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.