customer service

Provide Stellar Customer Service Without Breaking the Bank

Just read Grow Your Business: 10 Outrageous Customer Services Ideas for Kick Ass Friday, a great post by my neighbor here in Lake Wylie, Russell White, on his Grow Your Business Blog. Russell talked about ten very simple and cheap things that virtually any business can implement that will excel their customer service through the roof. Many of these items appear to be common sense, but are they? I go into businesses every day that are hardly doing any of these things? Look at your business. If you are not doing some of these things, you should ask yourself, why not? In most cases, Customer Service is about the little things that are often overlooked – not the expensive things that you can’t afford.

A few more little fixes you can add to Russell’s list:

Don’t allow employees to huddle outside around the front door and smoke. As Larry Winget says, your front door is the opening to the “cathedral” of customer service. It is not a smoke hole. If your employees must smoke, send them around back. Better yet, ditch the smoking altogether. Few customers want to get the waiter that smells like he just smoked a pack.

Is your parking lot full of litter? Are weeds growing through cracks in the sidewalk or parking lot? Does your building look clean and well kept or is the paint faded and chipping away? Are letters burned out on your signage? If you don’t keep up the appearance of your building, it looks bad on you. Why would a customer think you would care about providing them with great service if you can’t even manage to shoot a little RoundUp (weed killer) on the weeds in the parking lot and put a fresh coat of paint on every few years?

Ditch Bad Employees! Bad employees hurt your customer service across the board. They are obviously bad with customers, but there bad habits and attitudes are like a bad virus that spreads throughout your Company and will turn other employees bad too. Everyone is replaceable (yes, everyone – even that guy you are thinking right now is not replaceable – he is too), especially in today’s business climate. If someone is letting their attitude get in the way of stellar customer services, find someone with a better attitude.

Can you think of any others?

 

Donna Bordeaux, CPA with Calculated Moves

Creativity and CPAs don’t generally go together.  Most people think of CPAs as nerdy accountants who can’t talk with people.  Well, it’s time to break that stereotype.  Lively, friendly, and knowledgeable can be a part of your relationship with your CPA as demonstrated by Donna and Chad Bordeaux.  They have over 50 years of combined experience as entrepreneurial CPAs.  They’ve owned businesses and helped business owners exceed their wildest dreams.   They have been able to help businesses earn many times more profit than the average business in the same industry and are passionate about helping industries that help families build great memories.