Tag Archives: customer service

Are You Offering Anything Original?

One of the things that sets us apart in our home businesses from others in our market is when we do or offer something completely original. Whether it is a product, a service, or the way we go about doing business (our service delivery), if we can offer something original, it will differentiate us and may help us to attract and keep clients and customers. It is hard to be original! It can seem like everything has already been done and been done over and over again at that. People are constantly coming up with new inventions and products, however, … Continue reading →

Using Customer Questions to Make Improvements

When customers or clients ask questions, it can be a good jumping off place for us as to the areas of our businesses that need work. If things are confusing or do not quite work for those we do business with, they will likely come up as a question or a problem. Instead of simply feeling resentful or answering the question and moving on—if a question pops up (particularly if it pops up repeatedly) it is a good thing to investigate and see if there is room for improvement. I have found that questions and problems can be a great … Continue reading →

Why Petco Is Where I Go (Now)

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A few years ago, when my friends adopted their wiggle-pup Casey, I scrambled for a good gift. I didn’t know what kind of treats the puppy would like, and they’d already shopped for toys, a crate, a bed, and food. In the end, I went with a Petco gift card. Since then, I’ve been on the Petco mailing list. Most of the time (let’s say 99 out of a hundred) I brush past the emails and don’t pay much attention. A recent mailing caught my eye: sale on Frontline. What perfect timing! I was out of Frontline, it was nearly … Continue reading →

Consider More Flexible Contracts

There is an impression that a contract has to be an iron-clad, rigid agreement between two parties. More and more—both in the business world and in other realms—people are looking for and expecting more flexibility in their contracts. Instead of trying to pin everything and everyone down to rigid rules and regulations, more people are looking for contracts that allow room and encouragement to change and expand. In your home business, you might consider how creating more flexible work agreements with our clients, customers, and vendors can help you grow your business and adjust to changing expectations. You might not … Continue reading →

Take Extra Time to Find the Answers

Recently, I was at a hotel and I asked a question which the two desk clerks obviously didn’t know the answer to. One of them answered with a very sincere and apologetic, “I don’t know,” while the other one said to me “If you can wait a few minutes, I will see what I can find out.” Ordinarily, I would have been quite understanding and appreciate the apologetic “I don’t know.” After all, I would much rather someone simply tell me when they do not know the answer than to try to bluff. But, I realized that the clerk who … Continue reading →

Is Schmoozing a Thing of the Past?

When I was a kid and I watch some of my favorite television shows like “Bewitched”—it seemed that all the business that Darren accomplished was done by “schmoozing”—dinner parties and lunches where it seemed that the conversation was seldom about work. I was led to believe that this was how business relationships were nurtured and this was how business was done. In my early years of working and in the years I worked as a fundraiser and development person for nonprofit agencies, it was still assumed that “schmoozing” was how to get things done. From what I have been reading … Continue reading →

Engaging Your Customers

We cannot make sales or get contracts if we cannot get prospective clients and customers interested in what our business is all about. This may sound incredibly simplistic and obvious, but marketing a home business is about more than just hanging up the “open” shingle and opening the doors. While we do have to spread our message and get it out in front of our market, we also need to engage our customers so that they will become interested and attached to what we do in our business. Engaging our customers and clients means that we need to find ways … Continue reading →

We Cannot Control What Others Do

I know that I often write here in the Home Business blog about how we can strive to improve our relationships with our clients and customers, and we also talk about ways to improve sales and communication skills. I also think it is important, however, to point out that while we can do our best to work with other people, we really cannot control what anybody else does. We really can just do our best and focus on what we can do and how we can improve our own skills, but we are not going to be able to force … Continue reading →

Try to Exceed Expectations

Whether your home business involves working with many customers or just a couple clients; whether you meet with your customer and clients on a regular basis or only talk to them on the phone or via e-mail—customer service is imperative. One of the most basic rules of good customer service is to try to exceed the expectations of the customer or client… Surely you have heard the phrase: “under promise and over-deliver?” This is another version of the cardinal rule of making sure that you exceed what your customers, clients and prospects are expecting from you. This can mean coming … Continue reading →

Getting into the Blame Game with Your Customers

Intellectually, we may know that blaming someone else seldom goes well. It normally puts people on the defensive and is a way of deflecting responsibility. In our home businesses, we will likely find ourselves on both sides of the “blame game”—either a customer or client is blaming us for something going wrong, or we want to hold the other party responsibility. Finding ways to create peace and avoid the blame game is one way to make things go smoother, but we also need to develop skills for getting OUT of the cycle once we are in it. I guarantee you … Continue reading →