Archive for the ‘Customer Service’ Category

The Nature of Negative Business Reviews and How to Respond

March 20th, 2012 admin

The growing reliance on mobile Internet to search for businesses on-the-go, as well as an overall preference for using online sources of information when deciding where to spend out money, means that just about every enterprise needs to be concerned with their online reputation. In particular, they need to be conscious of ratings and reviews. While not a death sentence, a negative online review of your business written with even some speck of intensity can draw a fair amount of attention, and the honest truth is that more people are driven to write compelling and detailed negative charges against a company than write equally long paragraphs of praise or objective analysis. It’s not that most experiences aren’t positive, it’s just that humans tend to put more effort into pursuing perceived vengeance than they do spouting accolades or providing the public with something useful.

Without a doubt the majority of negative online reviews are inspired by a very specific event that did not prove satisfactory to the customer by any stretch. If they felt as though the bad experience was not acknowledged or acknowledged unfairly, they will carry their emotions home and sometimes to the keyboard.

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Bettering Services Through Customer Surveys

July 13th, 2011 admin

There is no doubt that financial advisers are in hot demand. With the slow economy every person and business is trying to streamline finances so that they can stay afloat, and many turn to financial advisers to help.

However, because the demand for financial advisers has grown, so has the competition. It’s not always easy to be found anymore by customers, and because they have a large base to choose from, maintaining clients – especially if you are more expensive – isn’t easy either.

One great way to maintain a solid customer base and to continue to grow is to have your clients fill out customer surveys. The surveys don’t need to be pervasive. They don’t need to make your clients uncomfortable. They simply need to ask past and current clients about the services they need. Great questions to include in a client survey include:

• How did you feel about the level of service you received?

• Did you feel as though you benefited from the services you received?

• How could your experience been improved?

• Did you believe the services received were cost effective?

• Would you recommend my services to others?

Asking questions like these can let you know where you need to improve.

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How to Respond to Business Complaints

May 18th, 2011 admin

Businesses have always had to deal with complaints. However, the advent of YouTube, Facebook and other social media websites have made it possible for any negative review to spread through a business’ target market like wildfire. Now, businesses have to step up their efforts to address dissatisfied customers and keep the others from posting negative reviews.

It is crucial that businesses handle these mishaps immediately. Waiting for a post to go viral will result in questions from customers and lead to the destruction of a hard-earned reputation, all of which can be easily avoided. Companies should look at these reviews as opportunities to engage with customers and proactively work towards solving their problems.

Respond Right Away

This advice could not be emphasized enough. The rationale behind it is simple too. When a business responds to a situation promptly, customers will naturally think that the company is paying attention to its clients and is eager to turn things around. Sometimes, it’s not that people want to have an error rectified right away. The best way to respond is to post a courteous reply but make the details of how you intend to fix the situation vague. Instead, deal with the customer directly and privately through phone or email. This approach uproots the problem from the public arena.

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