How to defeat spam at the roots

Just about everyone goes trough the hassle of removing unnessecary spam
in their inbox every day. If you have a fresh and unused email address and
want it so stay clean of spam mails then you should consider these steps bellow.

But to understand why you should consider these steps we will talk
about spiders (also known as: bots,address harvester,parser,the list goes on..) first.

Never think your email address is safe because a human beeing has to register or do any
other fancy stuff to see your address. And please consider that today almost anything
is beeing spidered by google and other bigger search engines. That means that entering
your email address in private guestbooks or bulleting boards is not safe at all,
because it is indexed by these engines. Most email address harvester start their search
in the big indexes like google,dmoz or yahoo.

In these days you can automate about everything a human can do except writing semaphorically
correct letters or articles. Even if you display your email address
as an image on your bussiness website the bots will be able to decipher it
and get your mailbox filled with unnesecary spam.

A good script or bot can even knock out these fancy captchas.

7 steps how you can avoid getting your new email address awash with spam.

1. Do not enter your real email address in guestbooks or bulletin boards (even if they are register only).
2. Do not activate images or even html emails in your email client. When loading images there is the risk that you will send your identification to the spammers server and he will set your email address to valid (and probably resell it).
3. If you really want to give your email address away, you should obfuscate it as much as possible (still human readable though). As an example for your.nameexample.com use your[dot]name(at)example[dot]com, this will not stop all the bots but you will get less spam for sure.
4. If you have your own domain you should use the catch all function and use email addresses like .iregisterhere.comyourdomain.com so you can always block that specific address when someone begins sending spam or sold your address.
5. If you only want to read some information on a register only bulletin board or site you should use a disposable email address like .mailslapping.com/ .
6. Use a good antivirus and mal-,spy- and adware detection tool. They often steal your addressbook and resell the addresses, including your own.
7. Do not use those fancy and 99 percent useless browser toolbars. They often include malware and/or spyware that can even capture data you enter in web forms.

You are on the safe side if you do not blindly trust the sites which want you to enter your
email address. If you use your email address for direct contact with a serious business or company
there is most likely no harm. Deactivate HTML rendering of your emails in the mail client of your choice.

If you use a email address from a free service like GMX, Yahoo, or your local provider. There is most
likely an option which lets you filter spam on the server. This way you can stop spam before its in your
inbox. Its always better to block aggressive and explicitly allow the sender addresses you want. This way you
probably loose a mail or two, but it is not an email from someone you really need to receive mails.

There are also some good blacklists out there. If you can configure your mailserver to use them (or your mailclient) then
you really should. These blacklists grow everyday and are pretty well up to date. One of them is SpamHaus (just google for email blacklist).

It depends on your needs but the more of these steps you can follow the less spam you will get.

Communication is one of the most important industries in the world. People have a need to talk, to get in touch with their friends and family, no matter where they are in the world. We started with letters sent with any individual traveling in that direction, which progressed to the postal system. With the advent of the Internet, we exchanged snail mail for email and later instant messengers

Somehow though, it just wasn’t enough. We needed to hear their voices not just read their words. With the help of great inventors, we progressed from the telephone to cellular phone to again utilizing the Internet to make calls.

Skype has been among the pioneers of this system. Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP as they call it, has been instrumental in bridging the distances between people. It means a lot to people to be able to actually greet their special someone happy birthday on that very special day without the exorbitant costs that land line or mobile telecommunications company charge per call.

Skype has been a wonderful service, much appreciated and enjoyed by everyone who prefers voice chat to email or messages. It is easy to use: simply download, sign up, tell your friends to do the same and you can talk with each other for free! Who could ask for more?

Skype, apparently though has become a little ambitious. After they were bought by Ebay, things seem to have begun to slide downhill. They’ve announced new paid services such as SkypeOut and SkypeIn. They are great ideas, for sure. This is why some of the Skype users who have been very happy with the free service agreed to pay the premium.

Unfortunately, while they may be expanding their products’ abilities to get new users, they have forgotten to take care of their existing subscribers. The service has deteriorated since I first signed up. Unfortunately, Skype doesn’t seem to care.

Since I didn’t want to kick up a fuss if there was a way for me to fix the problem myself, I checked out the Sykes home page again. I was happy to see that they had a help page with a trouble shooting guide. Unfortunately, even after following the various instructions and suggestions- it still wasn’t working properly.

Usually when that happens, I call the company to ask for further assistance. So I looked for a phone number where I could reach Skype’s customer service. I searched all over the page and didn’t find any number that I could call. The link marked “Contact Us” lead to a page that basically said before contacting them, I should read the help pages. No problem I had done that.

It now said that if I didn’t find the answer in their knowledge base I should contact their customer support. I now clicked on the link for that and ended up at an online ticketing system for complaints. Now, I’m glad they are taking down the complaints in black and white, and I do appreciate that it seems to be on a first in, first out basis. What upsets me is that absolutely nothing seems to be happening.

I told them how I was having some trouble with the service. I mentioned how more frequently it happens that the people I call can hear me but I can’t hear them in the middle of our conversation. I asked if they could please give me feedback on how to resolve the problem. After I filled out their form, I got their infamous acceptance message saying, “If your inquiry requires a response, we will get back to you within three days”. What the?! I thought every customer deserved to get a response, even if it’s just to get pointed to the right part of the forum!

Skype is so busy building up their new communication products that they’ve stopped communicating with their existing clients. They have obviously forgotten that great customer service is what will keep the numbers in their database up. If people don’t get the assistance they need, they will leave; especially now that the service of the product itself is deteriorating.

Are they now so big that they can’t be talked with? Is it too much to ask that they put in a few more people to take care of answering the support requests? Or have they already spread themselves so thin that they can’t afford to hire more people? No wonder the service is beginning to suck.

I truly don’t appreciate how impersonally Skype is handling customer service. I pay for SkypeOut, I got billed but to date, it still isn’t working properly. I sent Skype both a support request (from their site) and an email, to the email address of their billing team (the address of which by the way I did not find on their website but through searching the web for other Skype complaints). I still have no action from them. Talk about wasted money!

What amazes me is that Skype doesn’t even have “live chat” or some other similar help desk program so that we customers with concerns and who want to continue using Skype can talk with someone in Sykes who can help. Considering that Sykes is a communication company, I’d have thought that they would create one themselves. That little software for customer service is an absolute treasure!

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, after all the site is obviously geared to attracting new users only. Skype seems to be interested in just making more and more money; and bringing in more users. They obviously don’t care if their subscribers leave because they get no assistance and maintenance services from them.

Cardinal rule of any business, Skype, is to take care of your customers. Your repeat business usually in the long run can make you more money than new subscribers will. It would do your business a lot of good if you would pay attention to your subscribers and give them their money’s worth. I know I’m disappointed in the service…..

How can that be? If you allow refunds, you are losing sales. The short-term answer is perhaps. The objective of every business is to increase profits for the long - term.

If you have a no refund policy, many customers will either not make a purchase or buy less merchandise. These customers are reluctant to spend their money, in case the product isn’t right. Yes, they could exchange it for other merchandise. However, if you don’t have what they want currently, you have their money and they have nothing.

Why are owners afraid of giving money-back? There are three main reasons and the fears are the result of short-term thinking.

1.Owners can’t stand seeing cash going out of the register. This results in fewer sales for the day.

2.The owner worries about bogus refunds. If you have proper controls, this will seldom happen. The people taking advantage of bogus refunds concentrate on large stores.

3.Owners are concerned with too much merchandise being returned. You could have a few customers taking advantage of this. If they are bringing back resalable product, it should not be a concern.

Most large companies have a return policy that is favorable to the customers. This encourages customers to spend more money. The customer knows unwanted merchandise can be returned. The increase in sales and profits will outweigh the risk of bogus returns with proper controls.

Just have a specific refund policy in place. For example, it could be a cash refund with the original receipt and within 30 days of the purchase. The longer the return period, the less likely you will get a return. Customers will put the merchandise aside and or lose the receipt.

Your refund policy can be a huge advantage against your small competitors. Too many owners don’t take advantage of separating themselves from the other businesses. It would be a good idea to have several professional signs at least 8.5 x 11 around the store with your refund policy. Using bright color paper will make this stand out even more.

Here is an example of what to put on the sign:

Refunds Gladly Made With Receipt

The sign behind the register area could have the full details.

You must explain and make sure all of your employees understand and follow the customer friendly refund policy. There could be some resistance to change especially with employees on commission. However, let them know long-term the refund policy will result in increase sales and commissions. If they still don’t want to follow the policy, you are better-off if they worked somewhere else.

Take the first step in improving your sales and profits by improving customer service with a friendly refund policy. Take off that short-term hat and carry out polices and strategies that will increase your sales and profits long-term.

You can have the best products, the plushest offices, the best location, but unless you are a ‘customer focused’ business, all of this counts for nothing, you will never really hit the heights you deserve.

So what can you do to build a business which focuses outwardly on the customer, and not inwardly on the business?

Build Passion and Commitment

The first building block is passion and commitment. This is the very foundation stone of a customer focused business. Without passion and commitment the structure you will build above will be weak and prone to collapse at the first sign of stress.

The passion and commitment has to come from you and your staff. All of you have to totally believe in the concept of the customer being the centre of everything you do. From the moment you step into work everyone has to do whatever it takes to satisfy the customer.

As the key person in the business what can you do to build passion and commitment? Lead from the front and set an example. Keep the concept at the top of the agenda and demonstrate it in everything you do. Keep talking about it. Celebrate all the great examples of putting the customer totally in focus.

Build Processes Around Your Customer Not The Business

All great businesses have clearly laid down processes on how to get things done. Whether you have a formal Process Manual or a Quick Reference Guide, which sets out your processes, a clear procedure provides confidence and clarity for both your staff and the customer.

But don’t just build your processes around making things easier for you, build them to make things easier for the customer. Look at every step in the process and ask yourself, “Can we do something to make it even easier for the customer to do business with us?”Are there steps which can be refined or even eliminated all together? Be inquisitive, bold and challenging!

Build a Relationship

Building a relationship with your customer is at the very heart of a customer focused model. Build a strong, firm relationship and you will have a customer for life. The basis of relationship building is A.B.C. &ndash Always Be Communicating. Here are some ideas on building an enduring and profitable relationship through ABC:

• Make a point to periodically call your customers. Set up a diary system to provide you with a regular reminder or prompt. Call them even if you have nothing sell! A strange concept perhaps but you never know what will come out of the conversation

• Issue quarterly newsletters telling them about your latest products, what you have planned for the future, a customer profile, news about new employees. Find anything which would be of interest and at the same time binding both of you closer together

• Make it a point during any conversation to find out something about the business you didn’t know before. File away any interesting fact and think how you can use it in the future. Imagine how powerful it would be when you ask how the idea they mentioned in your last conversation was going!

• Do memorable things. Send birthday or anniversary cards to your key contact, a simple thank you note for doing business with us, send articles or newspaper cuttings, which you think will be of interest to them

Build a Culture of ‘Wanting To Know’

If you are to build a reputation for being customer focused you should be making an effort to find out on a regular basis what they want from you. This can be achieved by either an informal phone call or a more formal survey via mail or e-mail. Find out what they like about your business, what they don’t like and what changes they would like to see.

Having gathered together all the information, suggestions and ideas, set out an action plan to follow up. Once you have acted upon the workable suggestions, get in touch with the customers again and tell them what you have done in response to their comments. This will demonstrate that you have taken their ideas seriously and really care about what they think. Powerful stuff!

Being customer focused can be very rewarding and help in building a great business. Which of these steps are you going to put into practice today? Remember this &ndash let the customer be your focus and you will become their focus.

When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, little did he realise the positive effect it would have on customer service &ndash or the negative effect it could also have!

Yes, the telephone can be a great tool in helping to provide exceptional customer service but it can also quickly destroy a customer’s perception of your service. What steps can you take to ensure that, whenever you or your staff use the phone, it adds something positive to the customer experience?

Here are some ideas.

Answer Promptly

It’s an old tip but one usually ignored! You are sitting at your desk, deep in thought, writing your monthly report and the phone rings. “I’ll just finish this sentence quickly…” you say to yourself and before you know it, the phone has rung 10 times. The caller is unlikely to be in a good mood &ndash assuming he hasn’t already hung up!

Just try and remember the last time you sat on a phone with it ringing and ringing. What pictures came into your mind while you were waiting? An image of the person you are trying to call sitting at his desk chatting or casually drinking a cup of coffee? Didn’t get you in a good mood did it? So why put your customers through it?

Aim to answer your phone within 3 to 5 rings. A prompt pick-up will get the conversation off to a positive start and also avoids you having to open your conversation with an apology.

So, get to the phone as quick as you can.

Be Enthusiastic

When you answer the phone make sure your voice conveys the message, “Really happy to be speaking to you!” Make your voice light, bring a feeling of enthusiastic emotion to your tone and most importantly sound eager. You don’t want the caller thinking that you would rather be doing something else … even if you do!

Get a real upbeat feeling into your opening greeting. Say your “Good morning” or “Good afternoon” with a strong, enthusiastic tone. This will immediately lift your caller’s spirits and get you both off to a good start.

If you really are having a bad day (and we all get them!), and enforced enthusiasm is going to be struggle, stand up and take the call. This helps makes your voice lighter and the change in position and body language can have a positive impact. Try it out.

Listen To What They Have To Say

You may think that you listen intently to all conversations you have. It’s difficult enough to do this when you are face-to-face with someone, but over the phone without eye contact, keeping your attention is even more difficult. It’s too easy, especially if the caller has a habit of padding out every point he wants to make, to think about the task you were just interrupted on, or about that chat you had with one of your suppliers earlier. Before you know it, you’ve lost track of what the caller is on about.

Actively listening to what is being said is a skill everyone needs if they are to use the phone as a tool for great customer service. But how can you keep your attention focused on what is being said?

• First of all, commit to yourself that you will actively listen. Without a clear commitment nothing ever happens

• Take notes during every call, even if you don’t need to. The act of having to capture the caller’s key points, will force you to listen. Just focus on writing down keywords, not complete sentences otherwise you’ll be concentrating on writing and not listening!

• If an important statement has been made, repeat it back in your own words. This will force you to listen for the key points worth repeating

• Ask questions. Don’t go too far with a constant barrage of questions but ask just enough to keep your mind alert

Active listening is not just about making sure you pick up all the key points; it’s also about respecting the caller. They will feel they have been treated with importance and respect if it’s clear you have been listening. Relevant questions and the occasional “Umm” can go a long way to making the caller feel they have been listened to.

Avoid Distractions

If possible, try and remove as many distractions as you can while speaking on the phone, especially if the call is important. If your office door is open and general office noise is affecting your listening, ask the caller to hold for a moment and close the door.

If someone walks into your office while you are taking an important call, indicate for him to stay outside or come back. It can be very distracting having someone sitting at your desk while you are talking.

If you were working on your PC when the call came through, turn and face away from it. You don’t want your eyes and mind wandering back to look at the document you were working on!

Respect the caller’s time and remove or avoid anything which may cause your mind to drift off.

Finish Strongly

When the call is coming to an end it’s important to finish in a strong, convincing way. Summarise what has been agreed, what actions are to be taken and by whom. Leave the caller in no doubt as to what the next step is.

Just as your opening was full of enthusiasm, so should your closing statement. A good, strong and positive, “Good to talk you and speak to you soon” closer will bring the call to a satisfactory end. Your customer will hang up knowing that the call was worthwhile.

Answer Phone and Voicemail Messages

If you are not at your desk or in the office, any recorded message you leave is just as important in creating the right impression as the actual call itself. Some people don’t like leaving messages but if your phone has the capability then use it. By leaving a message at least your customer will have the opportunity to partly satisfy the reason he called. Not being able to say anything can be frustrating.

Here are some thoughts on how to record effective messages:

• Write out the message before you record it. Don’t do it off the cuff as it will probably be full of “umms” and pauses. It won’t sound professional

• When recording, speak slowly and carefully, making sure that the caller can understand everything you say. This is especially the case for telephone numbers where you can be reached in an emergency

• Make the message punchy and too the point. Don’t fill it with unnecessary information

• Call your number and listen to the message. If it doesn’t sound right record it again and again until it does

• Regularly change your message to reflect what you are doing. If you are going to be away on holiday, give a date when you will be back. If you are out only for the morning, tell the caller you will return their call in the afternoon. Messages which are up to date will make the caller more confident about leaving a message

If used correctly the telephone can be a great asset in building a reputation for providing exceptional customer service. Used incorrectly, it can damage your business and give another reason for your customers to go and take their business elsewhere.

Just imagine. You have walked out of a shop or put down the phone after purchasing something and your immediate reaction is “Wow!” How do you feel? Excited; satisfied; fulfilled … eager to return and buy again?

Wouldn’t it be great if you could get your customers to feel the same way about dealing with you?

Lots of small business owners (and not so small!) seem to think that the customer is merely an interference. But how can you get your customers all pumped up and ready to do business with you again?

I’ll share some tips on exactly how you can get a ‘Wow!” response and show how it can positively impact your bottom line.

Get promising

These days too many businesses seem reluctant to commit to anything. As a result, you walk away with a nagging doubt that nothing is going to happen and so the whole experience is not pleasant. What a refreshing change to get a business that provides a firm promise on dates and times or opening hours.

Can you provide a clear promise to your customers? Have a think about each aspect of your business and highlight all your ‘promisables’ in your sales and marketing material. One great tip &ndash under promise and over deliver. Promise delivery in 7 days, knowing you can do it in 3 days. When the goods arrived 4 days before expected, that’s a ‘Wow’ factor if ever there was one!

Important point &ndash if you can’t deliver it, don’t promise it!

Be a Tigger

Remember Tigger from Winnie the Pooh? He’s all over the place; bouncing up and down with endless energy and enthusiasm. He just leaves his friends breathless! What a great person to be with and do business with.

Are you enthusiastic when you speak and deal with your customers? Are your staff brimming with enthusiasm? If you can’t project an image which says “I’m happy to be here”, how can you expect your customers to feel different? So, have a Tigger day every day!

First impressions

If you have a shop or office where customers visit you, what do your premises say about your business? Is it modern, fresh-looking, clean and tidy? Or is it worn, tired and generally looking run down? Like it or not, customers will judge you on what they see. They may say ‘Wow’ but for all the wrong reasons!

A pot of paint and a splash of colour can make all the difference and it doesn’t have to cost the earth (these DIY programmes have a lot to answer for!).

Be a problem solver

Despite all businesses believing they have great customer service, the fact is that the majority don’t. The main reason is that when people complain, most feel that they have not been listened to and their problem has not been solved.

Be a solver of problems - quickly and efficiently. Here’s a motto for you &ndash ‘Resolve to Solve’.

Be their friend

I don’t know about you, but I am a sucker for business owners who take their time to know me and recognise me when I next call or visit! The bond and the desire to do more business with those types of entrepreneurs, is strong for me.

Do you take time to build a relationship with all your key clients? Do you go out of your way to greet them when they next do business? As the saying goes, aim to turn strangers into friends and friends in to customers.

Value for money

In this day and age of new technology, and the hefty prices that go with it, the concept of giving great value is sometimes forgotten. Creating a ‘Wow’ moment can be as simple as giving a little bit extra, something unexpected. It doesn’t have to be of huge value, it’s genuinely the thought that counts.

Don’t restrict this idea just to price. Price on its own may not work, it has to be tied in with something else &ndash 2 for 1, a small gift etc.

The quality of your product must also reflect value for money. Don’t try and pass off an inferior product with a superior price &ndash you’ll again create the wrong type of ‘Wow’ moment! Medium price and great quality &ndash a definite and positive ‘Wow’.

Call them

The real killer ‘Wow’ is calling your customer a few days after he has bought. Asking him if the product is fine, whether it does what he wanted it to do, is one sure way of stopping him in his tracks! If everything is great, then you have a customer for life. If there is a problem, wonderful; you have the opportunity to put it right and … have a customer for life. This is a very simple and powerful way of creating ‘Wow’.

So that’s it. If you follow theses simple ideas, all your customers will be saying ‘Wow’ and they will be coming back time and time again. Who knows, they may even tell their friends? Now there’s a thought.

Being is business isn’t just about getting a customer, selling him something and moving onto the next one. It’s all about making sure that your customers keep coming back to you … and spend more money!

But how can you make sure that your customers stay customers for life? What strategies can you put into practice to keep bringing them back for more? A planned customer retention programme is something every established small business should have in place. That sounds great, but what is a retention plan and what should it include?

Do the Groundwork

Before starting a retention programme, you need to understand where your business stands now as regards its retention track record. Ask yourself these 3 questions:

1. Do you know how many customers you have lost in the last 12 months?

2. If you do know how many, do you know why they stopped dealing with you?

3. Have you ever quantified the impact these losses have had on your bottom line?

Before you can put an effective retention plan in place, you have to answer these questions. They are the key to understanding and implementing an effective retention strategy. Let’s look at each of them in turn.

How Many Have You Lost?

It’s essential you know how many people stop doing business with you at any one time. Keep a database of all your frequent customers; how often they buy; what they buy and in what quantity. Every month review the information and see if you can spot any worrying trends. Has the average order value been declining over the last 3 months? Has one customer’s regular order dried up altogether? If someone orders a large range of items each month but suddenly stops purchasing one particular range, why?

If you can’t track the customers you are loosing, how can you keep them or tempt them back?

Why Have They Turned Their Back On You?

Armed with the information on who’s deserting you, the fight back can start in earnest! There are sometimes very good reasons why business can dry up &ndash the owner could have died, moved away, or closed down. Not a lot you can do about that! But what about more worrying reasons? Your product quality has gone down hill; the customer feels he is no longer getting value for money; your general service levels have declined. These are areas you have to know about, so you can get the business back on track.

If you see a slippage in business and you can identify who is contributing to it, then pick up the phone and get talking! Find out what the problem is. If you can bring them back into the fold, then great but if it’s genuinely too late, then at least you have gathered some important knowledge about where the business is going wrong.

What Has It Cost You?

You may be thinking that the odd customer here and there is not going to have a major impact on your lifestyle. Think again! Remember, it’s not just one sale, it’s a lifetime of sales that you are loosing. Supposing a customer spends $1,000 per month with you. He walks away into the sunset and you never see him again. Imagine that he could have been doing business with you for the next 20 years &ndash that’s $240,000!

Interested now? Well you should be! Working out the financial impact of loosing just one customer can really bring home the impact on the business. This should galvanise you into action and get you working on a retention plan.

Your Retention Plan

Having now convinced you that you need a Customer Retention Plan, what exactly should it include?

1. Have a system in place which allows you to answer all the questions we have just reviewed. Understand what is going on in the business, so you can identify and put matters right. Make sure you know who you lost, why you lost them and how much it has and will cost you

2. Get your staff together on a regular basis and remind them of the importance of retaining your customers. If you don’t get them on board then you have no hope

3. During your staff meetings hold brainstorming sessions so everyone can come up with ideas on how to hold onto your customers

4. Implement the good ideas and measure the results so you know what is working and what is not

A good retention plan can be just as effective as a good marketing plan; they achieve the same results &ndash a contribution to profit. So, sit down and have a think about the steps you can put in place to keep your customers.

I saw a sign in shop one day, it said, “It’s not how many come in, it’s how many come back that’s important.” Doesn’t that say it all!

Have you been double-charged on your credit card? Did the poor service at that restaurant ruin your special evening? Were the flowers you ordered delivered to the wrong address? Then it’s time you write a complaint letter that gets the situation resolved to your satisfaction.

Make your opening sentence a positive one and get to the point in the first paragraph. The flower shop doesn’t need to know this was your grandmother’s 90th birthday, but they do need to know that you’ve been their customer for five years. Beginning on an upbeat note will let them know you want to continue doing business with them.

Tell your story precisely and in as few words as possible. You don’t need to tell the restaurant that you were hosting a business dinner with your new boss, but rather this was a special evening to celebrate an important occasion. State specifically what went wrong, such as the food was cold or they neglected to bring the appetizers until the main course was served. Be humorous if possible- this wasn’t brain surgery even though it was important to you.

Don’t threaten. Swearing to never shop there again or to call the Better Business Bureau just makes you appear out of control. No one will be in a hurry to handle your problem. If you act respectfully, you can expect the same behavior in return.

State exactly how this mistake cost you (time, money or embarrassment) and what result you want (refund, free meal or gift certificate). Be reasonable in your request- you won’t get unlimited free meals for life because the waiter spilled coffee on your new suit. However, you may get a free bottle of wine on your next visit.

Provide a copy of your receipts, correspondence or contracts with your letter. If you had a contract with a caterer and he didn’t provide the desserts you ordered, having the agreement to prove it will further your cause.

When the matter has been resolved, be sure to do the company a favor in return. Telling your friends about the flowers that were delivered to the wrong hospital and how the florist personally took a fresh arrangement to the patient himself shows how far the merchant was willing to go to provide excellent customer service.

Remember, the purpose of business is to keep the customer coming back. How you let the company know about their mistake is just as important as how they remedy the situation- it can be a win-win solution for both parties.

Customer service is all about the customer. As business owners or employees, we have all at one time or another had to deal with an upset customer. What happens when the upset customer is us?

Being in business does not guarantee success. The last thing a business owner wants is to lose our business, so when something goes wrong and we are the customer, do we just accept it and walk away forever or do we seek satisfaction. Of course we often complain, but then again we probably would not remain a customer.

Here is a suggestion to be a satisfied customer more often. Know what you want that will make you happy before you complain. Here is an example.

Last week I bought a pie at a national grocery chain. It was on sale and when I went to eat it, it was the worst thing I ever tasted. I looked for my receipt to return it and noticed that the pie which was supposed to be $2.50 was charged to me for $4.79.

On the way to the store I decided that I would ask for a total refund and a new pie. When I went to the customer service desk, I told the guy working there what I expected for my trouble. He said wait a minute and went into the back office. When he came out he told me to go get a new pie.

As I was looking at the pies, I had a choice of another fruit pie ( the first was blueberry) or pumpkin or a key lime. The key lime was $3.00 more than the original pie, but I have eaten them before from that store and they are always good. I took the key lime pie back to the service desk, explained that I know that the key lime pies are good and the person asked if I would like a bag. He then handed me the cash refund and I left the store.

I will shop at that store again.

My point to this is that when we are the customer, we can most often get satisfaction in a bad situation by knowing what it is that we want that will make us want to come back. When we know what we want we simply have to ask for it. This gives the business person an opportunity to save the relationship and us a way to get what we need to be happy.

For the customer, it is not always easy for them to figure out what it is that would make them happy or satisfied. As the business owner it is a good idea to have suggestions ready and employees empowered to handle the situation.

As I have said before, all we need to know is what we want and how to ask for it. Remember it is a lot more costly to get new clients than it is to give them what they need to feel satisfied, at least in most cases.

Help desk have now become a core part of good business service and operation. The term itself is generally associated with the end user support center. However, the fundamental role it plays on a company’s service function is to bring multiple resources together to solve issues about the customer’s satisfaction. It is no longer limited to mean internal support within only the company but also external support groups.

In most companies, a help desk may consist of a single person with a phone number and a standard procedure of handling problems that come in. A help desk, for larger companies is a group of experts using a software that helps track the status of problems as well as other special softwares that analyze the problem. It is a place for centralized help within an enterprise to help the users of their products and services. It becomes the center in where customers can call to place orders, track shipments and get help with products.

Help desk softwares are aimed to improve user productivity in whatever line of business you are in. It is a source that provides a fast deployment process to enable immediate efficient and ample IT support solution. There exists a wide range of software programs one can choose from depending on specific business needs.

The most evident advantage of the use of a help desk software is increased customer satisfaction due to the reduction of customer downtime and support call numbers. It makes possible faster and more accurate responses to customers by solving new problems through proven solutions. It quickly identifies problem areas in products and services so that everyone knows exactly what is going on.

Help desk management lies at the heart of any successful help desk solution. Most programs offer extensive information and a free download test. This would help the user company evaluate whether a specific program specifically meets their needs.

A typical help desk software includes a consistent user interface from a web browser. This allows the user to easily navigate the entire software program. It also features the ability to assign a unique ID to each help desk inquiry. The creation and tracking of help desk problems by multiple staff personnel is made possible while related help desk issues appear when addressing specific functions.

Reporting would include such items as track issues by product, model number or versions while tracking support contracts, support times and generating release notes. It also specifies the time spent per inquiry and per help desk personnel reports. E-mail, live chat and automated phone follow-up contact is also possible. A call history information is formed when conversations between the help desk user and customer support are documented. Predefined scripts are usually integrated so that the same help desk support message is delivered regardless of the support person involved.

The ability of a user company to adopt those programs into their own operation will be of their best advantage. It is best to avoid overly cumbersome programs which clutter the process. A well-defined and suitable help desk program should benefit your customer as well as your business.