features, as well as professional and advanced service (including unlimited calling). And the best part is, it’s a lot cheaper than traditional phone system and service.

TouchTone’s Business VoIP system would work perfectly for you if:

1. You prefer to pay less and get more out of a phone system (i.e., enterprise-class calling features, unlimited talk).
2. You prefer to use newer technology versus old and outdated traditional technology.
3. You don’t want to invest in an IT person to handle the maintenance and the setting up of your phone. TouchTone covers all that for you; from maintenance to setting up, we got you covered!

Some features to help you and your business get organized and keep up with your fast-pace environment are:

• Call Forwarding- Allows you to redirect incoming calls to another number, voice mail, or block the call all together. You choose what type of calls, as well as when calls are forwarded. Call Forwarding categories include: All Calls, When Busy, Do Not Disturb, No Answer and Selective Forwarding.
• Selective Call Management- Also known as call screening, with selective call management you can selectively reject or accept calls made from specific numbers so that you can manage your time more efficiently.
• Web Management/Web Portal- You can make adds, changes or moves 24 hours, 7 days a week through the self-managed Web Portal. Access all your contacts, voicemail messages, call logs and much more. Organized business here you come!
• Hunt Groups- One of your worst nightmares is probably losing your valuable customers and clients. This could be an outcome of poor customer service. When a customer or client calls your company, you want to make sure they are being taken care. The Hunt Group feature is extremely helpful when multiple lines are in use. For example, when a line goes unanswered or is in use, the call is automatically routed and transferred to another user, and so on and so forth. This powerful feature will ensure that your phone is answered by someone in your company at all times.

The type of phone service you use for your business plays an important role on the functionality and future success of your company. Take your business to the next level with Business VoIP.

Any questions? Feel free to leave comment!