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Finding
Influence In Blog Marketing
The skeptic has always been quick to remind that popularity is not necessarily
a measure of value. In a report detailing the most influential authorities on
blog marketing, Onalytica, a UK-based analytics firm, illustrates that popularity
is not always in line with influence, either.
Keyword
Price Hikes Expected In Long Term
Search engine marketers should prepare themselves for "explosive keyword
inflation" over the next few years, according to a keynote address given
by SearchEngineWatch's Chris Sherman.
Microsoft
Officially Opens Expo
The company set up the Expo.org domain to make it easier to remember, and implemented
some feature tweaks and updates to the site. Microsoft's dynamic listing service
called Windows Live Expo officially turned
on the "Open For Business" sign after several months of beta testing.
Yahoo
Appoints New Data Mining Expert
Doctor Raghu Ramakrishnan will leave the land of badgers and Big Ten football
for the opportunity to serve as a research fellow in Yahoo! Research.
Google
Click Fraud Report In Court
As part of the Lane's Gifts v Google settlement, an independent expert reviewed
Google's click fraud processes and practices. Dr. Alexander Tuzhilin, Professor
of Information Systems at NYU, submitted his 47-page report...
Rand
Fishkin’s Tips For More Traffic
Every site owner wants one thing: more visitors. After that, their requests might
vary from "more with my family" to "more ice cream in the freezer," but they can
all agree on that one wish.
Do
I Need Promotional Business Products?
That depends on how serious you are with your business venture. Is this a de facto
hobby, or a true business that you plan to grow, market and make successful? If
you fall under the second category, then you might seriously consider getting
some promotional business products.
Diversifying
Your Online Income
When you run your own business, there are very few certainties. Amidst all of
the unpredictability, the only sure thing is that you will never know what might
happen next! In today's fast-paced world of online business, things change rapidly
and what might be working today may or may not be red hot tomorrow. How can you
position yourself to avoid problems and losses in such an uncertain environment?
Successful
Home Businesses – A Second Income...
The dilemma whether your legitimate home based businesses will be a success or
not can be nerve wrecking. So evaluate all aspects of your stay at home business
solution before you actually start a home business.
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07.25.06
Is The Customer Always Right?
 By
Jennifer Valente
In short, yes… uhm well, no… maybe sometimes? O.k., so you might have gathered
by now that there is no "short" answer. Anybody who truly believes that the customer
is always right hasn't really given this policy much thought.
When was the last time someone came into your business, or called on the phone, or better yet emailed you with a throbbing case of the nasties? Our business is located just outside of the city with a bus stop in front. We also own several niche market web sites. Do you suppose we get our share of interesting characters?
Somehow, this philosophy/policy of, "The customer is always right" has been branded into the consumer's psyche and repeatedly shoved in the face of business owners, managers, and employees. Having worked in Law Enforcement for several years, we're taught by our instructors and leaders to consider "the spirit of the law" versus "the letter of the law." These considerations dictate whether or not the cop is going to give you a ticket for going 5 miles over the speed limit. If we're to follow the "letter of the law," we're going to go by the book each and every time without exception. It's the "spirit" that allows us discretion to listen to a creative story of how your lover caught you with your spouse again and "thank God you're here to protect me, Officer… and that's why I was speeding. I was trying to get away!"
Shouldn't we, as business owners and managers, have that same option of discretion
when a less than reasonable customer approaches chanting that misguided mantra?
Now, of course, this is not to say that we should not recognize our positions
as "authority figures" and practice a higher degree of professionalism, diplomacy,
and tact.
All of which are vital to your business. Professionalism is the difference between
giving the appearance of genuine concern, and wrapping your knuckles on someone's
forehead to see if anybody's home.
Diplomacy is being able to give your customer the perception that you owe them, and have provided them with, an apology by stating something to the affect of, "I'm sorry you feel that our policy has inconvenienced you." instead of actually apologizing and admitting fault for something that your company is righteous in maintaining. Tact is being able to tell your customer that it appears that your (policy, sign, product, etc.) was simply misunderstood without having to tell him/her that they're a complete moron.
Now, I'm also not condoning never admitting fault or accepting responsibility
for genuine wrongs and doing everything within your ability to correct them. And
there are schools of thought that strictly forbid admitting fault. Their mantra?
"Better to ask forgiveness than permission." However, by the very nature of such
an absolute statement such as, "The customer is always right," provides people,
who for no other reason but a sense of entitlement, a free pass to come into your
business with the expectation that they're going to be able to conduct themselves
however they wish.
This includes treating you and/or your employees with utter disrespect and rudeness.
As a result, our employee attrition rate is relatively low because we allow them
the discretion of practicing professionalism, diplomacy, and tact. Fortunately,
most of our clientele allow us the opportunity to provide them with genuine friendly
service and resolve any issues with a mutually beneficial outcome.
Unfortunately, every once in a while, you come across a customer, who no matter
what extraordinary efforts you deploy to appease, is simply unreasonable. With
that, you must then make an executive decision and these are just a few questions
that should be considered in rapid-fire succession almost immediately.
Is this customer worth keeping? How adversely will kicking him in the pants affect
my business? Am I able to resolve this issue with little impact on my business
or bank account? Am I going to diminish my employee's sense of empowerment and/or
sense of dignity by overturning their reasonable decision? I'm sure there are
other considerations that you're likely to make, but these are the very minimum.
Incidentally, the person responsible for us having to endure the phrase, "The customer is always right." was a gentleman by the name of H Gordon Selfridge. Mr. Selfridge was the founder of Selfridge's Department Stores widely known across the United Kingdom. Perhaps Mr. Selfridge was stuck in the "letter of the law," as he died insane and bankrupt. Food for thought.
About the Author:
Jennifer Valente is Co-founder of http://www.IndieRetailer.com, a search engine and small business resource center featuring articles, business strategies, software, and ebooks. We Think Ouside the Big Box! |
