Customer Service is Key

What I learned this week is how to retain customers and keep them happy. There is 3 "r" that we should know to focus on customers. Retention, having an ongoing relationship with your clients. Related sales. if you know your customers you will know what they would be interested in so you can recommend other products or services that you might offer or have. and the last is referrals and this can be the best possible source. If your customers are happy with you they will tell others about you. It is like free advertising. I work in a CPA firm and I have to be the face of the office. The owner and top CPA person comes across very gruff and impersonal.  We do not advertise but every year we get a new batch of clients that have been referred to us. We often wonder why these clients stay with us knowing that he can come across as being so mean but it is not him that they come back for, Well maybe because he is the best CPA around but it is because of the office staff. We greet and know all customers that enter our office. We get to know them on a personal level and we do offer cookies which I am sure helps. I know how important it is to treat our customers right. Since I have been in this class I have taken notice on how other companies operate. I know the companies I like doing business with and others I wonder how they are still in business. In my early career I managed a toy store and I met many wonderful employees that when I left the company they started shopping elsewhere because they were not getting the customer service that I gave them. I knew their grandchildren and children by name and I knew what they would like in the toy store for that specific age. I loved my job and helping them shop. Many times I would be able to up-sell them. I did not work on commission so It was no big deal for me to up sell but I did want to see them satisfied and come back. This sections perhaps was my favorite section so far.

My 100 Challenge has been doing okay, dresses are coming in and communication as to when they will start shopping will be soon. I have a few interested in helping to achieve other interest such as offering hair and makeup to those girls that would not normally be able to afford to do so. We have not figured out the time line or the appointment schedule (hours) .

Bud Bingham Acton Hero wanted to achieve his purpose in life to become the best he can be. He came from a dysfunctional family and his parents divorced when he was young. His father died of alcoholism when bud was 19 years old. He sought refuge with great role models and his philosophy. Have good examples and surrounding yourself around those that make you feel good is what he found from his wife. Sometimes we need to know the depth of disrepair  to be able to pick ourselves up and achieve higher.

Never give up on your dreams...

Phil gave some very prophetic advice. It’s all about service and giving people what they want. What a concept in today’s culture. He never gave up on his dreams and was not afraid of failure. I think most of us are afraid of failure and give up too soon. He had the entrepreneurial skills in his blood from a young child when he had his paper route customers put a value on his service. He gave them what they wanted and was able to make some money by offering a service. It may take a little extra effort but he provided something that they wanted. Money is not everything to Phil he said money is an applause and he creates things to help people. He began to dabble in the venture capital game and he angel funded an invention that some of his doctor friends came up with that eventually helped many patience. Phil has lots of energy and he created that in his restaurants. His words were if you wanted someplace quiet and romantic to eat go to a funeral home. I love the energy he has and I agree. Eating out should be a fun experience. You have to go against the grain.

I can take Phil's advice and never give up on my dreams. Which my dream is to finish my degree. I really do not know where I want to go from there, I have raised my family, owned a business now I just want my degree. I kind of did this all backwards But I know it will be a goal that I have wanted my whole entire life. 

The $100 Challenge has been a challenge. I have storage issues, well really closet space to store the dresses in. I will have to purchase a rolling rack and I hopefully will be able to find a used one that will not cost me too much. That was an expense I did not plan on having. Other than that things our going great. Dresses are coming in and I hope to have time to get the website completed.

Humble, Motivation - Can they work together.

Business Creation
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Can you be humble and motivated at the same time? Being a humble person in the business world is what I learned from this weeks Acton Hero Desh Deshpande. I believe when you come to this country with only $8 you will need to have motivation to succeed and he showed he had the passion and willingness to make it and become the best he can. It is okay to make a failed attempt at a business, you learn from it and move on. He never gave up on his dream.

This week I had the opportunity to learn about one of our clients who loved books and collecting them. She turned her love into a job. When she began coming to our firm she was barely making enough money to survive. Now she is one of the biggest book sellers on the internet. I am excited to tour her warehouse and learn more about her business. I will also meet with an old friend that recently moved back into my area and began a franchise with her son. These will both be amazing interviews. I am really looking forward to meeting with both of these women.

My $100 Challenge is going okay I have received in stock a few dresses and hoping for more so I can begin to sell these dresses on line. I know most young women do not have a lot of money so I am excited to give them the opportunity to purchase a dress for the amount they may earn doing a babysitting job.

What I have learned this week from Paul Robshaw and Heather Evans

Paul Robshaw is an action hero because he has a desire to work hard and to do the right thing. He said when he went through bankruptcy that at least he was able to keep his values.. I appreciate his willingness to stay the course even when it hard. Just like Robshaw said, “success isn’t easy, it takes a lot of hard work.” Part of success isn’t making money, it’s sticking to the core values such as honesty and integrity.

Heather Evans had the education background but lacked the career focus to succeed. She need to bring on someone who can help her in that next step in becoming a world class designer.

E-Myth I learned the three type of business owners:

• The Technician is someone - a bicycle mechanic, computer programmer, cook, etc... - Who is an expert in his or her craft.  This often leads these people to go into business for themselves - they're good at what they do, and they know it, so why not reap the rewards of their labor?  The technician is happiest doing the work they are good at and ignoring the rest, which is, in the end, a recipe for failure.
• The Entrepreneur is the dreamer, the one who sets out to do something new, who reaches for the stars.  The Entrepreneur lives in the future, thinking about what could be (rather than in the present).  The Entrepreneur is often frustrated by how slow the world seems to move.
• The Manager is the detail-oriented one, who dots the “i's” and crosses the “t's”, the one who remembers to pay the bills, and wants a well-organized world with no surprises; a world where things happen in an orderly, predictable manner.

I loved how he went through and diagnosed what the problem was with the bakery. She was the technician and wanted to do everything. My husband and I had a small print business and he was the technician. He worked the long hours and could not hire anyone because no one was as good as he was. He did not want to trust anyone to do the job. In the end we ended up closing because he could not focus on retaining clients and keep up with the work flow on his own. This book has opened my eyes to how we could of done things differently

Up date on the $100 business

still working on obtaining dresses. I have received a few to begin with. Hoping to receive a few more since most of the homecoming dances are over. This will be challenging as I am more for a non-profit status. I am just wanting to make a girls experience going to a formal not cost more than a new car. I want them to feel beautiful like they walked off of a New York runway. I am now thinking I should contact some local hair stylist to see if they would not mind helping these girls feel even more beautiful.