Top 10 Things NOT to do When a Customers Calls!

I've had lots of bad experiences (and a few great ones) this HolidaySeason with automated phone systems and customer service centers.  I will not name the poor company experiences here...tis the holiday Season :)  However, if you want a great experience... call  Zappos.com with a customer service problem...and listen to the magic. According to a recent survey of 8,880 consumers across 16 countries, poor customer service cost an aggregate of $338.5 billion per year, the average value of each lost relationship across all countries surveyed costing $243.  2009  (Survey by Greenfield Online and Ovum).

It's hard enough to find a customer service phone number on a customer website.  However, when you make the call, the experience should not make the situation even worse.

Phone System Best Practices

I thought I would share some Phone System Best Practice Reminders for Small Businesses:

1. Don't transfer the customer to a non-working phone extension (or busy signal)
2. Don't trap a customer in your automated self-service (so you need to hang up, re-dial and start again)
3. Always have  the option to press "O" to get to a live operator at any time (only the better companies do this)
4. Don't make the customer wait too long  before reaching a live rep (especially during the Holidays)
5. Don't require customers to repeat themselves to several Representatives
6. Don't be cheap on continuous Representatives skills training  on how to answer inquiries
7. Don't forget to train outsourced Reps on US (or any host country) Culture and Thinking
8. Offer to send an email confirmation of the conversation (Great way to collect customer email addresses)
9. Always put your phone number on your "Contact Us" web page.
10. Don't forget to Thank the Customer for their Business

You may want to complete a quick audit of your customer service and phone system NOW to fix any short-term major issues.   However, plan on a more formal review and repair of your phone system, customer policies and call center  procedures in Q1 2010. If you are concerned about the cost, review the costs of lost business at the beginning of this article.

Important 2010 Tip

Don't forget to budget time and money for adding and  expanding Social Networking Programs. It's NOT an option anymore...but a "requirement" for high customer satisfaction.

Feel free to add comments on your own Holiday Customer Service Experiences... any great company customer service experiences out there?

Happy Holidays!

Small Business Tips on Sending out eMail this Holiday Season & in the New Year

Are you planning to send out Marketing eMail and eNewsletters in the New Year?  If so,  are you aware of  the relatively new Federal Laws in this area? In addition to following the law, these guidelines are just good business sense and company policy.  Your new and existing customers will appreciate your attention to these details.

An easy way to comply with the law is to use an outsource company for your mass Marketing eMails and eNewsletters. We have been using Vertical Response for the last 5 years.   The service is very easy to use and the customer service is outstanding.

Below is a copy of the Federal Trade Commission Law and a link to their website.  It is very easy to comply with the 7 mandatory requirements.

Federal Trade Commission -  CAN-SPAM US Law

Do you use email in your business? The CAN-SPAM Act, a law that sets the rules for commercial email, establishes requirements for commercial messages, gives recipients the right to have you stop emailing them, and spells out tough penalties for violations.

Despite its name, the CAN-SPAM Act doesn’t apply just to bulk email. It covers all commercial messages, which the law defines as “any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service,” including email that promotes content on commercial websites. The law makes no exception for business-to-business email. That means all email – for example, a message to former customers announcing a new product line – must comply with the law.

Each separate email in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act is subject to penalties of up to $16,000, so non-compliance can be costly. But following the law isn’t complicated. Here’s a rundown of CAN-SPAM’s main requirements:

1. Don’t use false or misleading header information. Your “From,” “To,” “Reply-To,” and routing information – including the originating domain name and email address – must be accurate and identify the person or business who initiated the message.
2. Don’t use deceptive subject lines. The subject line must accurately reflect the content of the message.
3. Identify the message as an ad. The law gives you a lot of leeway in how to do this, but you must disclose clearly and conspicuously that your message is an advertisement.
4. Tell recipients where you’re located. Your message must include your valid physical postal address. This can be your current street address, a post office box you’ve registered with the U.S. Postal Service, or a private mailbox you’ve registered with a commercial mail receiving agency established under Postal Service regulations.
5. Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future email from you. Your message must include a clear and conspicuous explanation of how the recipient can opt out of getting email from you in the future. Craft the notice in a way that’s easy for an ordinary person to recognize, read, and understand. Creative use of type size, color, and location can improve clarity. Give a return email address or another easy Internet-based way to allow people to communicate their choice to you. You may create a menu to allow a recipient to opt out of certain types of messages, but you must include the option to stop all commercial messages from you. Make sure your spam filter doesn’t block these opt-out requests.
6. Honor opt-out requests promptly. Any opt-out mechanism you offer must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days after you send your message. You must honor a recipient’s opt-out request within 10 business days. You can’t charge a fee, require the recipient to give you any personally identifying information beyond an email address, or make the recipient take any step other than sending a reply email or visiting a single page on an Internet website as a condition for honoring an opt-out request. Once people have told you they don’t want to receive more messages from you, you can’t sell or transfer their email addresses, even in the form of a mailing list. The only exception is that you may transfer the addresses to a company you’ve hired to help you comply with the CAN-SPAM Act.
7. Monitor what others are doing on your behalf. The law makes clear that even if you hire another company to handle your email marketing, you can’t contract away your legal responsibility to comply with the law. Both the company whose product is promoted in the message and the company that actually sends the message may be held legally responsible.

The CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business

More Inforamation on the FTC Website on CAN-SPAM

Roku Player Update - Get 50,000 Videos, Movies, TV Shows & More on Your TV

Why do Cable Companies, Dish, DirecTV and AT&T U-verse have such a limited selection of Video-on-Demand and Pay-per-View Movies?  :(  We have no idea either.  However, this Holiday Season, we are buying a Roku Box to change all that... and if you love to watch movies (like we do), you should buy one too! Roku, NetFlix and Amazon have teamed up to provide you easy access to 50,000 Videos-on-Demand directly on your home or office TV.

* 40,000+ movies and TV episodes available from Amazon Video On Demand * 12,000+ movies and TV episodes available with your Netflix subscription * Start watching movies on your TV in seconds using your high-speed Internet connection * Instantly plays the entire Netflix Instant Watch library if you have a Netflix membership - no additional subscription cost required, and viewing is unlimited * Instantly plays over 45,000 movies and shows from Amazon Video On Demand * Connecting is easy - both Wi-Fi and Ethernet are built in * Works with virtually any TV - old or new - including HDTVs

New (November 2009), Roku just added the following 10 content channels to the product for FREE: Pandora, Facebook Photos, Revision3, Mediafly, TWiT, blip.tv, Flickr, FrameChannel, Motionbox and MobileTribe.

Premium Channels

• Netflix - Play movies and TV shows from your Netflix Instant Queue
• Amazon.com - Video on Demand - Browse, purchase, and play the latest hit movies and TV shows
• MLB.com - Watch all out-of-market baseball games live and on demand

Free Channels

• Pandora - Free service that plays music personalized for you
• Facebook Photos - View your Facebook photo albums, as well as friends' photos
• Flickr - Browse your own photos and public photos on Flickr
• Mediafly - Your premier source of personalized, on-demand content from the web
• Blimp.tv - Hosts and distributes the best original Web shows
• twit.tv - Netcasts you love from people you trust
• Revision3 - Home of Diggnation, Tekzilla and tons more great shows for the Internet generation
• MobileTribe - Your favorite social networks are now on your Roku player

Roku Player Unboxing and Set-up - YouTube Video

It is very easy to set up the Roku Player.  There are four basic steps:

1. Plug the box into your TV
2. Connect the box to the internet using a direct cable or through your wireless Wi-Fi network
3. Walk through the set-up menus on the TV screen
4. Turn it on and start watching your first Movie or TV Show... or listen to Music with Pandora (new)

Watch the video below to see how one user unboxed and set up a new Roku Player for Netflix.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tepv9iLMO0]

Please comment with any tips that you can pass on for new Roku owners.

cnet review of the New Roku HD-XR Player

More Roku Information & Customer Reivews

There are three Roku models available.  Each product link (to Amazon.com) below provides you with more product information, current  pricing and customer reviews. Roku SD Player - Entry Level if you don't have HDTVs - $79 Roku HD Player - HDTV & WiFi - $99 (We're Buying This Model) Roku HD-XR Player - HDTV & Wi-Fi N-Dual Band (Newest Technology) 29

Reduce Travel Costs by using our Favorite Web Meeting & Seminar Vendors for Small Businesses

Small Business is always looking for the best return on investment when investing time and money in new technology.   Web Conferencing and Seminar Technology allows you to save money and improve productivity within 2-3 months of the implementation.  The service is easy to use and all training is done over the web while in your own office. Some of the Benefits include:

• Immediately reduce Travel Time and Costs
• Increase the Number and Quality of Sales Leads
• Improve the Speed and Number of Product Demos
• Allow Senior Management to attend more Prospect and Customer Meetings
• Reduce the Sales Cycle Time to Close New Business
• Reduce the time and cost of New Product Introductions

There are plenty of alternatives out in the marketplace.  Here are a few of our favorites:

• Skype - Free Version, a low cost business service, Very Low Cost International Meetings and very easy to use on a PC or Mac Skype for Business
• GoToMeeting - Overall Favorite. Easy to use and manage   GoToMeeting Free Trial + $10 Off.
• WebEx - Owned by Cisco, the User Interface is a little dated. Best for larger companies. Webex Info
• AnyMeeting - Free Webinar Service for up to 250 attendees  - anymeeting.com
• Zoho Meeting - 1-User Free Version, Low Cost Versions, Works well with other Zoho Applications. Zoho Meeting Info

Hope this helps with selecting a top web meeting and web seminar vendor.   Do you have any other suggestions or comments about the vendor?

What is Google Wave? ...and How will it Effect my Business?

We attended Google's IO Developer Conference in San Francisco in May 2009.  During the first day Keynote, Google announced and Demo'd Google Wave.  It took me 15-20 minutes before I "got" what they were introducing.  The Wave Software has the potential to change the way we communicate and significantly change the software we use in business today. It will be a few years before we know if Google Wave is going to take off.  However, it is very helpful to understand how the web could change when planning  your business IT Infrastructure.

Introduction to Google Wave

This is a very short easy to understand YouTube video introducing you to Google Wave.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDu2A3WzQpo]

Google Developer Conference - Google Wave Keynote Announcement

This is a very long (1 hour and 20 minutes) YouTube video introducing Google Wave during the May 2008 Google Developer Conference in San Francisco.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_UyVmITiYQ]

CRM Magazine Announces Winners of 2009 CRM Market Awards

CRM Magazine published a list of the top CRM vendors in June 2009.  This is the 8th year of their survey. CRM magazine "honors the vendors, consultants, and end-user companies that focus on customer relationships and the customer experience through the sophisticated integration of people, processes, and technologies. In each of 10 categories, the magazine named one Market Winner, denoting the highest score compared to its peers. Each category also produced four Market Leader awards and One to Watch."

Click on the link below to find the best CRM vendors in the industry.  Keep in mind that the "best" can also be very expensive to implement and maintain.

2009 CRM Magazine Announces Winners of 2009 CRM Market Awards

2008 CRM Magazine Announces Winners of the 2008 CRM Market Awards

Note: CRM = "Customer Relationship Management"

Intro to Web Conferencing

Q. How can a Small Business Save lots of money using Web Conferencing?

A. Learn how web technology can dramatically reduce the time and cost of travel for the following activities:  Meetings, Conferences, Sales Calls, Sales Demos, Service Calls, Customer Support Calls, Training, Partner Meetings, New Product Roll-outs, Team Meetings, Executive Meetings and Board Meetings.

1st Action Step - Watch this fun short video on "What is Web Conferencing."

[slideshare id=1934947&doc=whatiswebconferencing-090831214025-phpapp01]

Note: DimDim was purchased by Salesforce.com in 2011. They discounted the service. However, the video is an excellent intro to web conferencing.