by Chris Hunter | Nov 3, 2015 | Customer Satisfaction
by Chris Hunter | Nov 3, 2015 | Customer Satisfaction
One of the most important parts of our work as a service provider is maintaining and enhancing our relationships with our clients or customers. Maintaining and growing these relationships makes the time spent on a project more enjoyable, satisfying and effective....
by Chris Hunter | Oct 29, 2015 | Customer Complaints
by Chris Hunter | Nov 3, 2015 | Customer Satisfaction
There are seven things you should never tell your customers. Here they are . . .
by Chris Hunter | Mar 27, 2016 | Customer Relationship Management, Customer Service Strategies, Point of Sale Systems
Increasingly, small businesses are using technology to help modernize aspects of their operations. Many companies may have started to think about publishing their own pamphlets, building a website or even buying a digital camera. But it isn’t necessarily the...
by Chris Hunter | Nov 2, 2015 | Customer Relationship Management
To build a successful business, you need as many ‘good’ clients as possible. Agreed? And when the economy is booming, and you’ve got clients beating at your door – it’s important to be able to service them all efficiently and...
by Chris Hunter | Nov 7, 2015 | Customer Service Strategies
So much is said in retailing about customer service but not enough is actually done about it. The goal of every retailer should be to deliver truly outstanding customer service but management in most stores – even the major chains, have no idea about the level of...
by Chris Hunter | Nov 3, 2015 | Customer Relationship Management
Customer relationship management is one of the hottest management tools today. But more than half of all CRM initiatives fail to produce the anticipated results. Why? And what can companies do to reverse that negative trend? The authors–three senior Bain...
by Chris Hunter | Nov 7, 2015 | Customer Service Strategies
Studies consistently show low levels of customer satisfaction with the ways in which businesses use emails. Too often, companies seem to be using email as a means of avoiding other forms of contact with their customers and their customers aren’t pleased. Their...
by Chris Hunter | Nov 7, 2015 | Customer Service Strategies
Ask most business owners whether they think any of their customers will remain with them for the life of their businesses and they’ll probably admit that it’s unlikely. They’ve seen customers come and go, and they know that their competitors are...
by Chris Hunter | Nov 7, 2015 | Customer Service Strategies
Most if not all small businesses are aware of the need to acquire a customer focus, to make the business more customer-centric, and to really get to know their customers. Businesses know they need a strategy to harvest the full crop of potential returns from their...
by Chris Hunter | Nov 8, 2015 | Image
by Chris Hunter | Nov 8, 2015 | Image
by Chris Hunter | Nov 3, 2015 | Customer Relationship Management
Customer relationship management, or CRM was once touted as the way of the future for all businesses. If the customer was truly king, CRM would be the way we courted royalty and retained their support. But when the anticipated gains didn’t materialize many...
by Chris Hunter | Nov 6, 2015 | Customer Satisfaction
What’s happened to customer loyalty? There’s an increasing trend for customers to drift away no matter how much we spend to keep them faithful. More and more they’re making their ‘buy’ decisions on the basis of price and other factors like convenience rather than...
by Chris Hunter | Nov 6, 2015 | Customer Satisfaction
by Chris Hunter | Nov 6, 2015 | Customer Satisfaction
Loyalty programs are not just for airlines or credit card companies. Small and medium-sized businesses, both consumer and services based, also have a lot to gain from incorporating a loyalty program into their customer relationship management (CRM) strategy. However,...
by Chris Hunter | Nov 7, 2015 | Customer Satisfaction
by Chris Hunter | Nov 3, 2015 | Customer Relationship Management
Most managers of small to medium-sized organizations have probably heard about the millions of dollars larger companies have spent on systems for customer relationship management. Many have no doubt asked, ‘What’s the point?’, or even, ‘what is it?’.For consumers,...
by Chris Hunter | Nov 7, 2015 | Customer Satisfaction
“Customer delight!” The phrase conjures up pictures of customers dancing in the aisles, clapping their hands with joy in celebration of the purchases they’ve just made. But there really is such a commodity as customer delight and it’s...
by Chris Hunter | Nov 7, 2015 | Customer Satisfaction
by Chris Hunter | Oct 29, 2015 | Customer Complaints
by Chris Hunter | Nov 7, 2015 | Customer Service Strategies
by Chris Hunter | Nov 7, 2015 | Customer Service Strategies
A written set of customer service standards will not only provide an organization with a set of goals, it will set benchmarks that can be used to monitor and improve service standards. Written standards can be a valuable training resource, and can help ensure that...
by Chris Hunter | Nov 7, 2015 | Customer Satisfaction
Every business relationship has its ups and downs, and in most cases both parties work to overcome conflicts and get things back to normal. We like what we’re used to and especially in professional services relationships there’s a lot of value placed on...
by Chris Hunter | Nov 3, 2015 | Customer Relationship Management
Among the many new buzz words to spring into the business lexicon over the past few years is CRM, which stands for Customer Relationship Management. CRM can be described as a business philosophy, a software product, or as both. As a business philosophy, CRM is the...
by Chris Hunter | Mar 25, 2016 | Customer Complaints, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Service, Customer Service Strategies, General - Operations
by Chris Hunter | Oct 29, 2015 | Customer Complaints
We often wonder what others really think about something we’ve said or done. The only way to find out is to get feedback from them, and it’s not always going to be positive. However, this doesn’t mean it isn’t all valuable. In fact, when...
by Chris Hunter | Jan 23, 2016 | Customer Relationship Management, Customer Satisfaction, General - Marketing, Market Research
Customers are the lifeblood of any business, but too many businesses don’t involve their customers in planning for the future. Unless management knows what its customers think – about the business, about the service levels, about the products and about the way their...
by Chris Hunter | Nov 8, 2015 | Image
To everyone out there, you and your business are inseparable. Every time you meet someone and every contact you have is an opportunity to make a good impression for your business. Make a good first impression and both you and your business will be seen in a positive...
by Chris Hunter | Nov 7, 2015 | Customer Service Strategies
by Chris Hunter | Jan 23, 2016 | General - Customer Service, Market Research, Marketing Strategies
Terms like “Gen-X” and “Gen-Y” are often used without knowing exactly what group is being talked about. It’s generally accepted that Gen-Xers were born between the mid-1960s and the mid-1970s, meaning that they’re now in their...
by Chris Hunter | Nov 7, 2015 | Guarantees
by Chris Hunter | Apr 3, 2016 | Customer Relationship Management, Selling Skills, Selling Skills
by Chris Hunter | Nov 7, 2015 | Customer Satisfaction
As customers, we can all recognize outstanding customer service when we experience it. But there are still many businesses that do not reach minimum standards. Not surprisingly, there are some individual consumers who hanker for a return to the types of service that...
by Chris Hunter | Nov 7, 2015 | Customer Satisfaction
Increasingly, businesses are realizing that their greatest asset is their customer base. The old idea, put forward by many managing directors and human resource specialists over the years, that “our people are our greatest asset” is being questioned. After...
by Chris Hunter | Nov 7, 2015 | Customer Satisfaction
by Chris Hunter | Nov 8, 2015 | Listening Skills, Selling Skills, Selling Skills
by Chris Hunter | Mar 26, 2016 | Customer Relationship Management, Meetings
We’re getting less formal about business every year. Offices that once had rigid dress codes now tolerate jeans and sports shirts. Thanks to teleworking and teleconferencing it’s possible for executives to attend a business meeting from home wearing a bathrobe. But...
by Chris Hunter | Nov 7, 2015 | Customer Service Strategies
by Chris Hunter | Nov 7, 2015 | Customer Service Strategies
by Chris Hunter | Nov 22, 2015 | Branding, Image, Marketing Plans
Business names are features of our urban landscape. We see them in lights on top of buildings, on billboards and over franchise outlets. Any time we pay attention to a particular business name, we trigger a set of memories and associations. If we have had good or bad...
by Chris Hunter | Nov 7, 2015 | Customer Service Strategies
Providing a high and consistent quality of service is a key to business success. That is because high service quality promotes customer satisfaction and customer satisfaction has a direct link to business revenue. Advertising may win new customers, but quality service...
by Chris Hunter | Nov 7, 2015 | Customer Service Strategies
Far too many professional services firms only see their customers once or twice a year, usually on the basis of clients paying a fee for every minute you spend together. You should think of the clients you already have as a bit like old friends – you already know each...
by Chris Hunter | Nov 3, 2015 | Customer Relationship Management
by Chris Hunter | Nov 8, 2015 | Customer Service Strategies, Listening Skills
by Chris Hunter | Nov 6, 2015 | Customer Satisfaction
Customer loyalty is something that used to be earned, but now is purchased. Think about it. We receive “loyalty” points by spending money with certain retailers or using specific credit cards, and in exchange for the points we accumulate get free travel...
by Chris Hunter | Jan 23, 2016 | Customer Relationship Management, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Service Strategies, General - Marketing, Market Research
by Chris Hunter | Nov 3, 2015 | Customer Relationship Management
CRM stands for “Customer Relationship Management.” It’s all about getting to know your customers and using this knowledge to form profitable relationships with them. CRM has been around in various forms as long as there have been vendors and...
by Chris Hunter | Nov 7, 2015 | Customer Service Strategies
Chris’ combination of academic credentials, career experience and temperament ideally suit his calling as a business development advisor. Clients say he has a mind for business and a heart for service.