Investing in Great Customer Service

I love when I don’t have to go through five different call prompts, then wait on hold for 10 minutes, to speak to a representative. Even better is online chat support so that I can get help right away without picking up the phone. I’m also a fan of online ordering, text message alerts, especially when my flight is delayed, and e-mail appointment reminders.

Great Customer Service + Convenience = Happy Customers.

Every business should strive to make and keep their customers happy. Now, this is definitely not easy. But brands that invest in their customer service in today’s digital age reap the rewards. Take a look at Zappos.com and Comcast – these are just two examples of Customer-Centered organizations.

A recent article I read on the Harvard Business Review Blog Network put it perfectly...

“The growing obsession with customer excellence is driven, in part, by technology. Today customers can obtain and exchange more information about the good and bad of their encounters with companies than ever before. That gives companies a great incentive to work harder to make customers happy — before, during and after their purchases.”

Not good, but great customer service is critical. Customers value their time and businesses need to recognize and respect that. Don’t hide your customer service reps behind an annoying, automatic call service. Put them out there. Make them available. Teach and reward them to care. And your customers will be thankful and will probably be back for more of what you’ve got to offer.

Create Your Own Facebook Page? Why Yes, I’d Love To!

By: Rachel Tabacnic

Are you one of the 750 million active users on Facebook? Ever want to take your client’s Facebook Page to the next level? Companies are now coming out with platforms that allow the user to create their own tabs. This creates endless opportunities for people like you and I who would normally need to hire a media developer.

Now you’ll be able to display everything from videos, photos and even run your own Facebook contests. Here are some unique platforms that can transform your pages with a click of a button.

ShortStack allows the Facebook community to add contests, sweepstakes, videos and custom forms into your client’s page. Their platform offers a tab designer area where you can add/edit various widgets. In their live preview area you can select if you want non-fans or fans only to view specific content.

Special features: Multiple widgets per page, customized tab icons and labels and Facebook approved vendor for sweepstakes and contests

Inside Scoop: Offers weekly webinar tutorials where you can learn all about how to create your own page. If your page has less than 2,000 likes you can use their services at no additional cost.

Price: Free to start up but paid accounts range from $15 to $300

For more information on ShortStack visit www.shortstack.com.

Lujure empowers its community to create highly custom Facebook Fan Pages without the expenses or frustrations of code or development work. Simply use their social suite to drag and drop into their template and create a custom fan page in minutes.

                       

Special features: Fan gating, E-Commerce and Social Suite with over 30 options to add your page including Twitter, Foursquare and

Inside scoop: If you work at a non-profit Lujure offers a 50% discount on their monthly prices

Cost: Free to start up but paid accounts range from $5.49 to $195

For more information on Lujure visit www.lujure.com.