Friday, February 04, 2005

Customer Service for the Future

Rob from BusinessPundit talks about a great experience members of his family had at Bed Bath & Beyond:

Dianne & I registered for two sets of queen sized sheets & a mattress pad for our wedding, figuring that eventually we would get a queen size bed (we've had a full). So, we finally went out this weekend and bought a queen size bed. But, the bed that we bought was 15" thick, and the sheets & mattress pad were only designed for 14" thick mattresses. The sheets & mattress pad had never been opened, so we took them back to Bed Bath & Beyond. I told the person there that we had received the sheets as a gift, but wanted to exchange them for ones that would fit our new mattress, and also told her that we didn't have a gift receipt. I did neglect to tell her that we received them as a gift in August '03... Anyway, they took everything back, and gave us a store credit for the full price (~$250, not even taking into account any 20% coupons that may have been used to purchase them). So, we went and picked up a new mattress pad and a new set of sheets.

We took them home, and decided to wash them before we used them. When we were making the bed, we noticed that there was something like chocolate/caramel all over the sheets & mattress pad. It had made it through the washer & dryer, and was now caked on the sheets & pad. We checked our previous loads of laundry to make sure it wasn't in there before, and everything else was clean (not surprising since we don't eat that many things with chocolate & caramel...and if we did, it certainly wouldn't last long enough to make it to our pockets!). The mattress pad came in a zippered bag, so I'm guessing that another customer/disgruntled employee had stuck a piece of candy or something in there, which subsequently made it into our wash. We started picking off the stuff, but found that there was a residue/stain that was left behind. It wasn't terrible, but there was a lot of this stuff on everything. We really didn't want to wash them again, since we didn't know what that would do to it. So, we took them back to BB&B, and explained the situation. I realize that since the sheets & mattress pad were technically in good condition when we left the store the first time, they were under no obligation to take them back. But, once again, they said no problem, and we made an even exchange for everything. If they hadn't been as accomodating, I might have decided to take my business to Linen's 'n Things, which I don't like as much. But given that they've been so accomodating, I would definitely go back to BB&B (which is probably good for them since we are still decorating our house...)

Service like this is key to building a long term relationship with these customers. Of course, you could easily over deliver on customer service, and build a bad habit of ripping yourself off. Part of good customer service is actually knowing when the customer is right, and treating them accordingly.

posted @ 1:03 PM

Virtual Businesses

This trend has implications on both sides of this discussion.  As a small business person it is easier and easier to run a successful business from your home.  High-speed Internet access, cell phones, more and more sophisticated voicemail options.  Everything you need to be up and running, and still be in your bunny slippers.
 
Antia Campbell's TrendTracker site as part of Small Business Trends has this article on the virutal business trend:
 
Anita starts the article with this quote:
"The future is likely to be the age of virtual businesses. The newly opened two-person office will be able to look big, established, and successful. Build a really good website, toss in some color printers, fast computers, and cell phones, and you're halfway there. After that, it's a question of leveraging your creativity and ability to partner with other entrepreneurs."
And follows with these important pieces of wisdom:
"Let's make one thing clear, virtual doesn't mean the business isn't for real. It just means all that heavy, expensive stuff won't be sitting there eating money when not in use."
 
"Who cares whether the home office of Acme Thingamajig has 300,000 square feet as long as Acme is able to deliver those thingamjigs. Performance is what counts, not the number of employees or the size of the company cafeteria."
The other side of this coin, is that if you are in the business of selling to a small business consider this:
"Virtual businesses will run lean. They won't have much time to be sold to, so expect relationship management to take on added importance. Savvy companies will make the investment to recognize the special needs of the virtual business."
As a sales person be ready to e-mail or mail your information to your prospect.  In person demos might not be an option, but something more informal might be better.
 
So as a small business you can be safe in knowing that the trends are on your side for starting the home-based business.  As a sales person, recognize that some of your prospects might not want a demo in their office or have (or want) a lot of time to chat.

posted @ 9:03 AM

Local Promotions Online

John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing has an upcoming series on how to promote your local business online:How to promote your local business on the Internet.
 
The first session is Feb 9 this is how John describes this session:
Session #1 - Wednesday, Feb 9th
The Basics of Business Blogging and why every business should have a blog- Feb 9th - Noon Central - Special Guest Expert - Business blog expert: speaker, marketing consultant & publisher Debbie Weil - www.WordBiz.com Debbie blogs at www.debbieweil.com and www.BlogWriteForCEOs.com.
 
You've heard a lot about Blogging in the media, but the small business marketer and consumer is just waking up to this powerful new marketing medium. Some suggest blogs will change the way many businesses market and advertise. Don't miss the wave. Every time I hear someone talking about blogs, I hear them mention Debbie Weil. She is a highly sought after writer and speaker on this new medium. - Make Your Reservation
I met Debbie at the Blog Business Summit and she is both a nice person and wonderful speaker.  The rest of the sessions sound just as interesting.
 
Zane Safrit has this additional commentary on the series:
Emphasis on "local". To many businesses, the challenge is how to use the internet to market effectively to their local market. The global marketplace is a wonderful phenomenon, we all agree. But not every product or service serves a global marketplace. Some are very definitely designed to serve a geographically local marketplace. So, how do you avoid paying for clicks from Ghana for local real estate agency; Or how find local buyers of cars?
This sounds like a series definitely not to miss.

posted @ 9:02 AM