Greener Business Bureau

No one likes to receive a complaint — but complaints are worth their weight in gold if an organization learns from them and then uses the information to improve the customer experience. Customer complaints can be used to build a better customer experience and turn a dissatisfied customer into a raving fan.

A good response to a customer complaint also ensures you’ll receive that particular complaint only once. The company will know how to handle that issue in advance in the future

Customer complaints are usually not personal. When employees understand that the customer’s anger is directed toward the company, not the employee, they are better able to deal with the emotions of the customer. If the employee doesn’t take a customer’s comments personally, it will help them remain calm. Remaining calm will, in turn, help calm the customer more rapidly. Focus on the customer rather than the complaint. Customer-focus will help the employee empathize or “walk in the shoes” of the customer. It will help them listen more sympathetically to a complaining customer — which is often all the customer wants. Plus it will help them remain calm and polite while a customer vents his frustrations. Attitude is everything in creating satisfied customers. Even the most irate customer will usually calm down when dealing with someone who is obviously doing their best to understand the customer’s situation. If employees truly listen to a customer complaint, valid or not, the customer will at least feel as if they are being heard. Sometimes that’s enough to completely diffuse a negative situation. Empower employees to handle customer complaints themselves. Obviously, there will be a point when a more senior person must make a decision in dealing with a complaint, but empowering employees to deal with common complaints and issues on their own will go a long way toward creating a more positive customer experience and increasing employee engagement. Verify before taking action. Make sure that you ask what would make the customer happy and then verify before taking any action. Customers will rarely ask for more that we are prepared to offer, so ask what will make them happy first. Once they have made their suggestions, then verify that if you are able to provide that remedy, the customer will be satisfied. Nothing worse than working to resolve an issue only to find that the customer is still not happy. Move quickly to resolution. Once a resolution is agreed, move quickly. When an upset customer calls and receives an immediate resolution to their problem, they will be much more likely to return as a customer. In fact, a good recovery builds greater customer loyalty than simply delivering as expected — so make sure to use this to your advantage. The exact opposite is true, however, if the customer is “given the runaround” by being transferred from employee to manager to higher level executive before their problem is handled. Provide tools. Give employees options when dealing with difficult customers or those with an issue the employee can’t resolve. For example, if a customer bought an item on clearance, and the store’s policy is to never accept returns on clearance items, allow employees to offer the customer a complimentary gift card, an extended warranty on the item, or a similar bonus. While it may not be exactly what the customer asks for, it will show customer appreciation and help them see that the company is going out of its way to satisfy the complaint. There will be times when nothing can be done to satisfy an unhappy customer. At that point, the customer service employee must simply defer that customer to a manager or supervisor. But employees who handle customer service complaints quickly, efficiently and professionally will minimize those issues and will give employees a sense of ownership in their jobs and in the company.

There are always many questions when it comes to making an investment in a home based business. Many people wonder if its worth it to even invest anything into the industry and the reason why they always question themselves is due to all the rumors going around about home businesses not being as legit as they say they are. This article will illustrate how to analyze whether the investment is worth it and also give you an inside on the home business industry.

The first thing that you have to know is more on the home based business industry in order to clear all the rumors that you may have heard. The truth is that just like in anything in life you are going to have honest businesses and also dishonest ones. The way to tell them apart is by simply looking at what they have to offer. If the business promises you success overnight then you definitely know that is not very legit but remember that you have to do your research before making any actual judgment.

Within time you will be able to tell which ones are good or not. Now to know if the investment is worth it you definitely have to do your research and take down some numbers. In business you have to pay attention to your ROI, which is your return on investment. So for example if your business costs you 10 dollars a month and you are earning 100 a month you are making your money back and profit on top of it. It will take some time for you to get use to it but it will become second nature eventually.

Starting a new business can be an exciting and challenging endeavor, and the first step that people recommend is to do extensive market research as well as competitive analysis. This will give you a clearer idea of the business as well as a chance to find out all you can about the business. You have to analyze if you are capable of running the business, have the necessary resources, and also determine if the return on the investment is good.

Competitive Analysis:

This is necessary to study your competition and ensure that you offer better services or products than they do to capture the market when you commence operations. It will help devise a competitive edge to your products or services.

Determine the Services or Products That You Want To Sell:

Extensive market research will give you a better idea of the demand for your product or service. You can design better products or services in such a way as to make your offer irresistible to the customers. Pricing of the services or products you sell also has to be calculated carefully, making sure you are not under-pricing.

Business Plan:

The experts cannot emphasize enough the importance of drafting a business plan. A business plan is a valuable performance assessment tool. A good business plan will include a brief description of the business, its history, and a list of the owners or partners. It will describe the target goals and objectives, the services or products that you are offering, the demand for them, the target market, and the strategies to be adopted. It must include cash flow projections, as cash flow too has to be planned carefully. Many are the businesses that have failed because of insufficient cash flow as well as mismanagement. A good plan will identify areas where improvements are necessary and how to achieve them.

Planning a Loan Proposal:

It will be necessary to plan a loan application to ensure that your loan is granted to finance your start-up. A well-drafted business plan, cash flow projections, bank statements, articles of incorporation or partnership documents, collateral if necessary, and tax returns need to be submitted along with the loan application. You have to convince them you are a low-risk investment for them.

Planning Effective Marketing Strategies:

Advertising and marketing are crucial aspects of a business that have to be planned extremely carefully. Budget your resources carefully and make sure your ads in the newspaper, radio, and other media appear at regular intervals. You can also send out occasional fliers. Make sure your advertisement extols the benefits of using your products or services.

When all these factors are carefully considered, planned and implemented, your business is sure to succeed if under good management. You could make use of the services as well as products that are designed to help new entrepreneurs manage a business successfully.

These are a few things that have to be taken into account while planning a business to ensure its success.

The voice of an account service manager rose above the rest during a recent industry event. A client, the man complained to a colleague, had re-written ad copy to include certain sale items. Seemingly-frustrated, the man recounted the story with great detail, including the fact that the client had completely re-written the copy for the advertisement.

“I would love my job if it weren’t for the clients!” he then concluded.

Therein lies your problem, I thought. You have your job because you have clients. This man’s attitude would likely be his real source of frustration, if not his ultimate downfall.

I’ve observed disdain for customers before. And I can certainly relate to feeling as though clients “undervalue” offerings. I’ve always put 110 percent of myself into my work and what I deliver; that’s a true reflection of my values. So, in the past, if clients didn’t fall over themselves with praise for what I had created I’d take it personally, feeling disappointed and disheartened.

As I was reading “100 Ways to Create Wealth” by Steve Chandler I had a true “A ha” moment: I realized that my job wasn’t as much about me as I’d thought! It was about the wants and needs of my clients. I needed to stop focusing on my bruised ego and listen to what they were saying

Here’s an example: Several months ago a client asked me to set up a promotion celebrating a major milestone in his business. He also asked me to invite surrounding businesses to participate in order to expand the celebration, help defray the costs and increase customer traffic. I reached out to several of the retailers in person and via e-mail. One business owner jumped on board immediately, responding, “We’re in!” I was thrilled.

The promotion proved a major success despite menacing winter weather. People turned out and supported my client and the surrounding retailers. Then it came time to collect the money from the participants. That’s when the trouble started.

The first neighbor on board was holding out. To say I was shocked is an understatement, but what followed really threw me for a loop. That business owner said that I had not fulfilled my promises and had misled everyone involved. He couldn’t believe that a person like me was still in business, he said. I didn’t know how to respond.

I considered telling this guy where to go, sending him a nasty-gram or having my assistant “handle it.” Instead I let a few days pass and reflected on where my accountability lay in this situation. Here’s what I realized:

This man’s complaint was just information. Not good, bad or otherwise. Just information, from his perspective. As cliché as it sounds, it wasn’t personal; it was just business. I needed to put my Savvy Businesswoman hat on and give up the tantrum. I didn’t need to be on a mission to prove him wrong. I needed to learn from this experience and move on.

A complaint, while maybe unpleasant, can be a great jumping off point for uncharted territory in any direction. It’s valuable information when used properly. It’s a chance to analyze and improve, a rare opportunity for growth.

In this case I concluded that although e-mail is convenient for me, it’s not always the best form of communication for others. I don’t believe this man had truly understood what his business would be receiving as a participant in the program. He’s a man who appreciates face time and in-person explanations. I had not managed all the expectations well.

If do-overs applied, I’d do that one differently. But that’s not the way life works. So I view this as a valuable lesson in how to always come from a place of service, communicate effectively and better manage expectations.

When you take the emotion out of a conflict and treat a complaint as an exchange of information rather than an accusation, important dialogue can ensue. My advice to any business person is this: Rather than avoid customer complaints, embrace them for the powerful information sources they are. Just make sure you hear the rationale, not an accusation. Don’t let a defensive ego undermine this gift you’re receiving. You might just find that your relationship with your client grows stronger by your willingness to deal with the complaint… uh… information you’ve been given.

Unless you have been hiding under a rock somewhere, you probably already know that Facebook has literally exploded in terms of the number of users that flock to the site daily. I’ll bet you are curious about ways that you can use Facebook to grow your business. Facebook has a notes section. Most of the time this section is used as a get to know your friends tool. You can also use this section to grow your business. Here are a couple of ways that you can use this section of Facebook to grow your business.

Use it as a journal.

I know you already have a blog, but you can also use Facebook as a journal. You can use Facebook when you have random ideas that you’re trying to flesh out into a blog post. Just write your ideas as you go. People aren’t going to be anal about the fact that your Facebook notes don’t all fit a certain theme. This is perfect if you’re exploring a different niche and you want to see people’s reaction to it. You can write a short piece in your Facebook notes section and then ask for input on what you’ve written. Be patient. Most people are on Facebook for recreation so it may take a while for your post to generate responses.

Use it to let your network know what’s going on with your business

You may have already created an event on the Facebook calendar, but you can use the notes section to elaborate about the event. If you’re giving a class, you can use the notes section to give people more information about what they are going to learn in your class. If you’re launching a new product you can use your notes section to build up the anticipation surrounding your launch.

Facebook is an exciting social media tool that is evolving everyday. Hopefully this article has given you some ideas on how you can use Facebook to grow your online business. Start using the notes section today and in time you will see some traffic trickling back to your site.

Background: Ken Brailsford, company president, established Zija in 2006. The company was the culmination of. Brailsford’s obsession with the health benefits of the Moringa tree.

A veteran network marketer, it was natural for Brailsford to select the direct distribution approach for his newly developed Moringa product line.

Brailsford had the foresight to add additional veteran talent for management and product quality assurance to complete the executive level of his company.

Zija Products: The Zija line up consists of nutritional drinks, skin care products and weight loss supplements.

Add water to the Smart Drink and you can take your nutrition ‘on the go.’

XM3 is the Zija sports energy drink favored by many athletes on the field.

Miracle Tea has established credibility for cleansing and weight loss.

All of the products contain a proprietary combination of omega oils, minerals, antioxidants with a Moringa Olieferra core. Moringa, is Zija’s ‘miracle’ ingredient.

A Zija start up kit ranges from $200-$1200 and includes a variety of the product samples and form enrollment kits.

Zija Opportunity: Zija employs a binary comp model that has 8 payout options The specifics of the complex plan are easily viewed on the corporate website.

Upfront commissions arise from retail sales and repeat orders. The more lucrative income possibility comes from developing a downline.

As your team increases sales volume, commissions from their downline sales flow upstream, to you. Meeting threshold quotas also generates bonus income.

Zija Training: Zija training focuses on traditional network marketing. Approach your warm market of friends and family. Give out samples Spark interest in the ‘miracle’ product line and the word should spread.

It is certainly true that people gravitate to their friends. But no one, unless you’re a celeb, has an unlimited network of friends. The solution? The power of social media or internet network marketing.

Through careful application of internet marketing strategies, artful targeting, you can give your Zija business the boost it needs to propel your income.

Make no mistake about it: social media marketing is not entirely social anymore.

Learn how to do keyword research. Learn how to get your articles and videos in the prime spots on the search engines. Master the power of the blog.

The launch of Web 3.0 is around the corner. The launch will open up even more opportunities. You can learn them at the same time as the veterans. This is one field that a newcomer is not necessarily limited to elementary school if you have the drive and ability to learn as you go.

Is Zija the right business opportunity for you? It is certainly a real one.

Supplement your Zija business with solid internet marketing training. Build the skills to take your Zija business global. Demonstrate your leadership as a network marketer. You will develop a following that keeps your business vital and healthy.

That’s what attracted you to Zija to begin with, isn’t it?