Small Business Personal Development

Small Business Tips on Customer Service Skills

Are your customer service skills up to par? Do you need a refresher in your business? Even if you don’t, reviewing these 7 tips can be beneficial. Just to know that you are on the right track gives you more confidence in dealing with those uncomfortable situations that crop up from time to time

1 – Never be afraid to say you are sorry

Apologies are miracle workers. A simple “I’m sorry for your inconvenience” right off the bat will often smooth a customer’s ruffled feathers and make it easier to find a workable resolution to any problem. Whether the problem is your fault or not, care about your customer enough to apologize — and waste no time in offering it.

2 – Listen to the customer

Give the customer time to explain what happened and air their frustrations. First of all, if you don’t find the time to listen, they’ll find someone who will. And you probably don’t want that. Second, you need to know exactly what happened in order to prevent it from happening in the future.

3 – Address complaints quickly

Learn the art of small business triage. If you’ve got an unhappy customer at the counter and the phone rings, let someone else pick up the phone or let it go to voicemail. If you receive a customer complaint via email, don’t wait three days to reply. Negative comments and complaints need your immediate attention, so treat them like the emergencies they are.

4 – Remember what they say about an ounce of prevention. If you meet your clients’ expectations at every turn, you can avoid many problems in the first place. Also, if you promise a free meal for your customer’s trouble, don’t hand them a coupon for 10% off. Say what you mean and keep your promises.

5 – Deliver on your promisesNever assume your customers are blind to what’s going on behind the scenes. Don’t blame others for your mistakes or make excuses for your errors. To do otherwise is to add insult to injury. Just acknowledge the mistake and do what you can to make things right.

6 – Gives your employss powerNothing is more frustrating for a customer than to hear that nothing can be done to rectify the situation. Give your employees the power to make your customers happy whenever possible. Don’t force customers to go to a manager when a small freebie or immediate discount can be offered by your cashier or waitress.

7 – Realize some customers will never be satisfied

Some customers will never be satisfied no matter how many times you say I’m sorry or how many ways you offer to fix the problem. Don’t let these people affect the way you do business with the rest of your customers. Let go of what you can’t change, and greet the rest of your customers with a friendly smile.

I hope this quick refresher in customer service skills for business has been beneficial to you. Is there anything you would like to add?

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Small Business Start Up Advice for Owners

Randal Charlton has had long, colorful career with plenty of ups and downs; he’s done everything from tending dairy cows for a Saudi sheik to starting a jazz club in Florida. And as a lifelong entrepreneur, he has bought and sold 14 different companies. He shares some strategies for small business start ups from a personal development perspectivehere. Written by Mark Miller

Randal Charlton

Charlton built TechTown by raising $24 million from foundations and government, and gathering together an impressive array of resources for training and start-up funding. He recruited a small army of start-ups that have created a total of more than 1,800 local jobs — not only in high-tech industries. “There’s an absence of everything from grocery stories to dry cleaners and taxi services in the city,” Charlton says. “We need to provide services to a broad range of entrepreneurs.” TechTown has been home to 250 companies, and more than 2,200 entrepreneurs have graduated from its training programs.

Charlton recently transitioned to a new role heading up a program focused specifically on helping Detroit adults over age 50 transition to new careers, entrepreneurship and volunteer service. The idea for BOOM! The New Economy began to germinate after Charlton noticed the outsized number of older adults attending TechTown conferences and entrepreneur training.

When I asked Charlton for his top tips for would-be, he walked me through a seven-point plan of advice based on his own numerous and colorful life experiences:

1. Get fit and keep fit. Running a business requires physical and mental stamina.

2. Focus on skill sets. Think about finding work tied to your strengths, rather than your former title.

3. Plan an exit as you enter. If you are partnering with others, think about how you can set up your business so that you have a “pre-nup” that allows you after a few years to pass the business along, and therefore get some value out of it.

4. Mitigate risk. Stabilizing your personal expenses is one way to do this. Charlton says he was “ruthless when setting up my own business at age 60. I had no credit card debt, rented a small apartment and then built a small house later on, when I could afford it. I still drive a 10-year-old car. I made sure that if the business went south I wouldn’t be left with a lot of personal debt.”

5. Leverage everything and anyone who offers help. “Universities, economic development agencies, states and cities have an incredible number of services that they want to offer to small businesses to help create jobs,” he says. “The challenge is identifying them.”

6. Network, network, network. “Forget resumes. If you send out enough resumes you will need anti-depressants quickly. Most jobs are obtained by knowing people who know people.”

7. Get in the game. “Don’t stand on the outside waiting for a plum job to come along. Volunteer or work as an intern.”

Great advice here. Though Charlton is now working with the over 50’s, those younger entrepenuers should take heed of these tips as well. That brings to mind another point, don’t under estimate the ‘oldies’, there wisdom gained over the years could save alot of pain and suffering, so don’t forget to ask for help… even when you feel like you don’t need it 🙂

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