At Holiday Time, Serve Customers First
Author: Thatcher Wine
The holidays are here. Are you ready to handle the holiday onslaught? To find out, work through the following activities with your team. These steps will help you define the state of your customer service readiness, and to find weaknesses you can fix in time for the rush.

Forget the Fockers...Meet Your Customers!
Author: Craig Harrison
How much do you know about your customers? Do you know what makes them happy? Mad? Restless? Let's face it...you should!

Are You a Customer Service Ace? Take The Quiz and See!
Author: Craig Harrison
Test your customer service knowledge and learn how to be a service ace by picking the correct answer to each of these 10 questions.

Hurry Up and Wait
Author: Liz Tahir
What is becoming obvious is that while businesses are devising all sort of ways to save company time and money, it generally is at the expense of the customer.

The Voice of Customer Service
Author: Craig Harrison
Customer relationship management tools abound, yet let's hear it for old technology. Your voice is the most multifaceted customer service tool in your toolkit.

Responsibilities of the Customer Service Expert
Author: WorkZ Staff
Since the Web is still a new medium for most people around the world, it is essential that the customer service expert concentrate on building customer confidence and goodwill. The best ways to do thi...

How to Add Value to Customer Relationships
Author: Craig Woirhaye
Once an organization decides to become customer-focused, the next step is to transform into a customer-driven entity. But how do you begin? Where do you start? Answering these questions is difficult...

Understand Online Customer Service
Author: Jennifer LeClaire
Co-author: Lisa PicozziBefore developing your online customer service plan, it helps to understand the differences between online and offline customer support, the advantages and disadvantages of an o...

Six Steps to Improving Selling Listening Skills
Author: Mark Smock
With practice and conscious resolve, a salesperson can acquire the mental agility to become a better listener by mastering these six “mental listening exercises�.

Build Power Relationships
Author: Jill Ammon-Wexler
Power relationships are based on especially deep levels of mutual respect and trust . Plus the ultimate personality power tool -- authenticity. Here are some tools to help you create the deep levels of authenticity found in power relationships.

Ensuring Many Happy Returns
Author: Jennifer LeClaire
Is your return policy helping or hurting business? You can measure by doing some simple performance testing. Track e-mail and telephone correspondence to measure the effectiveness of your returns poli...

Evaluating Real-Time Customer Service Tools
Author: Jennifer LeClaire
A growing number of communication tools on the market today are designed to enhance communication between Web merchants and their online shoppers. Evaluate each tool for your market — how it works, it...

Oversee Customer Service Processes
Author: Jennifer LeClaire
Co-author: Lisa PicozziFor many consumers, doing business on the Internet is a huge leap of faith. Web sites can earn their clientele's trust by establishing a well-orchestrated customer service progr...

Outsourcing Management of Real-Time Communications
Author: Jennifer LeClaire
Before implementing any new communication tool, compare the development, training, and staffing costs to the costs of outsourcing. Don't forget to include your research time — time you could spend doi...

Keeping Real-Time Customer Service Real
Author: Jennifer LeClaire
Real-time customer service tools, such as chat rooms or instant messaging, are unique in that they blend Internet technology with a human touch. But assessing the degree to which these tools add to th...

Does Training Always Mean Performance?
Author: Jennifer LeClaire
Be it from turnover or from growth, hiring and training online customer service staff are ongoing processes. It makes sense to monitor and adjust your hiring and training practices regularly. Start by...

Developing Customer Service Manuals
Author: Jennifer LeClaire
Internal customer-service guidelines and manuals are essential to the success of your training program and your customer service staff. These resources can be difficult to develop, but doing so will h...

Monitor Customer Service Success
Author: Jennifer LeClaire
Co-author: Lisa Picozzi Monitoring your staff's correspondence with your customers is vital to the success of your customer service department. Weekly meetings provide the opportunity for the staff to...

Researching Customer Service Centers
Author: Lisa Picozzi
There is no need to "reinvent the wheel" when it comes to developing your own customer service center (also known as a help desk or customer call center). There are many sites already in existence — s...

How to Manage Customer E-Mail
Author: Jennifer LeClaire
If a customer's e-mail message doesn't make it to the right person, there is little chance the customer will receive an appropriate response. Therefore, routing incoming customer inquiries is critical...

Case-by-Case Quality Control
Author: Jennifer LeClaire
All items returned for alleged defects in quality must be carefully examined to determine both the cause of the problem and an acceptable remedy. Be sure to offer customers a quick and easy process fo...

Why is Colorful Copies Out of Business?
Author: Richelle Shaw
The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada requires all financial statements to be signed and verified by the CEO or president of the certified body. Each quarter I have to submit a report to the PU...

Be Careful Sending Email!
Author: Richelle Shaw
Having an online business really changed the way I negotiate contracts, communicate with clients and sell new prospects. There are 5 things I learned that are essential whether you've been online for ...

The Power of Customer Service
Author: Richelle Shaw
You've done everything right driving traffic to your site and getting the phone to ring. At some point, you will need to speak with the customer. Are you converting the calls to sales? Last month, my...

Putting the A in the FAQs: How to Write Excellent FAQs that Answer User Questions
Author: Leslie O'Flahavan
You've hunted and clicked your way through the Web site, but you fcan't find the information you need. So you go to the FAQs. But the FAQ section is like a vast junk drawer, filled with a jumble of in...

Assess Your Order Fulfillment Requirements
Author: Wendy Hinman
Your order fulfillment requirements will depend upon your company's situation and the product you are selling. Your company may lack the space to house a large volume of inventory or the staff to pick...

Should You Outsource Order Fulfillment?
Author: Delilah Obie
Co Author: Kelley Westrick You might think it's out of the question to outsource order fulfillment because your product or your sales volume don't require it. Why not reconsider? In the end it's not ...

Develop a Returns and/or Exchange Policy
Author: Lisa Picozzi
Returns are an inconvenience for both vendors and consumers. However, they do happen, so make your returns and exchange processes as simple as possible. Posting a returns policy in a prominent loca...

Choosing Customer Service Software
Author: Thatcher Wine
Five years ago, when a customer wanted to contact a business, the only options available were a phone call, a fax or a personal visit. Today, an increasing number of businesses may be reached via the...

3 Ways to Reassure Unhappy Customers
Author: Jennifer LeClaire
Your customers need to know that you value them and want them to be happy with your products. Remember to always acknowledge receipt of a customer complaint as soon as possible. Customer-focused compa...

Cook Much?
Author: JoAnna Brandi
I don't cook much. I've taken to eating a lot of salads. You'd be surprised; people actually forget how to cook when they haven't done it for a while. It's the timing that always gets me. So, last wee...

Outsourcing Your Customer Service Center
Author: Jennifer LeClaire
Your customer service center (also known as a help desk or customer call center) can be an efficient set of online and offline services that you support by yourself or with the help of staff. However,...

Want to Keep Customers & Create Profits?
Author: JoAnna Brandi
There’s no doubt about it; customer loyalty is key to profitability. A mere five percent increase in your customer retention could as much as double your bottom line profits! On the flip side, it cost...

Is Fear of Feedback Holding You Back?
Author: Karen Morrione
In a recent survey, 94.4% of respondents said that customer testimonials affected their purchasing decision, especially if the testimonial includes the customer name. But only 44% of respondents are r...