 |
 |
Poor Customer Service Will Kill Your Business
Customer service, or lack thereof, can certainly make or break a business and can cause a customer to either return or to never set foot in an establishment again. As a business owner, what kind of customer service are you offering your customers?
I was thinking about this subject last night as I was eating in one of my favorite restaurants. I experienced some of the most awful service I have ever received. Regardless of menu price, I believe a server should always provide great service, but especially when you’re dining in a place that is known to be higher end, I would expect service should be exceptional.
I won’t bore you with all the errors our server made but in general it consisted of her being crabby, slow, inattentive, and unsanitary. She was also obviously bothered that the guests would want to be waited on or receive the items they ordered. I kept trying to allow for the possibility that she had a horrific day or was battling some traumatic personal problems. Yet her pathetic service just continued to compound itself until finally we put on our coats and sat there bundled up until she eventually came back to give us the check so that we could leave.
I usually only go to this restaurant on special occasions and now won’t have another reason to return again for quite some time. Because I do enjoy the food, and realize that this one person does not represent the entire company, I may return next year at some point to try it again. I may. But it’s not the only restaurant in town, that’s for sure. If they don’t take care of their customers, someone else will. Continue reading
Finding Blog Topics
Having a hard time coming up with topics to write about for your direct sales blog? Whether you truly have a case of writer’s block or you’re just using that as an excuse to not update your website with fresh content, below are seven tips to keep the ideas flowing.
1. Look around. Your life and people in your life can inspire just about any blog post. If you’re a new mom, perhaps the mere fact that you’re tired all the time, but need to keep getting up even when you don’t feel like it will inspire you to write about working even when you don’t feel like it.
2. Product highlights. The importance of a blog is not to sell, but to inform. Give your readers something they can use. Write about the benefits and features of some of your products.
3. Fun facts or tips about your industry. Whether about direct sales in general or something about candles, jewelry, cooking, fitness, beauty or whatever industry you’re in there’s always something interesting you can write about. Continue reading
5 Tips to Bring More Success to Your Vendor Events
Vendor event, craft show, state/county fair, expo or shopping days – doesn’t matter what you call it, it’s an event where your direct sales business is represented. In many cases, direct sellers are permitted to have inventory on hand for cash and carry. If you’re going to invest the time in setting up and manning a booth, make wise business decisions to make your time spent worthwhile.
The five tips below are extra steps you can take to help ensure more traffic and more sales to your table or booth.
1. Free: Have lots of FREE signs. People love the word FREE. Many will take something just because it’s free, even if they don’t initially think they are interested in it. This can work both for and against you. It can work against you if you are far too liberal with costly marketing collateral and product samples. But it can also work in your favor if you have a take-away that they can put in their hands and later visit your website. Most customers won’t ask “Is this free?” No one wants to look like a cheapskate. So if you have samples that you want them to take, make sure you have signage on your table that reads FREE samples, please help yourself. Continue reading
If You Can’t Measure It, You Can’t Manage It
I am a big numbers gal. I like data. I like to see facts and figures. I like to operate off actual numbers and not perceptions, assumptions or opinions. I had a brilliant manager tell me years ago, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” Meaning how can you tell if you’re successful or if you have opportunities for improvement if you’re not measuring the progress?
It’s a common practice in business to send out survey’s to poll your peers employees and supervisors how they perceive your performance. It’s also a wise business practice to do it in direct sales. Survey your downline to see how they perceive their upline’s performance.
This is certainly not a practice that anyone should fear or loathe. Typically, those who are not fans of having their downline (or employees) polled are afraid the survey is being sent so they can be criticized. That paranoia is only in the minds of those who are being evaluated. The purpose of requesting feedback is for continuous improvement. None of us are above improvements in how we manage our business. Continue reading
So Call It Something Different
Perhaps you’re not having the success you’d like because of the words or names you’re using to share your direct sales business products or opportunity. So call it something different.
Anyone who knows me well knows I am a huge Laverne and Shirley fan. One of my favorite episodes is The Diner, where Laverne is the fry cook and Shirley is the waitress. Laverne keeps saying “Betty, pick up. Betty, please pick up your hash blacks.” When Shirley asks why she keeps calling her Betty, Laverne responds, “Because it sounds so much better than ‘Shirl, pick up.’” Watch the first 30 seconds below if you want a refresher of this dynamic duo).
The scene above highlights this concept of using what sounds best in a given situation. For example, if the word “Party” as in Host a Home Party, tends to sour potential hosts, use a different term. Perhaps call it a Scent Event, Open House, Demo, Show, Get Together or even “free items for large orders”.
I’m not at all suggesting you should mislead anyone. Rather I’m talking about speaking a language that your market can identify with or that makes you more comfortable. Continue reading
Follow Me!