Do you know who is on your contacts database?

Your contacts database is one of the most valuable assets any business has regardless of what product or service you provide.

Why is your database so valuable?
Simple really, it is the means to communicate with your customers and associates about your products / services enabling your business to operate.

However, you need to ensure that your data is accurate and here are some ideas for you:

• Schedule time on a regular basis to update your database
• Don't throw away someone's business card thinking they won't be of any benefit to you, you can't see into the future and they could be the perfect referral source
• Categorise your contacts for easy filtering (clients, associates, suppliers etc)
• Include as much information as possible as you can only remember so much
• But most importantly, use your database (send out newsletters, emails, letters)

If you don't have time to maintain your database, then I suggest you either find the time or delegate the task.

To see how CKPA and a Virtual Assistant could help your business by maintaining your database and much more, contact us now.

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions

How to build a customer focused business

By Robert Warlow - Small Business Success

You can have the best products, the plushest offices, the best location, but unless you are a ‘customer focused’ business, all of this counts for nothing, you will never really hit the heights you deserve.

So what can you do to build a business which focuses outwardly on the customer, and not inwardly on the business?

Build passion and commitment
The first building block is passion and commitment. This is the very foundation stone of a customer focused business. Without passion and commitment the structure you will build above will be weak and prone to collapse at the first sign of stress.

The passion and commitment has to come from you and your staff. All of you have to totally believe in the concept of the customer being the centre of everything you do. From the moment you step into work everyone has to do whatever it takes to satisfy the customer.

As the key person in the business what can you do to build passion and commitment? Lead from the front and set an example. Keep the concept at the top of the agenda and demonstrate it in everything you do. Keep talking about it. Celebrate all the great examples of putting the customer totally in focus.

Build processes around your customer NOT the business
All great businesses have clearly laid down processes on how to get things done. Whether you have a formal Process Manual or a Quick Reference Guide which sets out your processes, a clear procedure provides confidence and clarity for both your staff and the customer.

But don’t just build your processes around making things easier for you, build them to make things easier for the customer. Look at every step in the process and ask yourself, “Can we do something to make it even easier for the customer to do business with us?” Are there steps which can be refined or even eliminated all together? Be inquisitive, bold and challenging!

Build a relationship
Building a relationship with your customer is at the very heart of a customer focused model. Build a strong, firm relationship and you will have a customer for life. The basis of relationship building is ABC – Always Be Communicating. Here are some ideas on building an enduring and profitable relationship through ABC:

Make a point to periodically call your customers - set up a diary system to provide you with a regular reminder or prompt. Call them even if you have nothing to sell! A strange concept perhaps but you never know what will come out of the conversation
Issue quarterly newsletters - telling them about your latest products, what you have planned for the future, a customer profile, news about new employees. Find anything which would be of interest and at the same time binding both of you closer together
Make it a point during any conversation to find out something about the business you didn’t know before - file away any interesting facts and think how you can use it in the future. Imagine how powerful it would be when you ask how the idea they mentioned in your last conversation was going!
Do memorable things - send birthday or anniversary cards to your key contact, a simple thank you note for doing business with us, send articles or newspaper cuttings, which you think will be of interest to them

Build a culture of ‘wanting to know’
If you are to build a reputation for being customer focused you should be making an effort to find out on a regular basis what they want from you. This can be achieved by either an informal phone call or a more formal survey via mail or email. Find out what they like about your business, what they don’t like and what changes they would like to see.

Having gathered together all the information, suggestions and ideas, set out an action plan to follow up. Once you have acted upon the workable suggestions, get in touch with the customers again and tell them what you have done in response to their comments. This will demonstrate that you have taken their ideas seriously and really care about what they think. Powerful stuff!

Being customer focused can be very rewarding and help in building a great business. Which of these steps are you going to put into practice today? Remember this – let the customer be your focus and you will become their focus.

© Robert Warlow - Small Business Success http://www.smallbusinesssuccess.biz/

Small Business Success is a resource dedicated to helping small business owners be more successful. If you are looking for a regular flow of ideas and tips then subscribe to the Small Business Success, a free newsletter, which provides you with quick tips, ideas and articles.

For more information visit http://www.smallbusinesssuccess.biz/

CKPA can help you and your business become customer focused by sending out newsletters, diary management, client liaison, production of manuals and much, much more. Contact us to see how we can help.

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions

How to keep your customers for life!

By Robert Warlow - Small Business Success

Being in business isn’t just about getting a customer, selling him something and moving onto the next one. It’s all about making sure that your customers keep coming back to you and spend more money!

But how can you make sure that your customers stay customers for life? What strategies can you put into practice to keep bringing them back for more? A planned customer retention programme is something every established small business should have in place. That sounds great, but what is a retention plan and what should it include?

Do the groundwork
Before starting a retention programme, you need to understand where your business stands now as regards its retention track record. Ask yourself these 3 questions:

1. Do you know how many customers you have lost in the last 12 months?
2. If you do know how many, do you know why they stopped dealing with you?
3. Have you ever quantified the impact these losses have had on your bottom line?

Before you can put an effective retention plan in place, you have to answer these questions. They are the key to understanding and implementing an effective retention strategy. Let’s look at each of them in turn.

How many have you lost?
It’s essential you know how many people stop doing business with you at any one time. Keep a database of all your frequent customers; how often they buy; what they buy and in what quantity. Every month review the information and see if you can spot any worrying trends. Has the average order value been declining over the last 3 months? Has one customer’s regular order dried up altogether? If someone orders a large range of items each month but suddenly stops purchasing one particular range, why?

If you can’t track the customers you are loosing, how can you keep them or tempt them back?

Why have they turned their back on you?
Armed with the information on who’s deserting you, the fight back can start in earnest! There are sometimes very good reasons why business can dry up – the owner could have died, moved away, or closed down. Not a lot you can do about that! But what about more worrying reasons? Your product quality has gone downhill; the customer feels he is no longer getting value for money; your general service levels have declined. These are areas you have to know about, so you can get the business back on track.

If you see a slippage in business and you can identify who is contributing to it, then pick up the phone and get talking! Find out what the problem is. If you can bring them back into the fold, then great but if it’s genuinely too late, then at least you have gathered some important knowledge about where the business is going wrong.

What has it cost you?
You may be thinking that the odd customer here and there is not going to have a major impact on your lifestyle. Think again! Remember, it’s not just one sale, it’s a lifetime of sales that you are losing. Supposing a customer spends £1,000,000 per month with you. He walks away into the sunset and you never see him again. Imagine that he could have been doing business with you for the next 20 years – that’s £240,000,000! Interested now? Well you should be!

Working out the financial impact of loosing just one customer can really bring home the impact on the business. This should galvanise you into action and get you working on a retention plan.

Your Retention Plan
Having now convinced you that you need a Customer Retention Plan, what exactly should it include?

• Have a system in place which allows you to answer all the questions we have just reviewed. Understand what is going on in the business, so you can identify and put matters right. Make sure you know who you lost, why you lost them and how much it has and will cost you
• Get your staff together on a regular basis and remind them of the importance of retaining your customers. If you don’t get them on board then you have no hope
• During your staff meetings hold brainstorming sessions so everyone can come up with ideas on how to hold onto your customers
• Implement the good ideas and measure the results so you know what is working and what is not

A good retention plan can be just as effective as a good marketing plan; they achieve the same results – a contribution to profit. So, sit down and have a think about the steps you can put in place to keep your customers.

I saw a sign in a shop one day, it said, “It’s not how many come in, it’s how many come back that’s important.” Doesn’t that say it all!

© Robert Warlow - Small Business Success www.smallbusinesssuccess.biz

Small Business Success is a resource dedicated to helping small business owners be more successful. If you are looking for a regular flow of ideas and tips then subscribe to the Small Business Success, a free newsletter, which provides you with quick tips, ideas and articles.

For more information visit http://www.smallbusinesssuccess.biz

CKPA can help any business keep in touch with its customers and provide a professional image. Contact us now to discuss your needs.

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions

Impressions count

How do you present yourself to your clients?

We all know that first impressions count and that we don't get the chance to make a second first impression!

Lets say that you have an important meeting with a potential new client. Now this is worth a lot of money so is a big deal for your company. Do you turn up to the meeting all casual and not really making much of an effort - what do you think the potential new client will think to the quality of your work from this impression?

Or, do you turn up all suited and booted ready to represent your company with the right image?
Remember, the way you present yourself and your business to clients tells them how important they are to you!

So how can CKPA and a Virtual Assistant help you and your business to present the right image? Some areas we can help include:

• Telephone Answering - divert your calls when you are in a meeting, on holiday, don't want to answer calls so that you never miss an important call again
• PA & Secretarial - let us organise you with diary management, travel arrangements etc
• Administrative - typing letters, reports, proposals, updating database, presentations etc
• Events & Meetings - organise any type of event from a new product launch, sales meeting to Christmas party
• Creative - send out newsletters, website design, desktop publishing etc
• Projects - your office may be relocating, having a recruitment drive and don't want hassle of dealing with applications
• Accounts - sendingout invoices, credit control etc
• Virtual Office - email management, fax service etc

Contact us now to discuss your needs and see how we can help.

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions

How to get the best out of your phone

By Robert Warlow - Small Business Success

When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, little did he realise the positive effect it would have on customer service – or the negative effect it could also have!

Yes, the telephone can be a great tool in helping to provide exceptional customer service but it can also quickly destroy a customer’s perception of your service. What steps can you take to ensure that, whenever you or your staff use the phone, it adds something positive to the customer experience? Here are some ideas.

Answer Promptly
It’s an old tip but one usually ignored! You are sitting at your desk, deep in thought, writing your monthly report and the phone rings. “I’ll just finish this sentence quickly" you say to yourself and before you know it, the phone has rung 10 times. The caller is unlikely to be in a good mood – assuming they haven’t already hung up!

Just try and remember the last time you sat on a phone with it ringing and ringing. What pictures came into your mind while you were waiting? An image of the person you are trying to call sitting at his desk chatting or casually drinking a cup of coffee? Didn’t get you in a good mood did it? So why put your customers through it?

Aim to answer your phone within 3 to 5 rings. A prompt pick up will get the conversation off to a positive start and also avoids you having to open your conversation with an apology. So, get to the phone as quick as you can.

Be Enthusiastic
When you answer the phone make sure your voice conveys the message, “really happy to be speaking to you!” Make your voice light, bring a feeling of enthusiastic emotion to your tone and most importantly sound eager. You don’t want the caller thinking that you would rather be doing something else - even if you do!

Get a real upbeat feeling into your opening greeting. Say your “Good morning” or “Good afternoon” with a strong, enthusiastic tone. This will immediately lift your caller’s spirits and get you both off to a good start.

If you really are having a bad day (and we all get them), and enforced enthusiasm is going to be struggle, stand up and take the call. This helps makes your voice lighter and the change in position and body language can have a positive impact. Try it out.

Listen To What They Have To Say
You may think that you listen intently to all conversations you have. It’s difficult enough to do this when you are face to face with someone, but over the phone without eye contact, keeping your attention is even more difficult. It’s too easy, especially if the caller has a habit of padding out every point he wants to make, to think about the task you were just interrupted on, or about that chat you had with one of your suppliers earlier. Before you know it, you’ve lost track of what the caller is on about.

Actively listening to what is being said is a skill everyone needs if they are to use the phone as a tool for great customer service. But how can you keep your attention focused on what is being said?

• First of all, commit to yourself that you will actively listen. Without a clear commitment nothing ever happens
• Take notes during every call, even if you don’t need to. The act of having to capture the caller’s key points, will force you to listen. Just focus on writing down keywords, not complete sentences otherwise you’ll be concentrating on writing and not listening!
• If an important statement has been made, repeat it back in your own words. This will force you to listen for the key points worth repeating
• Ask questions. Don’t go too far with a constant barrage of questions but ask just enough to keep your mind alert

Active listening is not just about making sure you pick up all the key points; it’s also about respecting the caller. They will feel they have been treated with importance and respect if it’s clear you have been listening. Relevant questions and the occasional “umm” can go a long way to making the caller feel they have been listened to.

Avoid Distractions
If possible, try and remove as many distractions as you can while speaking on the phone, especially if the call is important. If your office door is open and general office noise is affecting your listening, ask the caller to hold for a moment and close the door.

If someone walks into your office while you are taking an important call, indicate for them to stay outside or come back. It can be very distracting having someone sitting at your desk while you are talking.

If you were working on your PC when the call came through, turn and face away from it. You don’t want your eyes and mind wandering back to look at the document you were working on!
Respect the caller’s time and remove or avoid anything which may cause your mind to drift off.

Finish Strongly
When the call is coming to an end it’s important to finish in a strong, convincing way. Summarise what has been agreed, what actions are to be taken and by whom. Leave the caller in no doubt as to what the next step is.

Just as your opening was full of enthusiasm, so should your closing statement. A good, strong and positive, “good to talk you and speak to you soon” closer will bring the call to a satisfactory end. Your customer will hang up knowing that the call was worthwhile.

Answer Phone and Voicemail Messages
If you are not at your desk or in the office, any recorded message you leave is just as important in creating the right impression as the actual call itself. Some people don’t like leaving messages but if your phone has the capability then use it. By leaving a message at least your customer will have the opportunity to partly satisfy the reason he called. Not being able to say anything can be frustrating.

Here are some thoughts on how to record effective messages:

• Write out the message before you record it. Don’t do it off the cuff as it will probably be full of “umms” and pauses. It won’t sound professional
• When recording, speak slowly and carefully, making sure that the caller can understand everything you say. This is especially the case for telephone numbers where you can be reached in an emergency
• Make the message punchy and too the point. Don’t fill it with unnecessary information
• Call your number and listen to the message. If it doesn’t sound right record it again and again until it does
• Regularly change your message to reflect what you are doing. If you are going to be away on holiday, give a date when you will be back. If you are out only for the morning, tell the caller you will return their call in the afternoon. Messages which are up to date will make the caller more confident about leaving a message

If used correctly the telephone can be a great asset in building a reputation for providing exceptional customer service. Used incorrectly, it can damage your business and give another reason for your customers to go and take their business elsewhere.

© Robert Warlow - Small Business Successwww.smallbusinesssuccess.biz

Small Business Success is a resource dedicated to helping small business owners be more successful. If you are looking for a regular flow of ideas and tips then subscribe to the Small Business Success, a free newsletter, which provides you with quick tips, ideas and articles.

For more information visit http://www.smallbusinesssuccess.biz

Here at CKPA we recognise that all calls are important and that if you don't answer your call, then your competitor will. That is why we offer our Virtual Receptionist service. Take a look now to see how it could benefit you and your business!

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions

People remember!

I recently wrote about someone I had the misfortune speaking to regarding my services and I declined to work with them - read the details here.

I wrote about this experience because I knew that I would meet this person at a networking group I belong to in the near future. Well, you'll never guess who was there on Tuesday but this particular person. I was contemplating what to do (as I am a member of the Leadership Team) when another member asked to speak with me. It turns out that the person I didn't want to deal with had actually 'ripped off' a number of other people and the member was warning me against him as a potential member and someone I might do business with.

People remember when you aren't professional and rip people off. By now, the majority of our 23 members will be warned off this particular person and won't do business with him. I totally agree with the saying "what goes around, comes around" and this person is now just reaping the benefits of his labour!

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions

Are your clients happy?

I run a Virtual Assistant business providing professional secretarial and administrative support to small businesses and individuals. Therefore, I am selling a service as opposed to a product. So how do I know that my clients are happy with the service that I provide - by asking them!

How on earth can you improve on processes, systems and even the service itself if you don't have honest feedback. I have produced a Client Satisfaction Survey which I send out and ask for honest answers. I then take on board all the positive and negative comments to improve my business for everyone to benefit.

I have even thrown in a couple of market research questions to ensure that I can reach my target market - killing 2 birds with 1 stone comes to mind.

Are you asking your customers about your product or service? Now might be the time to do somthing about it before it is too late!

To see how CKPA can help you in this process, contact us now.

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions

Be professional in all that you do!

I belong to an industry forum where wonderful people share their advice and experiences freely.
However, a new visitor to the forum posted a 'wanted ad' and gave the rate of pay offered. One of the responses she had was from a forum member telling her she was 'nuts' and would never get someone to work for that rate. The tone was rather unprofessional and, in my opinion, uncalled for. The original poster responded that you always need to be professional in all your business dealings - whether that be your forum posts or in person as what goes around, comes around!

I totally agree with this and had the 'pleasure' of dealing with an unprofessional business person over the telephone. A prospect for my Virtual Receptionist service left a message for me late in the afternoon (after 4.00 pm). I was out of the office and couldn't call him back until first thing the next morning. He wasn't happy that I didn't call him back within minutes and wanted me to beg for his business - I politely said thank you for your time and goodbye. I REFUSE to work with people like that who try to dictate to me how I run my business and I will always say thank you but no thanks each and every time.

The reason I am writing this story? There is every liklihood that I will meet this person at a networking group I attend. Do you think I will pass business to him? I don't think so!

I truly believe in the saying "treat people how you would like to be treated" and I endeavor to do that in everything I do. Do you?

Until next time,

Emma Walker
CKPA Office Solutions