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Friday, July 31, 2009

Pizza and Beer













Customer Email


Dear Dharyl and April,

I just wanted to express my gratitude and appreciation for an outstanding employee and team member of your company, Helen Antonio.
We've been working together for a few months and quickly noticed not only her remarkable communication skills, but also her dedication and commitment. She goes out of her way to deliver the best customer service possible.
As a business owner, I recognize her value and contribution to your organization. I hope you do, too.

Kind regards,
Ishraq Freericks
Founder & President
IF Creations, LLC
www.if-creations.com

Shipment Survey


Below are the customers response to the automated email shipment survey for this order. Email shipment surveys go out 5 business days after the date of shipment.
- Satisfaction with service provided by your salesperson: Very Satisfied
- Satisfaction with quality of the product: Very Satisfied
- Satisfaction with cost of your order: Somewhat satisfied
- Satisfaction with Overall experience with Branders: Very Satisfied
- Will consider Branders in the future: yes
- Comments: Great quality, great customer service, wish the prices were a little lower, but your brand is worth it.

Customer Email


Leslie Moynihan wrote:
>
> Hi Helen,
>
>
>
> I received the cups and they look fabulous! I haven’t gone thru the boxes yet, so hopefully they all arrived in one piece. Thanks again for all of your help. I am very grateful for the excellent service. Can I tell someone else at your job that I was very satisfied with your customer service?
>
>
>
> Thanks again,
>
> Leslie

Shipment Survey


Below are the customers response to the automated email shipment survey for this order. Email shipment surveys go out 5 business days after the date of shipment.
- Satisfaction with service provided by your salesperson: Very Satisfied
- Satisfaction with quality of the product: Very Satisfied
- Satisfaction with cost of your order: Very Satisfied
- Satisfaction with Overall experience with Branders: Very Satisfied
- Will consider Branders in the future: yes
- Comments: Michael Henderson always does a great job handling each of my orders.

Shipment Survey


Below are the customers response to the automated email shipment survey for this order. Email shipment surveys go out 5 business days after the date of shipment.
- Satisfaction with service provided by your salesperson: Very Satisfied
- Satisfaction with quality of the product: Satisfied
- Satisfaction with cost of your order: Satisfied
- Satisfaction with Overall experience with Branders: Very Satisfied
- Will consider Branders in the future: yes
- Comments: Comments here...The units were very nice and well receivd by our employees. Two of the items had paint smears and are being replaced after speaking with Rev our account contact. I have yet to receive the two replacements

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Phone Answering Tips to Win Business

Phone Answering Tips to Win Business
How You Answer the Phone Says a Great Deal About Your Business
By Susan Ward

Phone answering skills are critical for businesses. The telephone is still most business's primary point of contact with customers. And the way you answer your company's phone will form your customer's first impression of your business. These phone answering tips will ensure that callers know they're dealing with a winning business:

1) Answer all incoming phone calls before the third ring.

2) When you answer the phone, be warm and enthusiastic. Your voice at the end of the telephone line is sometimes the only impression of your company a caller will get.

3) When answering the phone, welcome callers courteously and identify yourself and your organization. Say, for instance, "Good morning. Cypress Technologies. Susan speaking. How may I help you?" No one should ever have to ask if they've reached such and such a business.

4) Enunciate clearly, keep your voice volume moderate, and speak slowly and clearly when answering the phone, so your caller can understand you easily.

5) Control your language when answering the phone. Don't use slang or jargon. Instead of saying, "OK", or "No problem", for instance, say "Certainly", "Very well", or "All right". If you're a person who uses fillers when you speak, such as "uh huh", "um", or phrases such as "like" or "you know", train yourself carefully not to use these when you speak on the phone.

6) Train your voice and vocabulary to be positive when phone answering, even on a "down" day. For example, rather than saying, "I don't know", say, "Let me find out about that for you."

7) Take telephone messages completely and accurately. If there's something you don't understand or can't spell, such as a person's surname, ask the caller to repeat it or spell it for you. Then make sure the message gets to the intended recipient.

8) Answer all your calls within one business day. I can't emphasize this one enough. Remember the early bird? The early caller can get the contract, the sale, the problem solved... and reinforce the favorable impression of your business that you want to circulate.

9) Always ask the caller if it's all right to put her on hold when answering the phone, and don't leave people on hold. Provide callers on hold with progress reports every 30 to 45 seconds. Offer them choices if possible, such as "That line is still busy. Will you continue to hold or should I have ________ call you back?"

10) Don't use a speaker phone unless absolutely necessary. Speaker phones give the caller the impression that you're not fully concentrating on his call, and make him think that his call isn't private. The only time to use a speaker phone is when you need more than one person to be in on the conversation at your end.

11) If you use an answering machine to answer calls when you can't, make sure that you have a professional message recorded, that does the same thing as tip # 3, and gives callers any other pertinent information before it records their messages. Update your answering machine message as needed. For instance, if your business is going to be closed for a holiday, update your recorded answering machine message to say so and to say when your business will reopen.

12) Train everyone else who answers the phone to answer the same way, including other family members if you're running a home-based business. Check on how your business's phone is being answered by calling in and seeing if the phone is being answered in a professional manner. If they don't pass the test, go over this telephone answering tips list with them.

8 Rules For Good Customer Service

8 Rules For Good Customer Service
Good Customer Service Made Simple
By Susan Ward

Good customer service is the lifeblood of any business. You can offer promotions and slash prices to bring in as many new customers as you want, but unless you can get some of those customers to come back, your business won’t be profitable for long.

Good customer service is all about bringing customers back. And about sending them away happy – happy enough to pass positive feedback about your business along to others, who may then try the product or service you offer for themselves and in their turn become repeat customers.

If you’re a good salesperson, you can sell anything to anyone once. But it will be your approach to customer service that determines whether or not you’ll ever be able to sell that person anything else. The essence of good customer service is forming a relationship with customers – a relationship that that individual customer feels that he would like to pursue.

How do you go about forming such a relationship? By remembering the one true secret of good customer service and acting accordingly; “You will be judged by what you do, not what you say.”

I know this verges on the kind of statement that’s often seen on a sampler, but providing good customer service IS a simple thing. If you truly want to have good customer service, all you have to do is ensure that your business consistently does these things:


1) Answer your phone.

Get call forwarding. Or an answering service. Hire staff if you need to. But make sure that someone is picking up the phone when someone calls your business. (Notice I say “someone”. People who call want to talk to a live person, not a “fake recorded robot”.) For more on answering the phone, see Phone Answering Tips to Win Business.


2) Don’t make promises unless you WILL keep them.

Not plan to keep them. Will keep them. Reliability is one of the keys to any good relationship, and good customer service is no exception. If you say, “Your new bedroom furniture will be delivered on Tuesday”, make sure it is delivered on Tuesday. Otherwise, don’t say it. The same rule applies to client appointments, deadlines, etc.. Think before you give any promise – because nothing annoys customers more than a broken one.


3) Listen to your customers.

Is there anything more exasperating than telling someone what you want or what your problem is and then discovering that that person hasn’t been paying attention and needs to have it explained again? From a customer’s point of view, I doubt it. Can the sales pitches and the product babble. Let your customer talk and show him that you are listening by making the appropriate responses, such as suggesting how to solve the problem.


4) Deal with complaints.

No one likes hearing complaints, and many of us have developed a reflex shrug, saying, “You can’t please all the people all the time”. Maybe not, but if you give the complaint your attention, you may be able to please this one person this one time - and position your business to reap the benefits of good customer service.


5) Be helpful - even if there’s no immediate profit in it.

The other day I popped into a local watch shop because I had lost the small piece that clips the pieces of my watch band together. When I explained the problem, the proprietor said that he thought he might have one lying around. He found it, attached it to my watch band – and charged me nothing! Where do you think I’ll go when I need a new watch band or even a new watch? And how many people do you think I’ve told this story to?


6) Train your staff (if you have any) to be ALWAYS helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable.

Do it yourself or hire someone to train them. Talk to them about good customer service and what it is (and isn’t) regularly. Most importantly, give every member of your staff enough information and power to make those small customer-pleasing decisions, so he never has to say, “I don’t know, but so-and-so will be back at...”


7) Take the extra step.

For instance, if someone walks into your store and asks you to help them find something, don’t just say, “It’s in Aisle 3.” Lead the customer to the item. Better yet, wait and see if he has questions about it, or further needs. Whatever the extra step may be, if you want to provide good customer service, take it. They may not say so to you, but people notice when people make an extra effort and will tell other people.


8) Throw in something extra.

Whether it’s a coupon for a future discount, additional information on how to use the product, or a genuine smile, people love to get more than they thought they were getting. And don’t think that a gesture has to be large to be effective. The local art framer that we use attaches a package of picture hangers to every picture he frames. A small thing, but so appreciated.

If you apply these eight simple rules consistently, your business will become known for its good customer service. And the best part? The irony of good customer service is that over time it will bring in more new customers than promotions and price slashing ever did!

The Ten Commandments of Great Customer Service from Susan A. Friedmann

The Ten Commandments of Customer Service

1.Know who is boss. You are in business to service customer needs, and you can only do that if you know what it is your customers want. When you truly listen to your customers, they let you know what they want and how you can provide good service. Never forget that the customer pays our salary and makes your job possible.

2.Be a good listener Take the time to identify customer needs by asking questions and concentrating on what the customer is really saying Listen to their words, tone of voice, body language, and most importantly, how they feel. Beware of making assumptions - thinking you intuitively know what the customer wants. Do you know what three things are most important to your customer?
Effective listening and undivided attention are particularly important on the show floor where there is a great danger of preoccupation - looking around to see to whom else we could be selling to.

3.Identify and anticipate needs. Customers don't buy products or services. They buy good feelings and solutions to problems. Most customer needs are emotional rather than logical. The more you know your customers, the better you become at anticipating their needs. Communicate regularly so that you are aware of problems or upcoming needs.

4.Make customers feel important and appreciated. Treat them as individuals. Always use their name and find ways to compliment them, but be sincere. People value sincerity. It creates good feeling and trust. Think about ways to generate good feelings about doing business with you. Customers are very sensitive and know whether or not you really care about them. Thank them every time you get a chance.
On the show floor be sure that your body language conveys sincerity. Your words and actions should be congruent.

5.Help customers understand your systems. Your organization may have the world's best systems for getting things done, but if customers don't understand them, they can get confused, impatient and angry. Take time to explain how your systems work and how they simplify transactions. Be careful that your systems don't reduce the human element of your organization.

6.Appreciate the power of "Yes". Always look for ways to help your customers. When they have a request (as long as it is reasonable) tell them that you can do it. Figure out how afterwards. Look for ways to make doing business with you easy. Always do what you say you are going to do.

7.Know how to apologize. When something goes wrong, apologize. It's easy and customers like it. The customer may not always be right, but the customer must always win. Deal with problems immediately and let customers know what you have done. Make it simple for customers to complain. Value their complaints. As much as we dislike it, it gives us an opportunity to improve. Even if customers are having a bad day, go out of your way to make them feel comfortable.

8.Give more than expected. Since the future of all companies lies in keeping customers happy, think of ways to elevate yourself above the competition. Consider the following:
What can you give customers that they cannot get elsewhere?
What can you do to follow-up and thank people even when they don't buy?
What can you give customers that is totally unexpected?

9.Get regular feedback. Encourage and welcome suggestions about how you could improve. There are several ways in which you can find out what customers think and feel about your services.
Listen carefully to what they say.
Check back regularly to see how things are going.
Provide a method that invites constructive criticism, comments and suggestions.

10.Treat employees well. Employees are your internal customers and need a regular dose of appreciation. Thank them and find ways to let them know how important they are. Treat your employees with respect and chances are they will have a higher regard for customers. Appreciation stems from the top. Treating customers and employees well is equally important.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Shipment Survey


Below are the customers response to the automated email shipment survey for this order. Email shipment surveys go out 5 business days after the date of shipment.
- Satisfaction with service provided by your salesperson: Very Satisfied
- Satisfaction with quality of the product: Very Satisfied
- Satisfaction with cost of your order: Satisfied
- Satisfaction with Overall experience with Branders: Very Satisfied
- Will consider Branders in the future: yes
- Comments: You guys are great.

Customer Email


Dear Helen,
The pens arrived yesterday! I am very pleased with the product, the timely shipment and your customer service. Keep up the good work!

May God bless you,
Customer # 7215983
Nancy Martin
NMartin2@bic-church.org
Administrative Support Facilitator

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Shipment Survey


Below are the customers response to the automated email shipment survey for this order. Email shipment surveys go out 5 business days after the date of shipment.
- Satisfaction with service provided by your salesperson: Very Satisfied
- Satisfaction with quality of the product: Very Satisfied
- Satisfaction with cost of your order: Somewhat satisfied
- Satisfaction with Overall experience with Branders: Very Satisfied
- Will consider Branders in the future: yes
- Comments: My brandres sales rep went above and beyond to satisfy our needs. Our order went from, "sorry we can't do multi-colored printing on that product" to "let me research to see what we can do" to Yes, Branders can!!!" Thanks for your persistance.

Shipment Survey




Below are the customers response to the automated email shipment survey for this order. Email shipment surveys go out 5 business days after the date of shipment.
- Satisfaction with service provided by your salesperson: Very Satisfied
- Satisfaction with quality of the product: Very Satisfied
- Satisfaction with cost of your order: Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
- Satisfaction with Overall experience with Branders: Satisfied
- Will consider Branders in the future: yes
- Comments: Your customer service was great. Rev really helped to get this order in and to us in time for the event. My only problem was with the cost of shipping. The cost of the problem was not a problem.
Click below to see the order

Shipment Survey


Below are the customers response to the automated email shipment survey for this order. Email shipment surveys go out 5 business days after the date of shipment.
- Satisfaction with service provided by your salesperson: Very Satisfied
- Satisfaction with quality of the product: Somewhat satisfied
- Satisfaction with cost of your order: Very Satisfied
- Satisfaction with Overall experience with Branders: Satisfied
- Will consider Branders in the future: yes
- Comments:
When I was emailed the mock up, the logo look like it was in the perfect place but the t-shirts were a little off. I dont know which one was right but it's not a big deal. Everything else was perfect.

Bowling on a Weekday
















Thursday, July 16, 2009

Shipment Survey


Below are the customers response to the automated email shipment survey for this order. Email shipment surveys go out 5 business days after the date of shipment.
- Satisfaction with service provided by your salesperson: Very Satisfied
- Satisfaction with quality of the product: Very Satisfied
- Satisfaction with cost of your order: Very Satisfied
- Satisfaction with Overall experience with Branders: Very Satisfied
- Will consider Branders in the future: yes
- Comments: Comments here... Branders has been one of the best vendors I've had to deal with. Our account rep (Gabe Santiago) is a large reason for it. He is patient with our often last minute crazy requests and always seems to find a solution to get our order in. I will absolutely be sure to use them again in the future.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Shipment Survey




Below are the customers response to the automated email shipment survey for this order. Email shipment surveys go out 5 business days after the date of shipment.
- Satisfaction with service provided by your salesperson: Very Satisfied
- Satisfaction with quality of the product: Very Satisfied
- Satisfaction with cost of your order: Satisfied
- Satisfaction with Overall experience with Branders: Very Satisfied
- Will consider Branders in the future: yes
- Comments: Great experience

Shipment Survey


Below are the customers response to the automated email shipment survey for this order. Email shipment surveys go out 5 business days after the date of shipment.
- Satisfaction with service provided by your salesperson: Very Satisfied
- Satisfaction with quality of the product: Very Satisfied
- Satisfaction with cost of your order: Very Satisfied
- Satisfaction with Overall experience with Branders: Very Satisfied
- Will consider Branders in the future: yes
- Comments: I was having a very difficult time getting my logo the right size and I called and the man I spoke with was very helpful in telling me what I needed to do.

Shipment Survey


Below are the customers response to the automated email shipment survey for this order. Email shipment surveys go out 5 business days after the date of shipment.
- Satisfaction with service provided by your salesperson: Very Satisfied
- Satisfaction with quality of the product: Satisfied
- Satisfaction with cost of your order: Very Satisfied
- Satisfaction with Overall experience with Branders: Very Satisfied
- Will consider Branders in the future: yes
- Comments: Trying to order on the website was a little confusing, so it was very helpful to have contact with a real person, who made sure that my needs were being met.

Shipment Survey


Below are the customers response to the automated email shipment survey for this order. Email shipment surveys go out 5 business days after the date of shipment.
- Satisfaction with service provided by your salesperson: Very Satisfied
- Satisfaction with quality of the product: Satisfied
- Satisfaction with cost of your order: Somewhat satisfied
- Satisfaction with Overall experience with Branders: Somewhat satisfied
- Will consider Branders in the future: yes
- Comments: Was disappointed that the assigned account rep never contacted me despite voice messages and emails. Was very pleased with new rep, Erica! She was professional, had great follow up skills, and was a real pleasure to work with!

Shipment Survey


Below are the customers response to the automated email shipment survey for this order. Email shipment surveys go out 5 business days after the date of shipment.
- Satisfaction with service provided by your salesperson: Very Satisfied
- Satisfaction with quality of the product: Satisfied
- Satisfaction with cost of your order: Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
- Satisfaction with Overall experience with Branders: Very Satisfied
- Will consider Branders in the future: yes
- Comments: Comments here... Thank you Ericka for going above and beyond with expediting our order! I know we put the pressure on you to get this to us by the 4th. But you came through!! Heavenly thanks you!

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Lewis Amicone III

Lewis Amicone III with Tim Andrews the president of ASI , receiving the Industries Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2008