Practice Management For Dentists - Why Your Patients Leave

I just finished reading an article in an old issue of Dental Economics regarding building trust in your patients. The article cited a survey of 1000 consumers in which 25% of the respondents said they stopped seeing a physician due to communication problems.

You say, "But I talk to my patients all the time, my communication with them is great!"

Okay, point taken, but we have to remember, (and your spouse will tell you) communication is a two way street. It does not mean just talking, but LISTENING.

Case in point, this morning I was at the dentist, and had just began a prophy when my worst fears came to realization... Grape flavored prophy paste... YUCK!!!

Now, I have been going to the same dental office for the last 3 years, and every time I experience this little bit of discomfort. I am not a big fan of these "flavored" pastes at all, and prefer either the regular mint, or the No Flavor paste. (Who taste tests these anyway?)

I have let the office know this every time I have been there, and yet every time I go in it seems I have to tell them again. And, usually I am the one left with a bad taste in my mouth.

Being in the industry, I know there are places in the practice management software, or special "alert" stickers that can be placed on a file. These are usually reserved to alert the dentist to any allergies, or special conditions. In other words, the best interest of the practice.

Now, in my case, there is no alert sticker, note in my file, or even a yellow sticky note alerting the hygienist to my request for flavorless paste.

It is almost as if my likes/needs have not been documented for sake of practice efficiency.

All it takes in this instance is a little extra step from the hygienist or dentist (who also noted my flavor choice aloud) to write this in or on my patient file, or make a note in the fancy computer system, and next time I won't be surprised by the newest sensation in flavored prophy paste.

It's small things like this that make people leave the dentist. You may have done your cleaning and checkup to perfection, but when I taste grape in my mouth by surprise, that is what I (the patient) will note.

So, when communicating with your patients, make sure the patient gets a chance to talk, and make sure you take the opportunity to listen.

Don't leave a bad taste in their mouth.

Action-To-Take Tip: Implement a system that allows for easy documentation of your patients' needs, as well as their likes and dislikes. Put a small piece of paper on the front of each patient's file. Even if the paper remains blank, at least it is there for you to be able to quickly jot down any comments that the patient may make regarding their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with your processes.

change management

Handling Complaints

No company can avoid it completely. Eventually you're going to have a customer come in who's angry with you.

There simply isn't a way to please everyone, but how you handle a customer who's mad can do a lot to ease back any potential damage and improve your standing with them in the end.

The first steps are the most basic and can be done before that angry customer ever walks through your door. Creating a friendly office environment will do wonders to prevent any further hostility when a person first walks in. The simple gestures like printing greeting cards or other ways of acknowledging them says from the very beginning that you care about their business and the troubles they're facing.

Make sure you listen to exactly what the complaint is based on the assumption that the customer is justified in being angry. Don't jump to any conclusions until you've heard everything they have to say.

One of the most important things is to make sure that you don't confront emotion with more emotion. Stay clam and collected and also be sure that you let them know that you care about the issue they're bringing up. If you sound too cold and detached they'll only become more agitated, and if you return their hostility with any of your own, the situation is going to get a lot worse.

Once the problem is known make sure you come up with effective solutions, no matter what the problem may be. If it's something on your end, do your best to offer them different ways to make things right.

Make sure that you handle everything yourself from beginning to end. Nothing can annoy someone more than the feeling that they're being passed around from one person to another. I've had to deal with it before just as I'm sure plenty of other people have and it isn't a pleasant feeling. If they know that you're going to get to the bottom of the issue they'll be a lot more confident in your companies ability to handle complaints.

Once the initial meeting is over make sure that you follow up with the person. Using postcard printing in combination with postcard marketing to send a response directly to them letting them know that the issue has been taken care of will help coax them into coming back to do additional business with you.

The follow up is particularly important due to the opportunity it gives you. By using postcard marketing you're taking a greater effort to show them that you care about their concerns, which will not only make them happy, but also give you a person willing to tell their friends about how effectively you handled the situation.

So long as you aren't surprised when those complaints do pop up you'll be in a much better position to answer them. If you go above and beyond by printing greeting cards and using postcard printing you'll not only solve the problem, but gain a strong customer base at the same time.

fundraising

How Are You Keeping Your Clients Happy?

More and more, corporate America is more interested in getting rich than the needs and wants of their clients. They are forgetting about the clients that made their pocketbooks as fat as they are today. For instance, look at the gas prices. We all know the prices are high and it is hurting the little guy, while the oil companies are making record profits (but I digress).

As a small business owner, we have to make sure that we are keeping our clients happy. I'm not saying to go out and decrease your profits by offering free services constantly, but maybe send them a thank you card with a gift card in it for a local restaurant, offer a discount on their next month invoice, something just to let them know that you care about them and their needs and wants. Do this at other times besides Christmas. Your clients will really appreciate the fact that you are thinking of them and you appreciate them.

If you don't have the finances at the time to do this type of thing, contact them once every six months or so and ask them if they are happy with your service and if there is anything that they are unhappy with. Sure, this might be tough to hear at times but your clients will appreciate the fact that you value their input and you value their business so much that you are willing to get their opinion. Also, if anything that they are unhappy with is something that you can fix or change without costing a fortune, do it. They will appreciate it.

Some customer service follow-ups can be automated. Look over your website, and see what it can be doing to help keep your customers happy -from providing easily accessible support, to automating customer awards, or collecting customer feedback.

Make sure that if you are in a business where service or product fees decline over time, that you keep your older customers up with the current pricing. Nothing is more distressing to them than to look at your website and realize that you are offering a higher service for a lower price to new customers, while the existing customer service package has not changed. Customer incentives need not be expensive to work - they just need to be meaningful and sincere

Also, if you created/maintain your own website, do a client spotlight once a month or so. Have a link to their website, a write-up about them and their business, why you chose them etc. Just make sure that it is okay with your client first.

Once you start making a comfortable living doing the business of your choice, don't forget your current clients. If it wasn't for them, you wouldn't be where you are today.

continuity disaster recovery

Legitimate Ways Of Making Mega Bucks Online - The Nigerian Experience

At first I thought it was a huge joke as many Nigerians have been made to believe that scamming or perhaps 419 as many would call it is the only officially recognized way to make easy money online: making money online this way (though I never tried it, even when it almost became a trend) is the hardest, toughest and most time consuming money making exercise, however, those involved in this sad and unfortunate melee are yet to make this discovery; those who have, have chickened out.

To be frank with you I'm still a green horn as regards making legitimate money online, but yet I can attest to the fact that legitimate and easy money online opportunities abound: but majority of those involved in this evil scheme (419) are yet to re-train their minds and instincts to believe this well acknowledged fact, besides, their 'income' is not steady and they live in constant fear of being caught by the authorities. Perhaps, their worst disadvantage is that they rob themselves of their resourcefulness and their ability to earn money legitimately.

Hey! Is making money online the latest trend? Or is it the home based money making craze that has infected every adult since the internet became a house hold name; that is affecting our psyche? Well not really; but it is the necessary end to every means today, in the words of millionaire Bill Gates' there are two kinds of businesses, those online and those who are out of business' so one can rightly say that online business is the niche today world wide ,and Nigeria is no exception. Then how can we Nigerians then say we can't take our own fare share of this national cake? Just because we have been called the bad dog and therefore must be hanged?

Well it is rather sad and unfortunate that a country as large as Nigeria ,with all it's potentials: both material and human can be so marginalized as to be de-listed or black listed from every idea and opportunity online by the western world(lead by the united states) who think the internet is their birth right. But let me state it here and now, that it is no fault of theirs but ours that we find ourselves in this precarious situation today, not as a result of our fraudulent online activities (statistically India and Pakistan are by far the largest scammers second only to Nigeria) but because we have refused in our ignorance to take up the opportunities that abound online and make a decent living out of it.

My reasons to putting this little piece of information together today is not to bemoan our fate, but for us to take charge of our lives: as we are the only ones that can make the desired change to occur. More so, I am here to make a list of some yet to be discovered online money making ventures and how some works. Recently I was going through some ideas posted in one particular Nigerian forum on how to make money buying and selling e-gold/currency, it sounded unreal at first but today I can assure you that e-gold is really working since online payment solutions like visa, MasterCard, pay pal etc don't transact business with Nigerians, e-gold is now the easiest solution, however if you want more information on how it works you Can visit www.e-gold.com ,there you'll learn more on e-gold and how to open an account which is free and funding it.

Other online opportunities I'll list out with links for more detailed information on each of them include: Google.com which is by far the most visited site, as they have their information portal in every language in the world; as such they utilize this advantage by introducing programs like google ad words, ad sense etc where so many people world wide are raking millions of cool dollars every day. Other search engines like yahoo, AltaVista etc have programs of such manner, yet we (Nigerians) are yet to discover this proverbial gold mine beneath our feet.

E-publishing/books is still very much new thing to us in this part of the world; since publishing of books (off line) could be regarded as a very prodigious exercise as a person must be skilled in the area which he is make his desired impact, must have a writing style, and lastly a fat bank account (except he/she have a sponsor). But all these upheavals and bottlenecks have been eliminated since the discovery of e-books. E-books are so easy to prepare all you need is a very good idea on a topic or a niche you are very familiar with; from my discovery, how-to do e-books are by far the most sought for; as every individual as the world becomes more advanced is looking for a first class information on how to make life easier for himself and his family.

E-books on information such as: how to become a GSM engineer in 1 day, how to make money lying comfortably on your bed etc. are information every person who sees it will want to get to its root and as such will be ready to part with a sizeable amount of their income to get this very important information. For more I'll advise you to read my article posted on this blog titled 'how to become a publishing guru' there you'll get some useful information on e-books and how a person can make some cool bucks getting one on the shelf.

Though I'm not necessarily an expert on FOREX trading, but one thing I know is that it is the systematic buying and selling of currencies online, based on the currency's current exchange rate as against the dollar. Another fact I know is that a lot of people worldwide are making good money trading FOREX and Nigerians are not exempted from this profitable venture; all you need is good knowledge on interpreting fundamental and technical analysis, avoiding bull traps, and avoid being a victim of constant market fluctuations. To know more on FOREX visit any search engine like yahoo, google, msn etc then type the key word 'FOREX' on the search bar, from the displayed results you can visit the links for a detailed information on FOREX trading.

Online money making ventures suitable for every person, Nigerians inclusive are so many, but it takes time to get this ideas on course, as it not as easy as it sounds, however if you have the desire and passion the sky is your limit. Online business just like any other business is profitable if well implemented and vice versa. In all; I want Nigerians to take up the courage in the midst of upheavals and bottlenecks and take their fare share of this rave going on in cyber space. As we all know one thing 'we are the giant of Africa and the window of the world.

Feel free to post your comment on the above write up as I also want to state here that the information contained here in, is an opinion and my experiences as an aspiring entrepreneur. You can hit this blog any time for more updates and personal experiences in the world called and understood as cyber space.

ethics news

Some Very Good Reasons to Love Your Customers

I wrote a poem that played off of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's 23rd sonnet, How Do I love Thee, about the importance of customer service. The entire poem came to me on vacation, as I awakened from a dream and realized that the poetry of service makes the sense of service a beautiful thing. I began by writing:

How do I love thee, let me count the ways.
I love thee during working hours, in the hopes of simpler days.

I finished the poem, which became the organizing framework for an entire book, each section and chapter drawing on a stanza from the poetry. Writing the book was just as easy, an act of love flowing from a place of love. The poetry was the key! Maybe it came so easily because I was relaxing in a top floor condo above a quiet beach, with my darling beside me, and only the sound and smell of the breeze and the waves washing over my subconscious awareness. But when I awoke I had the entire poem in mind, and somehow it all made perfect sense to me. I leapt up, sat down, and kept writing until I'd written it all down. The rest of that day, and the next and the next, I was walking on air as I walked on the beach, fulfilled in having expressed some ineffable truth in such a wondrous way.

Yet several days later, after a particularly bad experience of service after returning home, I realized that the initial leap that I had taken, that customer service is based in and delivered in love, might need a little explaining to those unaccustomed to service excellence.

In fact, you may be wondering what love has to do with service. I can't say that I'd blame you. Great service is the exception to the rule. Service is usually so minimal that most of us opt to use machines rather than deal with people. It's just easier to order online, to submit a ticket, to talk to a robot, to use a machine, than to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageously bad service. And the place of love in all this obviously isn't apparent to the people providing such meager service. Many service providers view customer service as a barely necessary part of their work, something that requires you to show up, follow the rules, and get it over with.

So, what's love got to do with it? To me, the answer is obvious. The essence of great service IS love. For example, when you deal with people who love their jobs, you can feel it. When companies love their customers, you notice the difference. And when love is in the air, (love of work, love of coworkers, love of the chance to make a difference, love of the opportunity to touch someone's life, love of the moment and what wonders it brings, etc.) you find less problems there. It's fair to say, when love's in play, we know the people care.

I'm talking about Real Love. I'm talking about a relationship based in, built on, nurtured by, and developed through service. What does that have to with work? It's simple. Without the principles of love to guide you, your relationships grow complicated, people turn sour, and communication becomes progressively more difficult and non productive. Painful even. Yet serve with love, and you find fulfillment. I believe it was Albert Schweitzer who said "I do not know what your future holds. But one thing I know: The only ones among you who will really be happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.

The principles of love in service include making your customer feel welcome, by giving a greeting and getting a name, honoring your customer, understanding their perceptions and doing the little things that count big, healing your customer when problems occur, by focusing on emotions before focusing on solutions, keeping your promises, doing what can be done instead of talking about what can't be done, educating your customer on how to receive the greatest benefit from your organization's products and services, solving your customers problems with good record keeping and reports, and digging deeper to get what's behind the surface, and advocating for your customer's needs and interests.

And yes, sometimes, you have to use the principles of Tough Love, because when customers behave badly, a more strategic response is needed. But done with love, in the spirit of love, bad behavior isn't so tough to deal with after all. As long as you know where you're coming from, you have the better reference point than merely reacting to someone who clearly needs a little love.

Perhaps the binding principle of love is that you win when your customers win, that you find fulfillment when your customers find fulfillment. Otherwise, what do you have after an interaction? You'll never get back the moments lost to dealing, coping and waiting for it to be over. I think that's why life's true meaning can only be found in the powerful side effects of loving service to others.

The meaning of your service presents itself to you, in those often unexpected and surprising moments of clarity when you experience the reality that someone's life has been made better as a result of the service you rendered.

So, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee in my waking hours, and enjoy these happy days.

Franchising

Customer Service in Your Dollar Store Business

One of the challenges faced by every dollar store business owner is how to staff so that there are just the right number of employees on duty to deal with the customers that are shopping. Having too many employees means they are likely to be standing around. At the very least employees will be looking for, and finding trivial tasks that don't add to the overall profitability of the store. Payroll expenses will be too high for the workload and sales in the store. Having too few employees means that employees cannot keep up with the workload. Customers will likely not be greeted when they enter the store. They will also be waiting for help in finding items and in checking out when they are ready to pay for their selections. While payroll will be more in-line, employees will feel stressed and overloaded with work. Customer retention will likely suffer, as shoppers will not feel that there is good customer service in your store.

The ongoing challenge is finding the right balance. For most store owners the decision will be to have the store slightly under-staffed rather than to over-staff. When executed properly, this strategy can result in the lowest possible payroll cost for the business. While employees will feel as if they are busy throughout their work-shifts, they don't need to feel over-worked. If done properly customer service does not need to suffer in the mix either. In this article we will focus on customer.

There are a variety of steps that can be taken to make the customer feel as if they are important. Simple practices such as assigning the cashier who is closest to the front door the task of saying a simple 'hello' to everyone who enters the store can have a huge impact. This can be done without taking away from sales transactions that are in-process. That one simple action makes shoppers feel as if they are welcomed into the store.

All employees who are on the sales floor need to make it a practice to say 'hello' as they are performing their assigned work. If they are checking prices, or locating items for another shopper, or preparing the store to close, that simple gesture is important. Those 'hellos' also do much to let potential shoplifters know that there are employees out and about in the store.

At the cash register there are several steps that can help those who are waiting in-line for service to be more understanding. For example rather than shouting 'next' cashiers should make eye contact and then invite the next in line to come to the registers with an request such as 'May I help you?' or 'May I help the next person in line?' It is also helpful just to acknowledge those waiting in line to pay. A quick smile and, 'I'll be right with you' or something similar is very helpful. The same goes at the end of the transaction. Make eye contact, a smile and then say 'thank you' at the conclusion of the sales transaction.

The power of a smile cannot be under-emphasized. Every customer contact should include a smile. It sets a positive tone, and the shoppers will feel like they are appreciated. Make your dollar store business a place that shoppers want to shop. Establish great customer service practices to deal with every situation. Make sure your employees never forget to smile!

To your dollar store business success!

branding news

The Truth About Why Clients Choose Your Business

As a business owner you've probably heard about three criteria people use when deciding to do business with you. Consciously, or subconsciously, people do business with people they know, like, and trust.

Of course you must deliver a quality product or service but that's not enough. Options are abundant so when it comes down to making a choice, how a person feels about you can make the difference between choosing your company and choosing someone else.

So how do you become known, liked, and trusted? It's all about being authentic and sincere. You can't fake this stuff so don't even try. Make it a habit to keep these three factors in mind as you work in, and on, your business.

If you're a solopreneur then it's all about you and who you are. If your business has employees then they are included as well and each employee can directly impact whether or not people know, like, and trust the company.

In addition to people, it is possible to know, like, and trust a brand. It isn't always about an individual relationship. So whether it's all about you, a group of employees, or a brand, this concept applies to all businesses.

Let's take a closer look at each of the three reasons people choose your business.

KNOW

The way you get to know someone is to build a relationship over time. You exchange ideas and information and develop a connection. There are many ways your prospective clients can get to know you better. Here are few:

- Spend time together with you in person

- Talk with you on the phone

- Read your e-mails

- Read your articles or books

- Listen to an audio recording you created

LIKE

People have a choice of who they do business with, and it's logical that they gravitate toward people they like. Think about it, when is the last time you invested in something from someone you didn't like?

Find out how likable you are by taking the L-Factor Self Assessment from Tim Sander's book, The Likability Factor. Here is the link to download your free assessment and find out how likable you are: http://www.timsanders.com/images-downloads/l-factor-self-assessment.pdf.

TRUST

Trust is built between people when you are open, honest, and keep your promises. It's about doing what you say you are going to do. So it's quite simple. It's about being impeccable with your word (which is the first agreement in the book The Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz). This is about showing up on time, delivering when you promise, and keeping your commitments just to name a few. Make the choice to be true to your word you will create trust.

You can't make people know, like, and trust you. They either will or they won't. What you can control is who you are and how you act as the owner of your business.

Are you starting to see how building the 'know, like, and trust' factor can help you attract more clients and increase profits? Ask yourself often if you are creating a business that invites people to get to know you, see what you stand for, and builds trust. Do this and you will ignite your business!

© Stephanie Ward, 2008

accounting payroll news

How to Keep Customers From Leaving

Four years ago my husband received his first paycheck from his new job so we decided to celebrate. We went out to our favorite sushi restaurant for dinner. The excitement and pleasure we normally experienced was soon shattered by disappointment and a little rage.

The wonderful service we received was replaced by a waitress who was too busy to take care of us. She had no problem serving the tables to the left and right of us, but we seemed to be an inconvenience. We had to call her over for our order and for refills. She forgot our straws, forgot our wasabi, forgot my daughter's dipping sauce, and forgot my husband's soup. She finally brought the soup and straws upon our second request, but the wasabi and dipping sauce never arrived.

"That's okay," I thought. "Everyone has a bad day sometimes." But then came the worst customer service I have ever experienced in my entire life! It was heavily suggested that my husband and I were LIARS!

When we received our bill, I noticed that we had been charged for two coffee drinks. The problem was that while I had ordered two coffees, we only received one.

When the hostess came by, I explained that I would like the second coffee taken off because I never received it. Her reply, "yes you did. I brought it to you." I looked at her and said, "Yes, you brought me the first coffee I ordered. The second coffee never arrived." She left the table to discuss the matter with our waitress.

The waitress returned and said, "You had two coffees. I picked up a glass." My husband and I looked at her and politely said, "Yes. You picked up the first glass. We never received the second coffee." She then said, "Well the bartender made two drinks." We said, "That may be so, but we never received it." She walked away to discuss the matter with her manager who in turn went to discuss the matter with the bartender.

The bartender swore he made the drink. We didn't deny the fact that he made the drink, we simply stated that we had never received the drink. The manager came to our table and said, "We have a dilemma here. My waitress, the hostess, and the bartender said you received your drink."

We looked at him and said, "We don't deny that the bartender made the drink or that we ordered two coffees (Baileys Irish Cream and coffee, to be exact.), but that second coffee never made it to this table."

Doesn't sound so bad, right? Well, here's the kicker! The manager looked us dead in the face with a look of anger and in a harsh voice said, "Well, I can always go look in the dishwasher for the second glass. My bartender assures me that you are the only ones who ordered one of those drinks."

My husband looked at him in disbelief.

"Did the manager just call us liars?" I asked myself.

My husband simply replied, "Look, we understand your position, but we never received the second coffee. Go look in the dishwasher."

Frustrated, the manger threw his hands up in the air, and with a disgusted voice said, "Well here is what I am going to do. I am going to credit you this drink." No apology. No sorry for the misunderstanding. No sorry for the inconvenience. Nothing.

I looked at the manager and said, "We come here every other week. We never had a problem before." He just walked away-no reply, no words.

The manager came back with the check and a tally that showed the times each of our orders were put into the system. Guess what? The second coffee was not listed on that sheet, but he had written down two times in blue pen and said, "The first coffee was put in at 5:58 and the second coffee was put in at 6:40."

We looked at him and said, "We aren't denying we ordered two coffees; just that the second one never came."

Then my husband added, "Look at this table. Everything from the second order is here. Do you see that cup here?" The manager didn't even look, he just walked away disgusted.

We paid our bill, left a $10 tip since the bill was $100 and we didn't want to stiff the sushi makers, and walked out.

My son, who hates waiting for the bill because he always feels bad when we spend too much money on eating out, had gone outside when we asked the waitress for the bill. The look of bewilderment and anger on my face must have given me away because my son asked, "What's wrong?"

After a little nagging, I finally told him what happened. He looked at me and said, "Mom, you never got that second cup of coffee." I said, "I know and you can bet we will never eat there again."

The moral of this story...sometimes bad customer service can cost you a long-time repeat customer. If you're having a bad day, try to take a deep breath and don't take it out on your customers. And remember, sometimes, employees lie to cover their butts. And sometimes, mistakes just happen.

accounting blog news

Customer Service For Townhouse Associations

As I think about customer service, it seems like such a generic and overused term today. Googling "customer service" in quotation marks resulted in 378 million responses. Googling "townhouse customer service" brought 3 responses, one in England, one in Illinois and one in Washington, none in Minnesota. Sounds like an opportunity for a resourceful manager! Googling, by the way is not something construction workers do to women on work sites. If you don't know what it is, come see me after the session.

OK, so why customer service? You might have heard that everyone is our customer. That clients are customers, that employees are customers, that vendors are customers. Everyone else is really a customer! Your panelists are actually going to cover all of those areas. So it's all about others, but the following simple sentence puts it all into perspective for me, maybe it'll be meaningful to you: "The entire world, with one minor exception, is made up of others" So, with that, why do I think that these people are experts?

I want to learn from people that are knowledgeable, show hard work and commitment. This group taught me about this during their preparation for today's meeting!In preparation for this 2 hour seminar, I received better communications and planning than I did from my business accountant for all of last year. That sounds like a panel of experts! Thinking about communications with customers, Holly set a new example for me. When I sign an email or a letter, it's "steve" and maybe a phone number. She'll be focusing on The Balance Between Technology and the Human Touch.

Business online blog

Stores, Magazines and Great Customer Service!

Stores, bookstores, online magazines, they are all different in their own ways, but they are all the same in some ways too. When we, the public, think of any kind of business, we usually like to think of their idea of what good customer service is like.

What happens when you write for an online magazine? What do you contribute and what do you receive back? Have you ever had an surprise package arrive in your mailbox? I write this wondering how many individuals have received their coffee mug and how many appreciate it the way that I do. This article is not about coffee mugs or gifts but more about gratitude. I have always loved companies that think of their employees or customers or of their volunteers and I have always watched --from the background, what happens in those businesses.

Take for example, Barnes and Nobles Booksellers. That store is so tremendous, yet usually they are putting customer service first and formost. Years ago you could go into almost any of their stores and find big comfy chairs and tables and rest rooms and water fountains, public pay phones and even cafes and music rooms to listen to music in. Now that is a store that knows how to treat its customers. So what experience have you had that is similar to experiencing great sustomer service?

Online magazines, in their own ways are stores also. They market articles and their customers are both the readers and the writers. And though there are many online that call themselves magazines, I have to say that I enjoy Ezines the best. Ezines goes one extra step over all the others. And so in this article about great customer service I have to add a THANK YOU!

Thank you! Wow, I do have an attitude of gratitude myself here. Yesterday, when I arrived home, I found my package, a package that I had not asked for. And I had no clue it would be coming in the mail to me so this truly was a wonderful, unexpected surprise in the middle of my day.

There is was, that cool-little white box from Ezine. I opened it up and saw this awesome coffee/tea mug. I love Ezine! It has a beautiful big, red heart on it and the Ezines logo mark. That made me smile immensely. Ezine you made my day yesterday!

Have you ever come home to an unexpected letter or package? What was the feeling that you had as you began to open it? Think back into your life and try to remember that time, that feeling and that occasion. I will be that it was a great day for you and that you remember it like it was yesterday.

There is nothing better than an expected surprise that brings a smile to your face and joy to your heart. What Ezine did not know about me is that I happen to love mugs. Yes, I am mug-craved. I am one of those people who believe there is a mug for every single occasion and yesterday, having no clue what awaited me in the mail, I returned home to discover one delightful package at my home.

First class delivery-priority all the way brought this package to my home. The mug is so cool. And, as an added treat, there is a package of unique coffee packed inside of it. Thank you, Ezine!

entrep

The Eyes Have It

In the TV show Friends, massage therapist Phoebe is accused of flirting with one of her clients because she got a pedicure, new toenail polish and a toe ring. Obviously - as a massage client, looking down through the hole in the table, Phoebe's feet are the only part of her he can see.

My husband would be relieved to know that my masseur yesterday was definitely not foot-flirting with me! As I peered down through the hole in the table all I saw were some scuffed shoes and a very plain boring floor. As someone who has the attention span of a goldfish I must admit I was a little bored (not by the massage - just the view).

As I sat there peering at beige linoleum I was reminded of my firm belief that as many people as possible within a business should experience the business from the client's perspective.

If the masseur had been in my place, perhaps next time I went back there might be a bowl of water with lilies or even goldfish as a friend of mine once experience while getting a massage in Vietnam.

If all dentists sat in their own chairs once in a while (and felt the terror that many of us do), perhaps they may all have the very groovy television on the ceiling I've heard one Sydney dentist has where you can watch a TV show or movie and pick up from that point next time you come in.

Where do your clients eyes go? If you run a gym, what is there for your clients eyes to go to while they're on the spin bike or on a treadmill. My gym has little motivational quotes on the equipment. What about when you're flat on your back doing a chest press - your client's eyes are on the ceiling - what's there for them?

My eye's always go to the bathroom with me (shock horror) when I'm in a restaurant. If you work in one, head on in there and look around with your client's eyes on (metaphorically of course!).

If you're in retail, perhaps it's your dressing rooms you need to study (see Interaction Enhancement for more ideas on client service and being a dressing room superstar). In real estate the eyes may be focussed on your car (what is that smell?) or the insides of your client's cupboards (the buyer's eyes will almost definitely go there).

Take a moment and be your client for 10 minutes today and change what doesn't delight the eyes.

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A Customer Experience Lesson From Microsoft

A couple months ago I tried an open source word processor, AbiWord . It's a decent product and does everything you'd expect. I tried it because I was tired of Microsoft Word taking so long to start and crashing so often.

But before long I found myself using Microsoft Word again. Even though its startup and crashing problems remain, it still has something no other word processing software has (that I have found).

It saves me time.

You see, I tend to be a clumsy typist. Always have been. I had hope it would improve with age. It has. I get clumsier every year. Typos, mixed up letters, caps in the wrong place, missing letters. You name it and I do it.

So I am constantly re-typing my mistakes. This takes time. And, what's worse for me, it's disrupting.

When I use WordPad, AbiWord or others, I have to retype a lot. But, when I use Microsoft Word, I don't. It corrects for me. It doesn't fix everything but it fixes most of my mistakes.

This is how technology is supposed to work. And it's how a product makes itself indispensable.

I have no loyalty to Microsoft (though I'm a big fan of Bill Gates). I dumped Outlook two months ago and never looked back. Many of their products annoy me. I have gone out of my way to try to use other non-Word products.

But Word has won my heart. It makes my life easier. It helps me spend less time on the mechanics of writing (typing) and more time on the fun part (creating).

It has become indispensable in my world.

Do your customers say that about your product or service? Do you provide something so valuable they would fight to keep doing business with you? Is your product or service so useful to your customers that they can't imagine doing without?

When you reach that point you have achieved greatness in your field. You have discovered what your customers want and you have delivered it to them.

If you are helping your customers in a way that is remarkable or outstanding then your marketing becomes much easier. You have a story to tell that people will listen to. They'll listen because you can help them accomplish what they want. They are motivated to want to learn more.

Amazing Service means giving your customers what they want. Do this well and you'll have them lined up.

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