Several companies have certain rules and regulations that one must follow. Call centers are no exception. Here are some of the things that you should never do when you are working in a call center:

1. BEING LATE.
Time is everything in a call center, and you cannot afford to slack off in the job and be late. Not only will your boss scold you, but also you will get disapproving stares by your co-employees the moment you get inside that door. Worst, you might lose your job on the first day. Call centers are very strict when it comes to punctuality so make sure that you comply if you do not want to end up unemployed.

2. POOR HYGIENE.
I think that having smelly feet will not give you any bonus points wherever you work. Who would want to sit beside a co-employee who has not taken a bath? Maintaining a good hygiene shows that you are considerate with your co-employees, plus it will give you more confidence when you are taking your calls or writing a content for a client.

3. POOR ENGLISH SKILLS.
The reason why you are hired in a call center is that you have great communication skills. Improve your basic grammar and pronunciation and you will have a long, prosperous career in a call center. Practice makes perfect.

4. ARGUING WITH CO-EMPLOYEES AND BEING DISRESPECTFUL TO THE TEAM LEADER.
This is one of the mortal sins you can commit when you are working in a call center. There is a reason why a certain person was promoted to become your supervisor or a team leader, and it will be wiser if you follow than argue with them. I have seen people come and go in a call center because of this grave mistake. People arose from their respective ranks and did not become leaders in a day. It would be wiser for you if you do not offend them, but what you should do is learn from them instead.

5. PHONE SEX.
This is like committing suicide. Do this, and you are sure to head out of the door the moment you are found out. Not to mention, you will be very embarrassed. Usually, all calls are recorded and are being reviewed to determined if the agents are doing their job properly, or the content of the conversations are proper. The last thing you would want to do is flirt with the client over the phone.

6. DRESS LIKE YOU ARE GOING TO THE BEACH.
It is funny sometimes when I see people wearing spaghetti straps and mini skirts in a very cold working environment. Not only is it inappropriate, but it does not seem like a practical idea to sit there semi-naked when the air conditioners are in full blast. Call center agents are supposed to be professionals, better dress like one.

7. STEALING.
I have heard stories of missing equipment and personal things of agents in a call center, and then later find out that it was stolen in the first place. This will not only be the reason for you to lose your job, but this will be a bad employment and criminal record against you.

8. GO TO WORK IN A STATE OF WRECK.
Okay, so you went out with friends and had a drinking binge the night before. That is perfectly fine except for one thing: you have to work in the morning or worst in the next 3 hours or so. The outcome? You become a zombie, half-drunk or suffering from a nasty hang-over. The result is you do not become productive in your job and you become the center of attraction, in a negative way.

Do not do any of the enumerated things that you should never do in a call center, and you will be assured of a promising career in a call center.

Sold? Now it is your problem!

Usually when a sale is made, in most cases in a hard way, the post-sale leaves much to be desired.

You made an investment in new customers catchments, Lot of money are spent on marketing activities “focused on customer,” everything to gain competitive advantages over competitors. Companies usually in their quality programs set its mission as “the customer first”, but few is done after its conquest.

Simply use Technical Support services and in some cases need an Ombudsman to realize that much still needs to be done on the quality care. Generally staffs receive sales commissions and are constantly motivated for their goals fulfilment, something that happens with little regard to personal service.

People satisfaction is a result of a number of factors which emphasizes satisfaction with institution, with the service, organization activity, interpersonal relationships, health and quality of life at work.

To achieve excellence in customer service it is need to work initially professional relationships and not lose weight on the customer’s issues.

This is vital for the achievement and maintenance of customers and, consequently, achieves high levels of quality and productivity. Typical approach to relationship marketing says that costs more win a new customer than to keep those you already have.

So, to delight a customer, or just keep make him obliged to give something from them you need a sincere smile, a pleasant tone of voice or at least correct information. Customer is all in one organization. For a company customer is the king.

The title of this article consistently shows up in my business and is always in my mind; however, last week I had the opportunity to put it to work and really experience the benefits.

A gentleman who was looking for a Virtual Office Manager found me and my business via a business directory. He visited my website, saw what I offered and decided he wanted to learn more. When I heard how he found me, I thought, Phew…thank goodness my website marketing dollars are paying off!

Anyway, as we got to talking and proceeded to uncover his needs, it was determined that he required a Spanish-speaking Virtual Office Manager. Well, that isn’t me (darn it)! But even so, what came into play next was me knowing and clearly understanding the foundation that I have built my business on - which is to believe and live by the vision that Good Business is to Be the Best Resource.

I knew that, without Spanish, I was not going to be his ideal candidate for this particular position, unless the magical Spanish Language Fairy showed up during my sleep that night; however, I didn’t allow the conversation to end there, and you know what, neither did he. We kept probing to further determine if I could help in some way to meet his ultimate needs…the conversation continued and we discovered, absolutely, that I had something that he needed.

Although I don’t have the Spanish language skill set, as a business man, he understands what his time is worth. He leverages the resources available to him, and expressed the value my expertise in recruiting, screening, performing behavioral interviews, and finding him the ideal candidate would be to him.

Talk about ideal! I couldn’t ask for a more ideal client. A pragmatic results-oriented leader recognizes when he has a need, reaches out to find it, leverages his resources, and seeks to raise the bar on standards. It doesn’t get much better than that, huh?

But the real reason we reached the level we did was because neither of us was afraid to be a resource to each other, to share through the mindset of building a relationship, instead of selling, and to think long-term benefits.

Five steps to being your contacts Best Resource…

* You have to dig deep and keep probing to completely understand how you can help others

* Don’t think you have nothing to offer; even if it is insight that you can share, which by the way, is priceless!

* Treat your contacts as a relationship instead of a one-time transaction, and you will reap long-term benefits

* Don’t try to be everything to everyone; it doesn’t work and it’s no fun trying

* Only when you offer your expertise, and not mediocrity, do you offer great value

By doing so, you may open doors of opportunity you never imagined possible.

To continue our story, we are moving forward with finding my new client the ideal candidate, and the business relationship between us is growing - and what a partnership should be. Why? Because I didn’t try to sell him something he didn’t need or which I couldn’t deliver. That alone will earn his business for years to come, and today as I was writing this, he phoned again for additional assistance.

You don’t have to worry about losing a client, or not making the sale, or making money every time someone calls you. A lot of business people do this and will take on a client and attempt to figure out the rest later.

When this happens, you know you don’t meet the clients’ needs, but one simply sees a warm body and promises the client the sky anyway. Because you want the client, you need the money; you need to feel successful -if that is your definition of success.

You may temporarily catch the clients’ attention, but in the end you have set both of you up for disaster and the client won’t stick around for long. And for the client, hiring the wrong person can cost their business upwards of $35,000.00 not to mention the wasted time, energy, and resources.

How many times have you as a consumer been sold something you didn’t need, or been told I can do this, and as soon as you get started, you know you made the wrong choice.

* The sales person didn’t build rapport and work towards trust

* They didn’t ask probing questions so they have no idea what the clients needs are

* They don’t share features and benefits of the service, so you don’t know what you bought

* There is no post sales process in place, and no help to maximize your investment

* You never hear from them again, you are a number

This scenario, I am sure, has happened to all of us. Those are five steps you can avoid in your own selling process.

When people worry about losing, not making the sale, or not getting the money that may come from that client, they keep themselves in the fish bowl of the thousands of other business people out there trying to make a buck.

So differentiate yourself and choose instead to share everything you know; be transparent and stand by your value of Good Business is to Be the Best Resource. This will keep you always at the forefront of your clients and contacts mind…which is what being in business is all about, isn’t it?

Meeting those goals you set out to implement in 2008?

Strategically taking steps to provide
Ultimate Outcomes for you and your customers?

Decide, Commit and Implement -
Visit us at The Customers Corner
Where Good Business is to Be the Best Resource

Reach the ultimate result to raise the bar on standards,
out step the competition, create new income, and get more FREE
tips and self-evaluation reports at http://www.thecustomerscorner.com/relationship.html

Hospitals and their corporate officers live and die by customer satisfaction scores such as the Press/Ganey Survey and Harris Poll. The problem is that these “surveys” & “polls” are little more than “opt-in” commentaries. Scientific data shows that, regardless of industry, a dissatisfied customer is three times more likely to express their opinion than a satisfied customer. Given this fact, the healthcare industry standard “opt-in” model, by its very nature, should yield a 3 to 1 dissatisfaction bias. Given that this bias is not seen indicates that other, unaccounted for factors, are skewing the data.

Survey Construction

To obtain meaningful data from a survey or poll, specific criteria for data collection must be met. The first and most important is that the demographic make-up of the study group must be determined before the data is collected. Demographics includes more than gender, age and ethnicity. In the healthcare setting, treatment area specific identifiers such as time of year, triage level on presentation (ESI 1-5), initial evaluation and management level (E/M 1-5), waiting room wait time, length of stay, etc. allow for further differentiation of individual factors influencing patient sentiment and satisfaction.

These demographic groups must be strictly adhered to and once the number of a particular group is obtained for a given survey, no further survey responses are accepted in that demographic group. Further, if a particular demographic group is not fully enrolled with respondents, additional individuals are recruited in that demographic group only until the required number of responses are obtained. This is currently not done in healthcare, yet it is the key to obtaining interpretable data.

Questions Are Key

In healthcare, the rule is to ask open ended questions to obtain global information and then ask close ended questions to obtain specificity. In survey construction, specific questions must be asked before the survey is constructed. Like a scientific investigation (and all valid surveys are scientific investigations) the first question is to ask what specific and narrow question we seek to answer. Commonly, the response from corporate leaders is that they want to know if customers are satisfied, but this is not sufficiently specific. Which customers? Under what circumstances? Such a customer satisfaction question would be,

“Are customers with an ER lobby wait of greater than 4 hours (all other demographic factors being equal) more satisfied customers than those with a lobby wait greater than 4 hours?”

Once the question is narrowed to a specific single area, a null question (null hypothesis) must be formed. This is a testable question such as,

“Is there a difference between customers with an ER lobby wait of greater than 4 hours (all other demographic factors being equal) and those with a lobby wait greater than 4 hours?”

This latter question can be answered easily by having a demographically specific and identical group score their satisfaction then dividing them based on their lobby wait time. A simple comparison of the satisfaction scores between the two groups will then indicate the influence of lobby wait on satisfaction. Obviously, those with different demographic factors will respond to wait times differently and thus narrow demographic groups with large numbers must be studied to determine if lobby wait is in fact a factor at all.

Acknowledge Framing Bias

The construction of a survey or poll must also include a consideration of the bias held by those asking the questions. Failure to acknowledge even seemingly unrelated bias will inevitably skew the results due to the framing of the question. Referring back to the ER lobby wait example above, most in healthcare leadership hold the belief, based only on unscientific “opt-in” commentaries, that ER lobby wait is a key factor in customer satisfaction for all ER patients (regardless of other demographics). This bias results in customer satisfaction studies that are skewed to elicit comments congruent with that bias such as,

“Was your ER wait time short, adequate, long, excessive?”

This question primes the reader to view a long ER wait (even for a non-emergency) as excessive if it is longer than they wanted. The unbiased approach would be to determine ER wait time as a demographic factor based on the time from sign-in (arrival) to the time place in a room (door to room time). Having this information, the question would then be,

“Please rate your overall satisfaction on a scale of 1 through 5 (1 = very dissatisfied & 5 = very satisfied)”

The statistical comparison of overall satisfaction between those with an ER lobby wait under 4 hours and those with a wait over 4 hours within otherwise matched demographic groups yields an accurate reflection of the impact of ER lobby wait on overall satisfaction.

Bad Questions Yield - Bad Conclusions

Just in case there is any doubt of the influence of bias, an “opt-in” commentary invitation was placed on the internet for seven days and circulated using a professional networking service.1 An analysis for power determined that 53 respondents were required for statistical significance.1 Like all healthcare customer satisfaction surveys currently employed, any person having been an ER patient was included in the final analysis.1 Over 28,900 individuals viewed the question, but only 59 “opted-in” with responses.1 A heuristic analysis for bias was preformed to generate a question that minimized bias based influence on responses.1 The resultant question asked,

“Given that your wait in the lobby and your total time in the ER would be unchanged, would you rather have your ER doctor come into the room 10 minutes after you are brought from the lobby to introduce themselves but do nothing else, or would you rather have your ER doctor come into the room 25 minutes after you are brought from the lobby and complete the entire interview, exam and ordering of tests/treatment?” 1

The 10 minute option and the 25 minute option represent the current ER incarnations of LEAN and Six Sigma respectively. Pre-study review of the ER management literature found that the majority of the responses would prefer one of the other, but there was no consensus on which option would be preferred.1

Surprisingly, out of 59 responses, 1% offered no preference, 53% preferred the 25 minute wait and 46% preferred the 10 minute wait.1 Of greater interest, one in twenty of those who preferred the 10 minute wait stated that they only preferred it because they could “bully” the doctor into staying and completing the entire patient encounter rather than leaving after the introduction.1 Despite respondent reframing of the options, there was still no statistically different difference between the options.1

While each of these approaches have ardent supporters who insist that their approach is the solution to low patient satisfaction, this data suggests that the right question has not yet been asked and thus the true answer has not yet been found.

Asking a Better Question - Getting Better Answers

Asking better questions often yields surprising and useful information. Markoul, Zick and Green published a survey based study looking at how patients prefer to be addressed when they first meet their healthcare provider.2 In most healthcare encounters, physicians greet patients by either first name or title with last name while introducing themselves with their title and last name. Conversely, nurses are taught to great patients by first name and introduce themselves by first name only. Across the board, all healthcare providers are counseled to offer a handshake at every encounter.

Answering closed-ended, narrowly constructed questions, a survey of 415 patients found that 50% the patients wanted their first name to be used when physicians greet them.2 Similarly, 16% of patients preferred to be greeted by their title and last name, and 24% wanted their first and last names to be used.2 As to how healthcare providers should introduce themselves to the patient, 56% wanted to hear both names; 33% wanted the provider to use just their title and last name, and only 7% wanted first names to be used.2 Approximately 78% of respondents expected to receive a handshake, with older patients less likely than younger patients to want a handshake (74% vs. 87%; P < .005).2

This data shows that the broadest group of patients would be satisfied if their provider greeted them using first and last name names (satisfying all three groups). Further, providers should introduce themselves using title with both first and last name while offering a handshake (again satisfying all groups).

Getting to the Answers Needed

Patient and customer satisfaction surveys are a fact of life in the business of healthcare. Improving these critical business benchmarks is too often linked to hastily contrived and implemented process changes. If the key to making the best decisions is having the best information and the key to having the best information is asking the best questions to the right groups of people, then before the next survey is sent out, healthcare must create better surveys.

* Determine the distinct demographic groups to be surveyed

* Determine the exact number from each group to be surveyed

* Survey exactly that number from each group (no more and no less)

* Determine the question to be answered and the null question to ask

* Acknowledge framing bias and frame the null question without that bias

* Limit conclusions to the answer for the null question

* Use inconclusive results as a guide to identifying factors without influence on customer satisfaction

* Use conclusive results as a guide to identifying actions that will improve customer satisfaction

When healthcare really asks patients for the answers it seeks, customer satisfaction scores will become irrelevant because patients will automatically get what they need and deserve.

1. Ramirez, M. (unpublished data)

2. Makoul G, Zick A, Green M. An evidence-based perspective on greetings in medical encounters. Arch Intern Med 2007;167:1172-1176.

Dr. Maurice A. Ramirez is the founder and president of the consulting firm High Alert, LLC.. He serves on expert panels for pandemic preparedness and healthcare surge planning with Congressional and Cabinet Members. Board certified in multiple specialties, Dr. Ramirez is Founding Chairperson of the American Board of Disaster Medicine and serves the nation as a Senior Physician-Federal Medical Officer in the National Disaster Medical System. Dr. Ramirez has a new book: You Can Survive Anything, Anywhere, Every Time. Dr. Ramirez invites comments at: http://www.disaster-blog.com

The Author grants use of all articles contained on EzineArticles.com for reprint conditional on the inclusion of the authors unaltered bio box. No material may be reprinted without inclusion of the author’s biographical information.

A tried and true way to get new customers is the referral from happy customers. What can we do to inspire our customers to send more business our way? Often we offer 20% off something, a special service or possibly a new e-book for every referral you receive.

That sounds good but when it comes down to it, it goes back to the satisfied customer. What truly makes them satisfied is great service and personal, open communication. Whatever your business is and whatever it is you do, do it for the customer not the money. If you do the former the latter will follow close behind.

Let’s say there are problems with the product purchased from you, you will give it your personal attention to earn trust from your customers. When you have special offers you pass them on so everyone can profit. But don’t wait for problems to arise or for a free e-book to come along before developing a friendly relationship. Offer top of the line customer service from the beginning. If your business is in affiliate marketing be sure that your products are good quality and do what they claim. Buy the product yourself and test it. That is the best testimonial you can advertise with.

There used to be an old saying. “The customer is always right.” Make sure that you treat them like a precious commodity or take the risk of losing them. We all like it when someone goes the extra mile for us, so be that great business owner.

I think that as business owners we get bogged down with all of the tedious work of the business. We tend to forget where the business comes from. Especially these days with Internet marketing, there is no face to face contact. We really need to remember it’s the people who trust us enough to give their money to us for a product we are endorsing.

Cause and effect: What you do now will create a great customer base. In turn that great customer base will create your future customers. As we all know the customer is the list and the list is what causes the effect of having money in your bank account. Refferals are an inexpensive way to great list building

Give them a call, keep them in the loop, drop a card in the mail or at least send an e-card with a friendly introduction of your self. Hey, send some flowers or greenery! That always inspires good feelings. Seeing that beautiful bouquet sitting on the desk will remind them of you and will get comments too. Not all of us have the income yet to send flowers. For those of us who are too new in this journey you can keep that idea in mind when you are the head of a business so huge you will have other people doing the technical work, so you can take care of the core of your business, your customers and their satisfaction.

Make Success Your Reality!

Dejra is a Baby Boomer whose ideas come from 15 years in sales and is now sharing info on Affiliate Marketing as she learns them. Visit her blog at: Dejra’s Affiliate Review She uses the tools and resources from, Affiliate Cash Secrets, also on the blog.

Imagine the money you can save from providing all key CRM personnel in different divisions the needed software by using the centric approach to CRM - using the web. The web based CRM is easier to manage than most CRM versions out there.

Make the Web Your Platform

Using web based CRM allows you to share your information with your staff anytime and anywhere because it can be accessed through the Internet. Authorized personnel can access the information via a web browser. This type of CRM is ideal for small businesses with few workers.

You switch on your computer, go online, and check customer details, spot leads, and see how your employees are doing. Next, you can check out the customer accounts and call your accounts people to focus on overdue accounts. Before coffee break, you are ready for the day’s mind-mapping with the company’s strategists in a space of an hour or two. All these come easy with web based CRM.

You are still on top of everything. You have the information you need to manage your operations from your office without having to tramp all over the place, or punishing the buzzer and the office telephone lines. You are no titular head; you’re the boss. You are enjoying a cost-effective technology using a web based CRM for your business, something you admit you should have done long ago.

Using the Internet for CRM assures you fast access to business information, whether you are on a business trip to Switzerland or Dubai. You can always check on your business and your workers online and do not have to worry about the safety of your information. This platform assures you of information security with backups and virus protection.

Ultimate Control

Web based CRM gives you the vantage view over your warehouse stock, accounts, and real-time counter transactions or Point-of-sales (POS). Since you can keep an eye on operation, you can always help your personnel with their activities, increasing their efficiency. The seamless process saves time. Time saving technologies is appreciated by businesses of whatever type and size.

In the area of getting customer information, the details of any transaction are automatically entered into the databank. It is discreet as well as effective. Once the information is collected, you can monitor the products preferred and how often and how much the customer spends in your store.

Web based CRM can be customized to suit your type of information needs, from the stockroom to the POS, and is easy to use. Since CRM module is included, you can be alerted to trends in sales demographics, which improves your customer relations strategies.

Web Convenience

Using a web platform for CRM is ideal for small businesses. For a minimal fee, you get all the necessary features without having to buy software or hardware and get a license. There are no installation and other IT costs, and there is no need to pay for upgrades. The browser interface makes it easy for all to use.

The centric approach integrated networking of web based CRM, makes it possible for those authorized to connect to the core of the business - that is the customer and business information needed to keep the shop running, keep customers happy, and ensure quality control of services and products delivered on time.

Whatever your choice, whether it’s web based CRM, a hosted CRM solution, or small business CRM, get the right one for your business. Visit CRM-Software-Guide.com today for the latest news and information on CRM technology.

It should not be a trick question and in many organizations, it is.

Are all of the features and benefits that your company provides to its customers readily and easily accessible? And, do all of your employees know what the features and benefits are? Can they explain them?

Here is a little test for you. In your next meeting ask your employees what are the features and benefits of your company and why would someone want to do business with you. Most employees do not even know the company mission statement let alone the benefits that your company provides to its customers.

In fact, most of them can only tell you the top 2 or 3 “hot buttons” that are the flavor of the month in your service organization. They know that your product/personnel/market has changed and “here is how we are addressing this situation” TODAY! Anything deeper requires them to get the customer off the phone or have them wait in the lobby so they can “check with someone else” and find out that “Yes! Indeed! We do offer a lifetime guarantee on our widget, and we even provide a loaner while it is being serviced and repaired.”

How about making a list of all the features and benefits that your company provides and list those on a handy reference guide that is handed to all the front line, back line and any line that even has a remote chance of interacting with your customer? Tried it before you say? Too many to list you say?

Let’s see, I would rather A. Have my tongue tied to the back of a company truck bound for Needles or B. Make a reference guide that has the features and benefits of doing business with your company that every employee can read and hang on to and access IMMEDIATELY if needed or C. Just keep doing what we have been doing because IT IS SO MUCH FUN to have our CUSTOMERS (the people that pay the bills) wait for us to actually bring our business from the Dark Ages to the present, because we all know that there is a never ending supply of customers. Right?

Now that you have a Handydandy reference guide for your employees to use when helping your customers, ask all of your employees if they know the benefits of working in your company.

SURPRISE! Half of them don’t know anything except the days they get paid and when “my benefits kick in.” Out of the other half, a certain percentage of them can tell you what is acceptable on the expense form and what is not and the rest only show up at work because they know the address or that “there is a mini-mart on the corner where you make the turn into the driveway.”

Take the time to make your employees aware of the reason they come to work. It’s not a paycheck and it’s not because it’s “close to the house.” Not only are they there to make a living, they want to feel like they are part of the bigger picture. Tell them. Make them a part of the picture and not “just the people who hang the picture on the wall.”

Let them know of the features and benefits of your company. I bet that if you have a tuition reimbursement plan in your company and you asked 100 employees, 30 to 40 of them would not even know the plan existed. (It’s probably closer to 70) If your employees can get excited about the features and benefits of your company, they might begin to show some pride. And that will begin to show up on your Customer’s faces in the form of a smile.

AND NO, IT ISN”T OBVIOUS!

People are not mind readers. You cannot expect that because you handed them the company manual (it’s only 120 pages) and that it “explains everything and if you need anything just read it first before you ask me” that they know what you have to offer, what type of training you provide and why they should stay on with the company.

And no, they do not know the mission statement because it’s on the back of their security card or on a plaque hanging in the meet and greet room. If they can’t tell you what the mission statement is (or means), the purpose for them being there or why they do what they do, how can you expect them to help your Customers understand why it’s in their best interest to continue doing business with you?

Take the time to break it down, give them small bites of information or have “re-information meetings” if you need to, just get the word out.

Did this article hit a little close to home? Having trouble getting everyone on the same page? Maybe you are just frustrated with being frustrated. What are you going to do about it? Keep doing the same thing hoping for a different result? Call Leonard at 760-529-5635 and get some help. Or send an email to leonard@bizprotraining.com

Or just keep crying or wishing or whatever else you do to remain the same, because it’s easier.

Leading Seminars and Workshops in Communications and Leadership since 2006.

There is a big difference between you knowing what your customer wants and your customer knowing what they themselves want.

In any business transaction, there are two minds involved, yours and theirs. The fact that you’re there, means that you are looking to sell. The big issue is that it’s their mind the makes the decision to buy.

This is crucial. Remember…

Your (outside their head) perspective on their (inside their head) problem is not going to cross the chasm between their (inside their head) problem and your (outside their head) solution. You must cross that chasm. From the other side, their side, you can develop, find, and tweak a solution that they really want.

If you are marketing or selling, always start with their perspective and their understanding of their problem. Not your perspective and your understanding of their problem.

Here’s the stark reality.

No one is in your head.

No one is thinking your thoughts.

No one is seeing what you see.

No one is hearing what you hear.

No one is feeling what you feel.

That’s true for your friends, your family, and your customers.

There’s this great chasm between you and others. There is this lonely place of only your thoughts. A place no one can enter.

But, one of the great joys in life is in our relationships, where we connect with another person.

Have you noticed the pull of rapport? When someone says the same thing you do, don’t you? Why? Perhaps, they were thinking the same thing you were. That’s about as close to being in your thoughts as someone is going to get.

If someone likes the same thing you do…if someone is from the same town as you are…if someone has purchased the same thing you have…if someone likes the same music you do… There is a connection, because they have seemingly crossed the chasm.

In your best relationships, the rare ones, the special ones…the other person has invested so much time and attention in you that they routinely cross that chasm. They know you.

Do you know your customer?

Here’s a thought exercise.

Who do I trust most?

Well, if I’m honest, no matter what my current level of self-esteem, I’d say, “Me.” Because it’s my own thoughts and feelings that I rely on to make decisions. That’s true even when I don’t think I’m qualified to fully make a decision. Why? Because I’m the one who goes out and looks for help. Even when I’m not actively looking for help I have my antennas up for anything or anyone who could help. If I find or run into help, I make the decision to trust them. Therefore, in the end, I trust my thoughts and feelings about someone else’s reasonings and methods, before I accept their advice.

Makes sense.

But, why do I usually trust myself?

Because who more than I has my best interests at heart? Only I know what I really want…well at least a part of me thinks I do. And that’s the part I listen to anyway.

That’s me as a customer, someone looking for help, searching for a solution. That’s you. That’s your customer.

When it comes to your customers, who are they going to trust? You…an outsider…or themselves? Even if you are an authority, they are trusting their thoughts and decisions on your authority to make their decision. It’s all about them, in their own mind, thinking their own thoughts.

Now…suppose you’ve spent the time and the energy trying to see things from where they are?

Suppose you get to the point of understanding what they understand and see what they see?

Suppose you can clearly communicate this understanding?

What would be the result of you crossing the chasm?

Toussaint Goudeaux is a Principal with Ontologi, a strategic consulting firm focusing on… well, focus. Focus may be the missing ingredient for a business wanting to move to the next level. For more information please visit http://www.ontologi.com

The reality of Customer Satisfaction is in the eyes of the beholder - the customer. The sooner we realize and accept our customers’ perceptions of our products and services as reality, and accept it as our challenge, the sooner we will earn their confidence and become their permanent supplier of choice.

Customer connectivity represents a set of business processes touching on all aspects of the company. Customer satisfaction is a great deal more than the clichés “getting close to customers” and the motto “the customer is always right”. Since some companies sell to a variety of customers with varying and even conflicting desires and needs, the goal of getting close to the customers, and the motto that “the customer is always right”, are somewhat vague. We have also found no meaningful business philosophy in the terms “market driven” and “customer oriented”. Most business gurus use the phrases interchangeably and have difficulty in defining and communicating their scope and meaning. Successful business leaders go beyond these clichés and strive to provide their selected customers with products and services under the business philosophy of Customer Connectivity.

Because different customers have different needs, a company cannot effectively satisfy this wide range of needs equally. The most important strategic decision in the pursuit of Customer Connectivity is to choose the most important customers. All customers are important, but invariably some are more important than others. Collaboration among the various functions is important when pinpointing key target accounts and market segments. This done, sales people know whom to call on first and most often, the people who schedule production runs know who gets favored treatment; those who make service calls know who rates special attention. If the priorities are not made clear in the calm of planning meetings, they certainly won’t be when the sales, production scheduling and service dispatching processes get hectic.

Customer connectivity starts with customer selection however, the next phase is just as important. Company executives must gain a thorough understanding of their customers’ buying influences and their relevant needs. Such customer information must be communicated by these executives beyond the sales and marketing functions and permitted to “permeate every business function” - the R&D and design engineers, manufacturing/quality people and field-service specialists. When these technologists, for example, get unvarnished feedback on the way customers use their products, they can better develop improvements on the products and the production processes. If, on the other hand, market people predigest the information, technologists may miss opportunities for improvements.

Customer connectivity must be predicated on team dynamics and commitment. Serial communications, when one department passes an idea or request to another routinely, without interaction can’t build the team dynamics and commitment needed for Customer connectivity. Successful new products don’t, for example, emerge out of a process in which marketing sends a set of specifications to R&D; R&D sends the conceptual design to design engineering which sends finished blueprints and designs to manufacturing. But joint design/development reviews and decision-making, in which customer and supplier functional and divisional people share ideas and discuss alternative solutions and approaches, leverages the different strengths of each party. Powerful internal and external connections make new product development communications clear, coordination strong and commitment high.

Establishing effective business relationships with key customer personnel is paramount to making it easy for customers to do business with your company. From the shop floor to the front office, we must establish “one-on-one” customer communications that provide real-time customer input relative to business relations, product performance, and field service. We must convert these communications to action plans and put forth our best effort to quickly resolve all issues. Let’s remember that being nice to people is just 20% of providing good customer service. The important part is designing systems that allow you to do the job right the first time. All the smiles in the world are not going to help you if your products or service are unsatisfactory.

Individual and team direct-line communications with customers is the best approach to obtaining timely and relevant “how are we doing” feedback from customers. Customer satisfaction surveys are tedious, possibly supplier biased and not very accurate in their customer service portrayal. We prefer a “one-on-one” customer connectivity system!

About the Author: Bill Gaw ( http://bbasicsllc.com/BillGaw.htm ) is the founder of Business Basics, LLC and a “been there, done that” lean enterprise advocate. He is the developer of six e-training packages and seven e-training modules published to help individuals and companies reach their full growth and earning potentials.

His “back-to-basics” methodologies are not available in the books at Amazon.com neither in the APICS library, nor the Harvard Business School Press. You’ll find them all at: http://bbasicsllc.com

Customer loyalty is very emotional. How is your business sparking the emotions? Read this customer service coaching tip that highlights how one company continues to create loyalty among its clients.

In marketing, everyone knows that lumpy mail gets open first. Why? Because people have been conditioned to receiving gifts and such a gift for the most part creates positive emotions.

Think of Birthdays, Christmas, Anniversaries to special holidays such as Valentine’s Day to Mother’s Day to Father’s Day. Why do you like those days? Is a gift possibly involved? Be honest, most individuals like receiving gifts.

Imagine my surprise when I received some lumpy mail from EzineArticles. My curiosity was definitely peaked. So, I opened it first before anything else. Again, lumpy mail gets opened first.

Inside was a mouse pad along with a letter from the Editorial Team congratulating me on my writing success. Several accomplishments were highlighted. And beyond all of that they made me feel (emotion) pretty special when I read the following as a P.S.

The enclosed limited edition “EzineArticles Expert Author” mouse paid is only being sent to 500 members out of over 82,000! You are in rare company.:)

Now I submit articles to several directories. However, EzineArticles receives 100% of all my articles because they continue to spark the emotions that ignite my customer loyalty. The last emotional response was in 2007 when they added additional features allowing me to track the results from my writing efforts.

Every business has points of connection where their external customers see, hear, touch, smell, taste and feel. These interactions build emotions and emotions are the key predictor to maintaining loyal customers.

So many businesses are out beating the bushes, so to speak, to attract new buyers of their goods or services that they fail to maintain existing ones. Peter Drucker has stated that the purpose of business is to attract and maintain customers. These organizations truly do not understand the purpose of business and are only measuring one of the two factors for business success - profits.

After speaking to over hundreds of small business owners, real estate agents, insurance agents, financial advisors, to C-Level executives on business building, I have yet to find one company that measures the other factor - relationships. And it is those very same relationships where new business comes from.

Every company can literally increase sales with a click of a mouse when they look to their existing client data base. The first question should be: What can be do to build customer loyalty? Then this should be followed by: How do we grow our business through these clients:

* Who make the referrals?
* Who increase our profitability?
* Who willingly share their testimonials with others?
* Who are more forgiving when we make mistakes?

The final question should be: After we answer and execute questions one and two, what other sales actions should we be taking?

Questions one and two work on the emotions of people who already have an emotional connection to you. Question three suggests that you have to build the emotional connection. So what is easier?

* Working with something you have?
* Or
* Working with something you do not have?

Take this customer service coaching tip and begin to spark the emotions that ignite customer loyalty The results will be truly reflect why you are in business.

Do you know how to spark the emotions? Then maybe your executive team needs to walk in your customers shoes and discover the points of connection with your customer service experience.

Are your selling skills up to the task developing raving fans? Take this sales skills assessment.