Tuesday - January 6, 2009
As the economy is forcing companies to cut costs -- or at least scaring them into doing so -- one important aspect of business is being left behind in the panic: customer service. For the past few decades it has taken a backseat because of budget cuts, outsourcing, and the loss of talented staff. As companies go down to the bare minimums this coming year, sadly this trend might continue. As a business owner for the past few years, I feel that the return on investment from a team of skilled, honest, local, and loyal workers is far greater than that from a team of cheap, outsourced employees.
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Saturday - January 3, 2009
When Bob Pinion and his son bought a small sports bar in Palatine last year, they hadn't counted on paying to have their electricity hooked up. So it was a bit of a shock when ComEd asked for a $2,850 deposit to get the power flowing. Pinion paid the money because he had no choice. But he eagerly awaited the day when he would get the deposit back.
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Wednesday - December 31, 2008
Legend has it that the inventor of chess was so wise that when the king asked him to name his reward, he replied that he only wanted one grain of wheat for the first square, two grains for the second, four grains for the third, eight grains for the fourth and so on up to the sixty-four squares on the board.
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Wednesday - December 31, 2008
For many e-tailers, online chat is a closer. Packaged and offered up to site visitors as a service, it provides an opportunity to close a sale when an uncertain customer wavers. Retailers were early adopters of this technology precisely because of the distinct return on investment, Conversive CEO Robert Williams told CRM Buyer.
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Tuesday - December 30, 2008
E-commerce has certainly not been immune from the recession battering the U.S. economy, but for reasons that can only be guessed at, most of the leading e-tailers have not stepped up their efforts to retain customers by providing improved service, according to a recent customer satisfaction survey.
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Tuesday - December 30, 2008
Memo to telecom service providers: "We never thanked you, but you did a great job offering us consolidated billing. It is hard to remember now, as for the last few years you have been so aggressive in promoting bundled services, but five years ago, this was a major pain point. Three bills for ISP, cable and telephone, and usually three different due dates as well."
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Sunday - December 28, 2008
If there's anything we've learned this year, it's that nothing can be taken for granted. Any number of retail wild cards make it hard to give consumers a complete shopping strategy scoop. How can I tell you where to jab when retailers themselves don't even know how they'll bob and weave? Return policies are no different.
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Saturday - December 27, 2008
You knew it was a bad time of year to go to that store, but you went in anyhow and you wished you hadn't. The lines were long and filled with grumps and kids, both way past nap time. You couldn't find anything because the place was a mess. The sound system was broken, and the same Christmas song was playing over and over and over till you thought you'd scream. You couldn't wait to get out of there.
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Tuesday - December 23, 2008
First, the caller screamed about not receiving her unemployment check. Then, she began hurling F-bombs in a breathless barrage of profanities until claims rep Dale Whitman, unable to ascertain her problem or to quell her outburst, hung up. "I felt bad for her, but she wouldn't calm down and she had actually cheated her way in through the foreign-language line," said Whitman.
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Monday - December 22, 2008
The Internet provides opportunities for businesses to interact with customers in new ways. As innovations in social media appear, enterprises slowly adopt those same trends to offer alternatives for making the sale online. Some companies are attracting potential new clients through live video streaming or open chat channels.
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Wednesday - December 17, 2008
Move over Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and make room for yet another retail-inspired shopping event. Free Shipping Day is here -- or rather, it will be here on Thursday, Dec. 18 -- the last day someone can order a gift online and have it guaranteed to arrive on Christmas Eve with free shipping.
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