Showing posts with label shops. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shops. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

The One Service Businesses Should Never Stop: Customer Service


The success of any business depends on how well customers are treated. No business is successful without customers who care about it, so it is highly important that you care about them. Lets delve right into the one service businesses should never stop, Customer Service.

Businesses may use sales, promotions, and/or contests to drive traffic to their site or store, but without great customer service, the longevity of that business will be little to none. Every business needs new customers to continue it's growth, but returning customers is what keeps businesses running longer.
Customer Service is important in how people judge your business and also in how customers talk about it. Word of mouth, will let others (potential customers) know about your business and the main goal is to have what customers say, be positive. Great Customer Service, not only will help in keeping customers, but will also save your business time and money.

6 Ways To Provide Great Customer Service:
Here are 6 tips on how to keep your customers happy and your business being successful.

Keep Promises Made To Customers: When you tell a customer you are going to ship out their order by a certain date or you're going to have a sale on a certain product within your store, etc., make sure you stick to it. Customers rely on your words to be followed up by actions. If for any reason you cannot stick to what you say, then don't say it. Think before you commit!

Communicate With Customers: If your business is changing, moving, or going to be doing something different with the way it does it's business, be sure to communicate it to your customers. Treat every customer with importance and show it. Customers will only be loyal to those who are loyal to them, so it is crucial that you keep the communication open and on-going. This way, customers feel included in your business and will want to continue being a part of it, even through-out the changes.

Listen To What Your Customers Are Saying: Customers will tell you how they feel about a certain product, service, etc. Be sure your business is not just hearing them, but listening to them. Ignoring what your customers are saying, will not only frustrate them, but will eventually make them leave your business. Take time to address what your customers are saying. Give them options in how problems can be solved and let them know you want to help them in every way possible. It is always important that you take the time to respond!

Respond/Reply To Customers: When customers reach out to your business via phone, email, etc. to ask questions and/or to find out additional information, answer them. Most people are not satisfied with an automated service. Customers want to speak with an actual person who is more than willing to help. With that said, if your business does use an answering machine or email service, call customers back and/or respond via email in a timely manner. Customers are expecting a response and are usually not happy until one is received. Making customers wait for an answer, will not only irritate them, but can even make them irate. Every message, customer, and question matters!

Deal With Customer Complaints: Complaints can be hard to deal with and it is impossible to please everyone, but not dealing with them, is more harmful to your business. Evaluate each complaint to see if anything can be done to change the way in which that specific customer feels. Try not to become defensive when addressing possible solutions in helping that customer with his or her complaint. Customers feelings need to be recognized and addressed. However, sometimes customers may not hear the answer they were hoping for, but your business can always try to continue making customers feel important by offering something extra. If you can't find a solution to a problem, creating one might be the only viable option (Example: Customer is complaining that their purchase shipped out late and didn't arrive when it was suppose to and your business finds that this information is correct, try to rectify it). Give your customer a discount on their next purchase, a coupon, etc. Letting the customer know you've listened, tried, and still care can go a long way!

Treat Employees and Co-Workers Well: Take time to thank those you work with and/or who works for you. It is important to not only make sure that those who work for you are fully educated about your business, but are treated well too. With these two combined, employees will be loyal to your business and will have the drive to want it to succeed. Everyone likes to know they are appreciated for their work efforts and to be recognized for it. This inevitably boosts the business' morale, which is always good for business!

The key factor in sustaining any business, is to show customers they are important. In keeping promises, communicating, responding, and in showing appreciation, will help in keeping customers happy and coming back for more. Treat your customers well and they will do the same for your business.


Written By: Amanda Ryan, Creature Creations, Personalized Photo Gifts
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Saturday, May 8, 2010

May - Tips Of The Day


Tees In A Pod strives to provide you with many resources in helping you reach your goals with all of your online ventures. Another way we provide such support, besides our weekly podcast, is by sharing with you a "Tip Of The Day" on our Facebook Fan Page. Below, we have created a list of all the Fan Page tips we sent out as status updates for the month of MAY! Stay tuned... for every month a new list will be posted...

Please leave a comment and share with us any tips you have! We'll use them as a "Tip Of The Day" to share with others on our Facebook Fan Page, as well as list it here, plus we will give you credit for your awesome tip! Enjoy!!

MAY: Tips Of The Day!

  • Tip Of The Day For Zazzlers: Did you know if you use the asterisk (*) after your store's URL, it is known as a referral and you can earn extra cash in doing it ? ex: http://www.zazzle.com/creaturecreations* Try it with yours!

  • Did you know that your Facebook Fan Page Insights has a new addition called "Interactions Per Post"... Check out the drop down in the first graph where you will discover this most recent "Insight" :)

  • When creating tabs with apps on your Facebook Fan Page be sure and try many different and FREE sites that offer easy and professional ones, such as "Involver" so add a tab for Twitter, YouTube, etc. and "Maximize Your Facebook Pages!" :)

  • Did you know you could change the name of a link you share on Facebook? You sure can... just type in a URL like this: http://www.teesinapod.blogspot.com (Use your own Url too) and when the drop down appears click on the "Title" and change it to what you want others to see!! Change it up!

  • Shared Tip Alert! Comes to you from one of our Awesome Fans! If you add a link to your status update on Facebook, you can change the description from the drop down too!! Great to know and thank you so much Amy for your wonderful tip!

  • Use hashtags on Twitter and Facebook too! hashtags are: when you use a word related to your post/tweet beginning with the symbol "#" this spreads the news faster, categorizes it, and can build your company's sense of community! #hashtag it up!

  • Be sure to include the "@" symbol when wanting to mention someone on Facebook. Ex: Tees In A Pod (put "@" symbol, start typing choose from drop down.) This way, what you are saying will show up on their FB page too! The only way you can do this, is if you are friends or likers of ones page. Let them know you are talkin' about them :)

  • Ever wish you could download your FB photo albums to your computer? Now you can with this Firefox Add On: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/8442/


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Thursday, April 8, 2010

Designing For A Cause


When turning on the television, radio, or computer, most of the news you hear is that of either tragedy, despair, or disease. With the increase of natural disasters, poverty, and incurable diseases, to name only a few, it can sometimes be hard to feel nothing but sadness and frustration to say the least. What if there was a way to help those who are not able to help themselves? To stand up for what you think is important and right?
Many shop keepers use their online store as an outlet to become involved with a cause, to make a statement, to help others, and to encourage people to get involved. This act of kindness can make a difference in changing peoples views on worldly topics and in increasing awareness about how change and help is possible. In creating such stores, people are forced to remember those who are needing our help and are able to learn how to make a difference, be it to a country, the world, or another living being. Here are some online stores we felt are worth mentioning for their efforts to change the world with one customer at a time and for bringing awareness to such important topics.

The first store, Support For Tibet, states on their site that it was created "to spread awareness of the cause of Tibetan refugees forced to leave their country, former political prisoners, and those still living in Tibet under Chinese occupation, whose basic human rights are denied every day." The creator is a volunteer for the Tibetan Exile Community in North India and the proceeds of each sale goes to help those living in McleodGanj, India. Some of their products include, t-shirts, mugs, stickers, and more. To find additional information about this important cause please visit, The Support For Tibet Store.


Another store we found doing great things is, The Breast Chek Kit. Their main focus is to encourage women to do a breast examination which can help in saving lives through early detection. What they offer is an actual kit that includes items such as a Nylon Spandex Shirt, to keep track of any changes in the breast, instructions on how to do a self-examination, and more. To learn all about how they're making a difference, visit their site and explore.

Hearts For Haiti store is another great example of shop keepers doing amazing things. Their products, are made from a collaboration of many designers who each have their own online store, but came together to design to help those in Haiti. The store offers stickers, buttons, magnets, and keychains, with inspirational designs on them. All proceeds from sales go to Hope For Haiti. To learn more on how to get involved or to see what all they offer, visit their site, Hearts For Haiti on Zazzle.


Another fine example of a store making a difference is, Cure Apparel Company. They have dedicated their store in helping to find a cure for Diabetes. Their products include a wide selection of t-shirts with amazing designs, focusing on raising awareness about diabetes and 10% of their sales goes to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). To see more and/or to purchase "clothing for a cause" head on over to their store.



These are only a few wondeful examples of shop keepers who make a difference. Thank you to all the shop owners who not only want to change the world in which we live in, but encourage others to do the same.
Other great causes can also be found within the Zazzle community. See if your cause is there, if not, why not create one. Maybe you already have a store designed for a cause, tell us all about it in the comment box below or on our Facebook Fan Page, Teesinapod!

Created By: Amanda Ryan, Creature Creations, Personalized Photo Gifts

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