The Great Escape from Customer Service

5 Tips to Help When Things Go Wrong…

Our family made the annual pilgrimage to our theme park haunt in Lake George last Friday. We’ve been doing this for the past 13 years and always come away with a lot of great memories. My son and his cousin had visions of the Steamin’ Demon, The Commodore and the Boomerang, while I envisioned floating down The Lazy River… (you see where I’m going already, don’t you?)

We bought the tickets (full price) and to our dismay, found that all those rides were closed along with ½ of Splashwater Kingdom. Now, I didn’t drive 2 and a half hours to wade in the kiddie pool… So what did I do? I went to the Hospitality Office and asked for a refund on one ticket. If I couldn’t use any of the attractions, I wanted my money back or at least a discount because a good portion of the park was closed. I tried to compromise with just refunding one ticket… Nope. Free lunch? Nope. A cookie? Uh-uh. The employees wouldn’t even give me eye contact, so I knew this was a pretty common occurrence.

So, what would I do if I owned a theme park with half the attractions closed? What would I do if I simply couldn’t staff the park adequately? Would I offer killer employee incentives? Would I discount the tickets? Offer a lunch voucher? While I don’t have an amusement park, I do need to keep my customers happy. Here are some Codes of Conduct to help you on your way to a positive customer service experience:

1) Rules upfront: Granted, the park did have a list of all the attractions that were closed, however, they were posted on the far left of the entrance where I didn’t even see them. Next time, I’ll know to look before I pay. Tell your customers upfront your payment policy. It’ll avoid some nasty hassles down the road.

2) Pay for Inconvenience: If you have dis-satisfied your customer somehow, try to make up for it. Granted, there are some people you’ll never please, however if you offer a discount or a free voucher for the next visit, your customer will appreciate this far more than you making no effort to make it right.

3) Listen: Even though the park had plenty of unhappy campers on Friday, the best part was when one of their employees listened to me. She looked me in the eye, apologized and offered some solutions. She even went out of her way to find out when The Lazy River would re-open. She was pro-active in doing her very best to resolve the problem. She might not have been able to fix the problem, but she made me feel a bit better than the woman who looked at her clipboard and responded in grunts to me. Eye contact, listening and caring go a long way in business…

4) Compromise: If you can’t refund the ticket, offer a voucher for the next visit, or offer a discount on another product or service. I have a lot more respect for a company that tries to make it right than one that just refuses to help in the first place.

5) Power to the People: Give your employees the power to offer discounts should a problem occur. It’s a lot better to lose money on a ticket, service or product than to lose your reputation if someone chooses to discuss their disappointment in public. You’ll also improve employee churn rates if you give your team the power to resolve issues on their own; nobody likes to face the music when things go wrong. Give your employees the tools to resolve issues quickly and efficiently.

What do you do in your business to increase customer satisfaction? How do you handle customer complaints? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Happy Clicking

Don't Leave Money on the Table... Know Your Google Analytics

Google Analytics - the mere mention of the word takes me back to uncomfortable statistics and math classes where I was relegated to the back seats. Apparently, I'm not alone. Many of my clients show me their reports and sheepishly admit "I never look at these, somebody told me it was a good idea to have 'em, so here ya go."

Yes, it's absolutely a great idea to have Google Analytics or some measuring device on your site. However, if you don't understand the reports, you could be leaving money on the table. A good web designer or marketer will go through these reports and explain what they're for and how to read them.

The best part about Google Analytics? It's FREE! That's right, if you know how to copy and paste the coding on your site, you're all set. Within a couple of days, you'll start seeing activity. Here are some pointers to get you started in the right direction with your Google Analytics:

1) Own the Statistics: If you have a web designer add the coding to your site, that's great, but MAKE SURE YOU OWN THE STATISTICS. Make certain you have Administrative rights where you can edit or delete information. If your designer manages your stats and the relationship goes bad, they own your valuable statistics and your left with no control over your information.

2) Bounce Rate: Know what the bounce rate means for you. If you have over a 50% bounce rate, that means people are leaving your site the minute the arrive. That's a red flag that you need to improve your home page to entice viewers to go deeper into your site, or sign up for your newsletter, or purchase your product/service. This is where a consultant can really give you a hand with figuring out how the statistics can lead you to a successful campaign.

3) Function: What do you want the site to do??? You just wouldn't believe how many people (myself included!) miss this point. Do you want newsletter sign-ups? Do you want them to read info on your business? Do you want to direct them to buy? Take all of this into account for your strategizing using Google Analytics and other marketing techniques.

Global Classroom is offering an Introduction to Google Analytics course July 14th. It's an online course (webinar-based) that you take at your own pace, anytime, anywhere. It offers great tips on how to interpret these reports to get improved results. This is the perfect way to get yourself started in the right direction with Google Analytics. You can register HERE

Happy Clicking!
Sarah

Doing Business with "The Man"

I just came back from the Department of Defense (PTAC) Matchmaker event in Killington, Vermont. It was a great experience and well worth the $60 bucks I shelled out for it. It's rare that you can meet and greet the movers and shakers of some of the largest prime contractors in the Federal Government. Don't think that because your company's small that you can't play along... there are TONS of opportunities there provided you look for your niche.

I started with just the Got Clicks videos that I wanted to sell to veterans or to the Small Business Administration. I blossomed out into other companies wanting to have training videos created for their own internal purposes. How cool is that? Creating another revenue stream on the fly! Love that!

Some pointers if you're thinking of starting to work with the government:

1. Get your Dunn and Bradstreet number 1800-333-0505
   
2. Contact your local PTAC (Procurement Technical Assistance Center) there's one in just about every state. They have a wealth of information and will even arrange to visit you in your office to get all the paperwork rolling.
3. Wait
4. Wait some more
   

The hardest part is waiting for the right deal to come along. But when it does, cross your t's and dot your i's and get ready for an adventure. The nicest surprise I had yesterday was how willing the primary contractors were to encourage small businesses to work with them. Not once did I have the "go away little girl" mentality at all. In fact, many of these businesses helped me brainstorm ideas.

Have you worked with the Federal Government? Do you have some other nuggets of wisdom to share? If you want more information on how to get started, shoot me an email at info@gotclicks.biz.

Happy Clicking

Sarah

My Red-Haired Step Child Page...

I've had Google Analytics on my site for the past year or so and every time I go into the reports, I find something new to analyze. I'm almost finding it an addiction; tweaking the website, going to analytics and either grinning from ear to ear or staring horrified that my bounce rate has increased exponentially.

I'm starting to play with the Google Website Optimizer. You see, one of my pages is my red-haired step-child and it's wreaking havoc with my pay-per-click results. With the Website Optimizer, I'm able to create 2 pages and test them against each other to see which one gives me better results. I'll keep you posted on what I discover. Are you playing with Web Optimizer? How is it working for you?

What To Do With Negative Comments?

I was teaching last night at the Lake George Chamber of Commerce and I had an interesting question posed. This hotel had a nasty comment posted on Trip Advisor and wanted to know how to respond. I suggested responding with all the steps taken to ensure every guest has a quality stay, however, this client seemed to think this comment was posted by a competitor. So whaddya do?

I thought maybe he could send out a survey to his existing client base, asking how their stay was and with each completed survey, offer a coupon, gift, etc for taking the time to help improve the experience. Then you get to see if it's really a problem or if it's just sour grapes. It also gives you some valuable feedback to know who your target audience is and how to attract more of them and less of the sour grapes.

That was my idea, however, some people felt that may be an intrusion on their guests. What do you think? Have you tackled something like this in the past? Let me know your solutions in the comments below.

Got Clicks BYOL Parties are HUGE!

I spoke the other night at the SBA's Marketing seminar and 20 faces stared at me with the same look I had 5 years ago; "how am I gonna do all this??" I remember making my first website with Picture It! Publisher and my dismay at going to the Richmond Library and seeing my site ranked 1,309,098th out of 1,309,099 websites.

It's a long road to getting the right website, SEO rankings and dabbling in Google Analytics, however, the time spent on these will be well worth it. Some of my new students feel overwhelmed by the task of building their own website. Many call me on the weekend in total frustration. It's not because they can't do it, it's because if you look at the whole picture of online marketing, it can be a daunting task. It's nice to have someone who believes in your business, who says "yes, you can do this" and lastly, takes the time to show you how. I know I had mentors who convinced me that I can do it. I hope I can provide that same gentle nudge to my clients and students. Happy Clicking!

Got Clicks BYOL Webinar March 7th

I've decided to offer these great BYOL (Bring Your Own Laptop) parties right online as a webinar.

I know how it is when you've got one foot in a 9-5 job and the other pining for your own business. It's hard to get away and see what's out there to promote your business affordably. Well, it doesn't come much more affordable than free, does it? During your lunch break, pull up a chair, your sandwich and kick back while I teach you how to create the header and first page of a very easy website.

Not only that, but at the end of class, I'll give you the keys to the car... a free site where you can experiment on your own for free, no strings attached. If you like it, purchase the hosting from me for just $8 a month. Now that makes good business sense. If you want to sign up, just click on http://www.gotclicks.biz/BYOL.php to register.

Happy Clicking!

Got Clicks BYOL Parties a HIT

Long time, no blog... I've been busy with Got Clicks and creating some very fun BYOL parties here in Richmond. People bring their laptops and I teach how to create a header and the first page of your website for free. It's incredibly fun, relaxed and participants come away with tools they can use right away. If you want to register for the next one, it's February 23rd from 9:00 am until 11:00 am. Just email info@gotclicks.biz for registration information.

Happy Clicking!