All posts in Customer Services

How To Build Strong & Lasting Customer Relationships

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Can you imagine the following scenario? Your customer profile consists of people who solely value your products and services, who dont make decisions based solely on price, and who dont try the competition occasionally. Seems like a dream, doesnt it? Well, this can be your reality with some hard work, value positioning and building of strong customer relationships. When a salesperson (you) is valued as an asset to the customer, he becomes ingrained within the customers organization, making it virtually impossible for others (the competition) to get any business.

So what is the best way to make yourself valuable and build customer relationships? Here are some excerpts from an article from small business sales training web site, SalesprenurEDGE, providing some insight on how strong customer relationships are formed.

Getting Started Developing A Foundation

It is important to realize that a solid customer relationship is not developed overnight; it takes time and effort. When establishing a new relationship with a customer, it is important to pay attention to the little details that make a big difference. As a rule of thumb, everything you do should make it easy for the customer to do business with you. Here are some examples:

1. Respect the customers time, show up on time and stay within the time allotted for your meeting / discussion. 2. Learn as much as you can about the customer and start thinking of ways you can help make their job easier. When working with a customer, in the back of your mind think of ways to make the customer a hero within his or her organization.

The reason that building a foundation is important is in the customers mind there is some level of risk involved in making a purchase decision. This is not a personal reflection on you, but a natural part of the buying process. If there is nothing that removes some of the risk from the mind of the customer, he will not make a purchase. Simply do the right thing by your customer and treat him the same way you would like to be treated if you were in his shoes. Over time, you will reap the rewards of building a strong foundation.

Strengthening The Customer Relationship

The strength of a customer relationship occurs during and after a sale has been made, as well as when leading up to future purchase decisions. In fact, the strength of a customer relationship can be measured by how many times you have cycled through the sales process with a customer. The key to making this an ongoing process is, again, being able to continually add value to the customer. Be aware that a common pitfall here is that you may think you are adding value, but if your customer doesnt perceive value, then you have not provided value. Here are some are some examples of what you can do provide value and strengthen your relationship with the customer.

1. Understand the customers needs. 2. Admit mistakes. 3. Pick up the phone.

The Elements of Successful Flyers

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Most people think that the purpose of giving out flyers is to inform consumers about a particular product of service. While this is inherently true, the main motivation should be to sell these products and services. Flyers are promotional materials intended to catapult your target audience into sampling the goods you are offering.

Flyers are effective marketing media that can solicit such desired responses be it buying your products or walking into your store. Flyers are used to encourage purchasing activity to boost your sales. And though there are a sufficient number of flyers flooding the market, how do you make yours stand out?

Designing flyers isnt a mind-boggling activity. You can always get a professional artist to do it for you. The main concern is in its content and how you can deliver your message more efficiently. All that your flyers need is really just under your nose. Stick to your goals and be practical. Everyone is a consumer in his or her own way, and being an entrepreneur, you should know better how to communicate to your target audience through flyers.

Do not complicate matters by thinking of the things that shouldnt be in your flyers. Therell be dozens and dozens of them. Concentrate on the message you want to deliver and how youll attract your potential clients. Also, observe these essentials to creating successful flyers that will deliver you results.

Key features
Your selling points are your products and services strong points. Stress the values of your products or services that put you at par with the competition. If you have the lowest priced product or if youre product does the job in the shortest time possible then use it. Use words that pertain to results and advantages that only your products or services bring.

Be Direct
Flyers are like take-out food. You want it fast and you have to have it on the go. Nobody wants to read flyers that beat the fine print of newspapers. Keep your text limited to your teasers or headlines, keywords, short descriptions, and other important details such as your contact details, taglines and prices.

Also, use high-impact words or headline that creates a lasting impression. Focus on your campaign, whether you are offering a buy one take one promo, a weekend madness sale or a limited collectible item. Use call to action messages like Visit the nearest branch now, or Enjoy this limited offer until said date, to encourage them further.

Customer Orientation
Identify the needs and wants of your target audience and invest on it. Your product and services might just be the thing they are looking for. Clearly state what the products or services can do for your consumers and the added benefits they can enjoy by availing the said items.

Empathize too with what consumers look for in a product and appeal to their sensibilities. Align your messages by playing on their particular fantasies or ideas. AN example would be indicating that a product is biodegradable; it becomes more appealing especially to environmentally aware individuals.

Wow them with your flyers
One of the most important things is of course, to make a bold and stunning flyer that people will notice. Arrest their attention by using rich colors and well defined graphics. Balance your lay out and know which details should be highlighted and which ones should be put on the other page.

Print your flyers only with professional printers that can guarantee high-resolution prints. Flyers are best sharp and vivid to make your designs come alive. And captivating flyers can only be produced in high-quality by relying on printers with years of excellent service in the printing industry.

Create and invest in flyers now to promote your products and services. Watch your business thrive by marketing through flyers. Boost your sales now and leave the competition behind.

Inventory replenishment for better customer service

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The key to the success of any business is the availability of the product when the customer desires for it. Once the business plan is made and the marketing takes off the next most important step is inventory forecast based on the market reaction and eventually inventory replenishment.

Inventory management was initially done manually that involved whole lot of manual calculation. The retail buyers too were experts in maximizing their sales while maintaining an inventory that was in line. There were many however, who struggled to maintain sales and inventory in line. These retail buyers turned their inventories at a very slow rate trapping in a lot of cash that would mean less profits and a whole lot of overstock every season. There were still others who sold at a certain rate without maintaining inventories. These retailers were unable to keep up the pace of sales due to less stocks loosing out in a long run.

The innumerable soft wares available today solve the problem of manual calculation. The availability of retail information system caters to the needs and the requirements of the retailer for inventories. Retailers in all the segments have utilized the advances made in retail information technology to maximize profits.

As the applications become more refined with exact details of demand forecast and inventory management models, it still depends a lot on the skill of the business person to interpret the data available in the right manner. The applications after all will not be able to do thinking for you. The thinking and interpretation needs to be done day in and out for profits. The applications will only facilitate the individual to take right decisions and make the inventory management work in the retailers favor. Sales planning and inventory replenishment modules too are usually incorporated in the sophisticated inventory planning packages.

ERP is an effective inventory management tool specifically aimed at the small retailers. These packages are however, not utilized to the fullest by the small retailers due to the limitations of the demand prediction and inventory management functions normally included in these soft wares. These tools capture the data provided and address the reporting in an amazing number of combinations. These soft wares have short comings that should be taken into account and not followed blindly. Demand forecasting should inventory management functions are just not sufficient to efficiently manage their stock.

The basic rules of inventory management and retailing remain unchanged. A successful business person has to understand the end customer well. Their needs, requirements and future expectation need to be taken into consideration. All this along with the data from past and the present day trend will help to formulate a basic successful inventory plan. The plan needs to be updated on a daily basis as the season progresses and specific trends have to be worked upon on urgent manner. Use the latest technology effectively for positive end results but do not solely depend on it.

The Secret Thoughts of Clients That You Must Know to Increase Sales

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Have you thought about how your potential clients are viewing you? When you are having any type of sales conversation, your potential client is going through a very specific thought process. The internal dialogue that is happening for them will is a make or break situation for you because it will determine whether they say yes or no to becoming a playing client.

Here is a checklist that you must keep in mind before every sales conversation. It is applicable to all sales conversations whether you are a coach, consultant, travel agent, or plumber. When giving estimates for a particular service, enrolling clients into your programs, or selling valuable products to clients, you must keep these in mind to increase your sales conversion:

1. Do your clients see you as a Problem Solver? This is the #1 Secret Thought your potential clients are having about you. If your potential client is convinced that you have the best solution to the problem they need solved, then they will put their money down and hire you. If the solution you offer has no urgency or is something that they can delay to another time, then they will say no.

2. Do your clients see you as an expert? When talking to you, clients are secretly assessing your knowledge and commitment levels. They must see, hear, and feel your confidence in and passion for what you do. If you are distracted or lackluster in your communication with them, you will not get the sale.

3. Are you present, listening, and understanding? Your clients are looking to see that you have their best interests at heart and that you truly care about them and the challenges they are facing. You must remain completely PRESENT with them. Every human being has a fundamental desire to be heard and understood. When you are present, sincerely listening and understanding your clients, they will be attracted to you like magnets.

4. Are you committed to excellence in customer service? Another secret thought your potential client is having in assessing you is how well you will treat them if they become a paying client. How you treat them in the sales conversation is an indicator to them of how committed you are to serving your clients/customers with superior customer care. Are you warm, receptive, and enthusiastic, or thinking about your to-do list when they are talking? People can intuitively tell how you will treat them.

So, the next time you are going to have a sales conversation with a potential client, make sure you take a few moments to go over this checklist and give yourself a few moments of silence to center yourself and become fully present for your client and start increasing your sales and helping more people in your business!

Improving Quality of Service with Retail Point of Sale Systems

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As a business, you want the maximum return on your business investments. When thinking about implementing new technology to work with your retail point of sale system, the costs of start-up and training need to be low and the benefits high to make it a sound business decision. You want to be confident that the increased business will more than compensate for the initial outlay. Some suppliers seem to have forgotten this as they charge exorbitant prices for on-site servers and require expensive long-term commitments. They even charge extra fees for training and technical support. However, it is good to know that there are some retail point of sale system suppliers who have the medium to large business in mind. For businesses with anywhere from three to fifty locations, there are many options that will improve quality of service and profitability.

With the ability to manage your data on their servers at a secure location, costs associated with on-site servers and administrative overhead are eliminated. Upfront capital costs become monthly pay-as-you-go subscriptions that fit neatly into your business budget. Integrating your existing retail point of sale equipment, such as bar-code scanners and credit card swipes allows you to realize additional savings. The maintenance and upgrades for your retail point of sale software system are managed at the supplier’s state of the art data center. This ensures that each upgrade or new release will work seamlessly with your current equipment.

Your retail point of sale information can be accessed in real-time so that you can determine accurate stock on hand, in receiving or on order. Imagine the benefits of accurate, up-to-the minute information. Your sales will increase and your costs will be reduced. By having the information about merchandise at your fingertips, you will be able to better serve your customers. If an item is out of stock at one location, you will be able to determine immediately where a duplicate item is located and how quickly you can have it to your customer. A happy customer is a return customer, which leads to increased sales. Costs are reduced as the possibility for duplicate orders is eliminated. With each location knowing what the other is ordering and so forth, costs can be reduced.

Having retail point of sale software that you can connect to from anywhere the Internet goes allows you incredible freedom. You can access information directly whether you are at a trade show or from any of your locations. If a problem arises while you are at home or even on vacation, you will be able to get accurate real-time information and make informed decisions. You won’t have to worry about not having the retail point of sale information that you need because it will all be yours at the click of a mouse or even on your iphone.

Sophisticated retail point of sale system software that is reasonably priced and easy to use is not just wishful thinking. Suppliers have jumped on the bandwagon to supply businesses with the tools they need and want to make their companies grow. In less time than you might think possible you can be receiving real-time reports on your merchandise that will help improve your bottom line.

point of sale software, retail point of sale, pos retail