Posts Tagged ‘Business’
Delivering Great Customer Service
Every company says they “Focus on Customer Excellence”, “Our Customers Are #1”… but how effective are they in delivering GREAT customer service? Review the list below for some insights and ideas on how to create a GREAT customer experience:
- Know your Customers – Who are your chosen customers? What are their needs and expectations? How well are you meeting those needs
- Empower Your Front-line Staff – train your staff to handle customer issues themselves. Allow them to act independently and with flexibility. Nothing kills customer service quicker than “I have to check with my manager”.
- Organization/Importance – Customer service must be a priority for Senior Management! Develop an organizational mentality that facilitates a smooth flow to resolve customer issues and places a priority on a positive, successful resolution to customer issues.
- Turn Problems into Opportunities – if handled quickly, fairly and effectively, you can turn a customer with a complaint into an advocate for your brand!
- Learn from Your Mistakes AND Your Successes – View mistakes by your staff as learning opportunities! Be willing to change procedures or practices based on customer and staff feedback. Review your successes and incorporate those practices and principles into areas that may need improvement.
- Anticipate the Future – Technology changes constantly! Don’t fall into the trap of “if it’s not broke don’t fix it”. The business landscape is piled high with the corpses of businesses that failed to recognize and embrace change. Webchat, email, text messaging, Facebook, Twitter are just a few of the high tech avenues to communicate with customers. Don’t let your customers disappear into the technology dimension without you!
Contact AgencyIQ today for a FREE 15 Day Trial and let us help you provide a GREAT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE for your prospective and existing clients!
Building Stronger Customer Relationships
One of the easiest and most effective ways to grow your customer base is through existing clients. What better advertising than loyal, happy, long-term clients giving you a “two thumbs up” endorsement!
Use these tips below as a guide to success:
- Be Authentic – people usually know when they are being given “the treatment” and they also recognize when someone genuinely has their best interests in mind. Be upfront and honest, it pays tremendous dividends.
- Don’t Rush – you are building for a long-term relationship, and that takes time to earn your customer’s trust. Let your actions over a period of time speak for your intentions.
- Build a Partnership Relationship – get to know your customer and what they need or what their goals are long term. By understanding their needs and goals, you can then tailor your efforts to “assisting” them meet those goals. Making the transition from “just another” company to being perceived as someone with a personal investment with them is HUGE!
- Acknowledge Loyalty – if your business permits loyalty programs, discounts, special offers, then get moving! If not, then identify a means of recognizing their loyalty by hosting special events or sending cards of appreciation on anniversaries, birthdays and holidays. If you’re sending a card, at a minimum, personally sign your name…. nothing is worse than a personalized “stamped” signature!
By thinking about how you would like to be treated if you were in the customer’s place, you will be well on your way to building a strong customer following, who will be one of your most effective marketing tools!
Why Aren’t You Closing On Leads?
Increase Sales
Think about your selling style. Do you overwhelm the prospect with your company’s credentials, your credentials, never take a breath between questions or truly listen to the answers? One of the hardest things to learn in sales is the power of silence! How many times has someone “talked” a customer out of sale…. In my experience, far too many! Review these thoughts and see if they help your close ratios.
- Provide Value – don’t focus the discussion on the “features”, yes they are important, but spend more time discussing why your services add value, meet a specific need of the client and benefit them by doing business with you.
- Listen to Your Lead – ask a question and “really listen” to their response before you start formulating your response in anticipation of what you “think” the customer is going to say, they may surprise you! We have only ONE mouth and TWO ears for a reason…. Use them accordingly.
- Stop Talking About Yourself – the lead is not really interested that you are a top producer, #1 in your Division, or in the President’s club. They want to know what you can do for them and help meet their needs in the most cost effective means. Focus on them; people like to hear their name and talk about themselves, you’ll learn a lot about them if you give them a chance.
- Review Your Lead Providers – if you buy online leads, review the close ratios by lead provider on regularly scheduled intervals. Look at bounce percentages, watch for stale lists and see who is giving you the higher ROI.
- Mine Your Database – you’ve invested time, money and resources to generate leads, so don’t give up on them too early. Take a long term approach to earning their business. Using a drip email campaign program like AgencyIQ will keep you in front of the lead on a consistent, long term basis. Using AgencyIQ’s powerful, customizable drip email system is an automated, cost effective tool that will help you improve your ROI and conversion ratios on those valuable leads.
Give AgencyIQ a call and let us help you get the most out of your leads and increase your close ratios!
Time Management Tips
February is National Time Management Month. Let’s review some helpful tips to keep you on time and less stressed!
- Plan & Organize – without a plan, you will experience an 80% failure rate. Time spent organizing is time well spent. It doesn’t matter how you organize, just organize in a way that works for you.
- Set Goals & Prioritize – the first step is to decide what you want to achieve. Keep the goals achievable, with a little bit of stretch. Next, prioritize! Use the 80-20 rule from our old friend Mr. Pareto… 80% of the reward or achievement comes from 20% of the effort. Spend time in the areas that offer the greatest return on effort.
- To Do or Not to Do – that is the question! Combine a list of action items with your calendar. You can see your progress and make adjustments as needed. Knowing where you are is half the battle most days.
- Delegate – No is not a four letter word! Some tasks are just not worth your time, but others on your staff could be a perfect fit for activities that are a drain on your schedule, but still need to be handled.
- Don’t schedule 100% of Your Day – Interruptions are going to happen… so build time into your schedule to accommodate them! Not only will this lessen your stress level when emergencies happen, but it will lessen the number of “fires” you have to deal with on a daily basis.
- Know Your Prime Time – we all have biological a “prime time” when we are running on all cylinders. Knowing if you’re a morning person, afternoon guru or night owl, you can try to schedule your priority tasks for those times.
- Reward Yourself – break your day into small blocks and give yourself a small reward for achieving a goal. Building small successes as you move through the day will give you both emotional and physical boosts. All work and no play makes for a long day!!!!
Disaster Prevention on a Budget
We’ve discussed risk management in previous blogs, and the importance of identifying, quantifying and understanding business risks. But, what are some simple, inexpensive ways a small business can prevent disaster from upending their business? Review some of the tips below and see if they fit your budget and apply to your business!
- Develop multiple revenue sources – Never rely on one customer, industry or client to be your only revenue stream. Diversity will help insulate you if you lose a high value customer. You should plan on losing at least 10% of your customer base annually, not necessarily through your fault, it’s just the natural flow of business.
- Document It! – The first rule of business is ‘get it in writing”. What may have been understood in a verbal conversation can easily lead to major misunderstandings at a later date….that’s why the court house is full of lawyers. A well defined and thorough written document can save hurt feelings, money and clients!
- Rainy Day Money – You never know when your revenue stream will be interrupted or for how long. Fire, flood, natural disasters or even economic uncertainty can bring business to a sudden stop. Having a reserve fund to see you through slow months or more trying situations can save your business until your cash flow returns to normal.
- Back Up, Back Up, Back Up…. In case you are one of those folks who has never experienced their computer hard drive crashing….YOU WILL BE, it’s just a matter of time. There are so many easy, automatic ways to back up your business data, especially from PC’s and laptops available today. I suggest you consider an online backup system that is cloud based. They are numerous and inexpensive, and are accessible 24/7, allowing you to recover vital data to keep your business moving if those geek gremlins attack.
- Have a Plan – sounds easy, and it really is. Take a few minutes and think about some of the vital activities you, your staff and your business perform routinely. Write them down, make copies, distribute and familiarize key employees with those processes. Then, when someone is out for a day or week or month, a co-worker will know how to turn on the copier, write an invoice or turn on the coffee maker!
Staying Relevant As An Agent
Success
Survey results from an online insurance comparison site CoverHound.com indicate that consumers of auto insurance still prefer to deal with local agents versus online or telephone purchases from direct carriers. While direct carriers continue to gain market share, shoppers still prefer that personal connection. That’s great news for agents!
The survey shows that 39% prefer to deal with a local agent, 32% prefer direct contact with carriers and 29% are indifferent. Not surprisingly, 50% of 18-25 year olds preferred a direct carrier association, while only 27% of 41-50 year olds held a similar preference. As an agent, this provides some valuable insights into market demographics and should assist you in defining your marketing strategy. Utilizing online technology should be an important part of you marketing plan. Having a presence online is crucial to reaching a significant percentage of the market, regardless of age, but is essential to reach the younger age demographic. By making contact in an environment clients are comfortable in, you make yourself available to begin the process of developing a lifelong relationship. Reality is, the younger age demographic will probably have less extensive insurance needs early in the relationship, but as they mature, their insurance needs will increase to keep pace with larger homes, more expensive cars, life insurance policies, and health care needs. Branding yourself as a valuable resource that will assist a client with wealth retention and protecting them from loss from young adulthood will create a steady, reliable income stream potential.
The use of online technology by consumers will only continue to grow in the next ten years and beyond. Position yourself NOW to be an active participant with your potential clients online. If you haven’t already done so, take a look at what AgencyIQ can do to assist you with our online program. Our customizable software and drip email marketing campaigns will assist you in growing you business!!
Keys to Delivering GREAT Customer Service
Every company say the “Focus on Customer Excellence”, “Our Customers Are #1”…….. but how effective are they in delivering GREAT customer service? Review the list below for some insights and ideas on how to create a GREAT customer experience:
Know your Customers – Who are your chosen customers? What are their needs and expectations? How well are you meeting those needs
Empower Your Front-line Staff – train your staff to handle customer issues themselves. Allow them to act independently and with flexibility. Nothing kills customer service quicker than “I have to check with my manager”.
Organization/Importance – Customer service must be a priority for Senior Management! Develop an organizational mentality that facilitates a smooth flow to resolve customer issues and places a priority on a positive, successful resolution to customer issues.
Turn Problems into Opportunities – if handled quickly, fairly and effectively, you can turn a customer with a complaint into an advocate for your brand!
Learn from Your Mistakes AND Your Successes – View mistakes by your staff as learning opportunities! Be willing to change procedures or practices based on customer and staff feedback. Review your successes and incorporate those practices and principles into areas that may need improvement.
Anticipate the Future – Technology changes constantly! Don’t fall into the trap of “if it’s not broke don’t fix it”. The business landscape is piled high with the corpses of businesses that failed to recognize and embrace change. Webchat, email, text messaging, Facebook, Twitter are just a few of the high tech avenues to communicate with customers. Don’t let your customers disappear into the technology dimension without you!
Contact AgencyIQ today for a FREE 15 Day Trial and let us help you provide a GREAT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE for your prospective and existing clients!
Staying Relevant in Today’s E-Commerce World
Survey results from an online insurance comparison site CoverHound.com indicate that consumers of auto insurance still prefer to deal with local agents versus online or telephone purchases from direct carriers. While direct carriers continue to gain market share, shoppers still prefer that personal connection. That’s great news for agents!
The survey shows that 39% prefer to deal with a local agent, 32% prefer direct contact with carriers and 29% are indifferent. Not surprisingly, 50% of 18-25 year olds preferred a direct carrier association, while only 27% of 41-50 year olds held a similar preference. As an agent, this provides some valuable insights into market demographics and should assist you in defining your marketing strategy. Utilizing online technology should be an important part of you marketing plan. Having a presence online is crucial to reaching a significant percentage of the market, regardless of age, but is essential to reach the younger age demographic. By making contact in an environment clients are comfortable in, you make yourself available to begin the process of developing a lifelong relationship. Reality is, the younger age demographic will probably have less extensive insurance needs early in the relationship, but as they mature, their insurance needs will increase to keep pace with larger homes, more expensive cars, life insurance policies, and health care needs. Branding yourself as a valuable resource that will assist a client with wealth retention and protecting them from loss from young adulthood will create a steady, reliable income stream potential.
The use of online technology by consumers will only continue to grow in the next ten years and beyond. Position yourself NOW to be an active participant with your potential clients online. If you haven’t already done so, take a look at what AgencyIQ can do to assist you with our online program. Our customizable software and drip email marketing campaigns will assist you in growing you business!!
The 3 Types of Customer Service Calls
Really? Why would an Internet company blog about telephone calls? Simple….. we all use the phone to interact with our clients. There is still something to be said for having that “personal” contact that is still essential to providing a well rounded customer service platform. Let’s take a look at 3 types of customer service calls and some ideas and tips on how to provide an effective, loyalty building experience for your clients.
1) Informational – pretty straight forward, the client has questions regarding your company, services, coverages etc…..
2) Problem solving – the client has an issue that requires your assistance to resolve. This is an opportunity to shine and earn a customer for life!
3) Angry beyond reason – redirect to #2 – the client is definitely not happy, wants to bend someone’s ear and set things straight! The goal here is to get them back to status #2.
The key to successfully negotiating all of these scenarios is to LISTEN carefully to what the client has to say! Don’t get ahead of yourself and start forming a response in your mind before they finish their statement, really listen to what they are saying. Confirm what you’ve heard back to the client, using the appropriate tone of voice. Once you’re both on the same page, respond with positive words, your willingness to assist with the request. If it is a problem solving opportunity, be compassionate and empathize with the client. Be prepared to offer alternative solutions to counter the sometimes unreasonable solution requests. Don’t make any promises you cannot keep and honor any time line commitments you make to respond to the client. By quickly addressing the issue, following through with your commitments, you can earn a client’s business… for life! For those dreaded angry beyond reason calls, take a deep breath, let the client air it out and don’t take it personally… I know, easier said than done, but you can do it! Sometimes, simply saying “I’m sorry”, or “I apologize” can diffuse a tense situation. The goal is to get the client beyond being mad and focusing on a solution to their problem (#2), which is at the root of their anger.
At AgencyIQ, we strive to provide excellent, effective, timely customer service. If you need assistance, use our video trainings, email, on-line chat or call one of our customer service reps… We look forward to hearing from you!
SPAM, SPAM, SPAM,SPAM……
If you happen to be a Monty Python’s Flying Circus fan, the word spam brings a smile to your face and fond memories of their quirky British humor. But for most us, SPAM can create all kinds of heartburn, headaches and worries. The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 set guide lines for the use of the internet to send commercial emails. How does this affect your email marketing campaigns? If you follow a simple set of guidelines as outlined by the FTC, you will be in compliance and worry free! Check out the list below:
• Don’t use false or misleading header information
• Don’t use deceptive subject lines
• Identify the message as an ad
• Tell recipients where you are located
• Tell recipients how to opt-out of receiving future emails from you
• Honor opt-out requests promptly
Take a few minutes to review your emails and you will probably find you are already complying with these requirements. AgencyIQ has gone to great lengths to make sure that all of our clients comply with the CAN-SPAM laws. If you have any areas of concern about your emails, use a simple rule of thumb…. If you received this email, would you feel like you were being mislead, could you find the sender if you needed to, and could you stop the messages if you wanted. There are a number of individuals and some organizations that are extremely concerned with being found in violation of this law, some to the point of nearly paralyzing their email marketing efforts. If you have specific questions regarding this Act, click on the following link http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/ecommerce/bus61.shtm to go to the FTC website for specific guidance. This law is not designed to cripple the use of email for commercial business purposes… it was created to ensure the responsible use of a powerful marketing channel. At the end of the day, email marketing is a significant tool in your marketing arsenal and when used correctly and responsibly, you have no worries. Now, hit the Send button!
