Devoted to customer service and the principles of exceptional customer services

Welcome to the September 24, 2007 edition of the Customer Service Carnivale!  It's a long one, so sit back, grab a cup of coffee or whatever your favorite drink is, and relax!  Without further ado... 

We all know how important it is to take care of your paying customers, but it's just as important for managers to take of their employees. Sue Massey presents 7 Lessons From A Bad Manager posted at Business Management Life, saying, "Many people work for bosses who are horrible at what they do. Having worked under a bad manager offered an invaluable opportunity to witness a failed approach to management."

Remember to keep in touch with your customers! Chris Tackett presents Drip Marketing Nurtures Customers And Generates Leads posted at Direct Marketing News, saying, "Drip marketing is the process of sending out several promotional pieces consistently over a period of time to a targeted list. This direct mail marketing idea is aimed at staying in touch with your current and potential customers. It is essential to have them think of you when they, or someone they know, need your product/service."

Treat your customers well and they'll become the marketing team for you! Eric Hudin presents A Word on Word-of-Mouth Marketing posted at Everyday Marketing Ideas, saying, "Some Public Relations purists seem to be giving a derisive sniff to all of the attention paid to Word-of-Mouth and word-of-mouse marketing. They contend, and rightly so, that new innovations have always had vocal early adopters, and publics have long sought out communities of interest to help them make important decisions."

Here are a few strategies often overlooked in customer service. Jason Rakowski presents How to Deliver the Ultimate in Customer Service Delight posted at Learn Good Customer Service, saying, "With the right approach you can add wow factor to your customer experiences and develop mutually beneficial long term relationships with them."

Web hosting companies, pay attention! Here's a code of conduct to follow. John Lampard presents Graduand posted at disassociated.com

Sue Massey presents The Human Dimension and its Impact on Your Business posted at Business Management Life, saying, "Leading people requires much more than just seeing them as a cost-factor. Being aware of and understanding human behavior is essential for the degree of success you are able to achieve with your business."

Jason Rakowski presents Customer Service Outsourced and Ineffective? posted at Learn Good Customer Service, saying, "Most businesses admit that customer service is an important function in the role of their business. However, more and more businesses are outsourcing customer support functions as a means of reducing overall costs."

Computer companies can learn from this story! Christopher Smith presents Gateway trades a customer loyalty for a quick buck :: how the last of the dot.com casualties lost its way. posted at Real Estate Investing in the Real World, saying, "Companies that are suffering a financial crisis often lose sight of the fact that their mission is to create an experience which the customer is willing to pay for and which brings the customer back. Gateway, soon to be acquired Acer, provides a great example of how not to treat customers."

Customer Service News

If you haven't heard about Get Satisfaction yet, you should check out Service Untitled's review:  Get Satisfaction Launches.

Here's another article that illustrates why you should take care of your internal employees. phil F. presents Wal-Mart Wraps Bogus New Health Care Plan in Words posted at e-news daily.

Customer Service Tips

Here's a great customer service story! Daniel Obregon presents Amazon.com UnBox: Awesome Customer Service. Behind Every Click is a Face posted at SmallBizTechnology.com

As someone who believes in having a spiritual-based business, I feel that this is a great article to read. Tupelo Kenyon presents Meaningful Spiritual Relationships – Namaste Matters posted at Tupelo Kenyon, saying, "Celebrate life with this insight on how to take your personal relationships to a whole new level. To me, a spiritual relationship exists between any two people who recognize and acknowledge that deep inside, we are the same. Behind the faces, beyond the reach of social conditioning, deeper than individual egos, we are identical. We are presence, consciousness, pure knowingness - the awareness of “I am.” We are life itself. (Enjoy soothing instrumental music as you read plus songs with lyrics related to each article – all free.)"

In the world of customer service, it's never safe to assume! Tupelo Kenyon presents another article, Make Assumptions Obsolete by Communicating posted at Tupelo Kenyon, saying, "We assume because we don’t know. We don’t know because we don’t ask. We don’t ask because we act as if we already know. Or, we don’t want to appear stupid. So we make an assumption. Then we forget it is merely something we made up, and we behave as if it’s a fact. When the facts are known, it would never occur to us to assume. The solution is clear communication. When we know the truth, assumptions are forever unnecessary. (Enjoy soothing instrumental music as you read plus songs with lyrics related to each article – all free.)"

Here's another great article about communication. Edith Yeung presents How to Read People and Get Your Point Across? posted at Edith Yeung.Com: Dream. Think. Act..

What do you do when a customer presents a problem? Christine Scivicque presents How to Be Proactive: A Quick Review posted at The Executive Assistant's Tool Box.

Before you even think about asking people for feedback, you need to read this article! Becky Carroll presents Desperately Seeking Customer Feedback posted at Customers Rock!, saying, "Good post on how to gather customer feedback"

Other News and Stories

Have you ever threatened a company when they gave you bad service? David Kam presents Threatening Marketing posted at MarketingDeviant.com.

Are you looking for the next shining star that will provide excellent customer service?  Service Untitled presents A New Way to Find Great Employees.

Who can respond better to this customer's concern, the cable company or the police?  Phil Gerbyshak submitted this story: Mediacom Cable: Setting new lows for customer service

Thank you again for all your contributions!   Submit your blog article to the next edition of customer service carnivale using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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