Category Archives: Customer service

The writer of letters

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Jon Stow

  The writing habit Quite a lot of my work involves writing. I write to clients, and I write to tax authorities and I write to service providers on behalf of my clients. I write articles and I write web … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer service, management | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Shops and the personal touch

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Jon Stow

  Times are changing There is no question that shopping has moved on in the last couple of decades. It has moved to out-of-town retail parks and it has moved on-line. As a result, many shop premises in the UK … Continue reading →

Posted in Business planning, Customer relations, Customer service | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Accident recovery in business

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Jon Stow

Feelings Business life is not always perfect. Sometimes things go wrong. A client has a bad experience. It may well not be your fault, but the client may not share that perception. You have to work out what you can … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer relations, Customer service | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Selling yourself short

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Jon Stow

  Over-delivery As I said the other day, restaurants so often show the best and worst examples of how to do business, all in an hour or so. On our recent trip away, my wife and I visited another bar-restaurant … Continue reading →

Posted in Business planning, Customer service, Sales | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Do you offer a service or a process?

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Jon Stow

  Old chestnut I have been involved in an on-line debate covering the old chestnut of price versus value. This is a very important issue in most service businesses and particularly for smaller businesses., because we all need to think … Continue reading →

Posted in Business planning, Customer relations, Customer service | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Delivering the goods

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Jon Stow

A lot of people who don’t have a business think that there isn’t a difference between a large one and a small one except in scale. But managing and running a small business is nothing like big business. I have … Continue reading →

Posted in Business planning, Customer relations, Customer service, marketing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Customer service and that nice warm feeling

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Jon Stow

  French bread and letters We all like a bit of a moan sometimes. At least, I do. Recently on Twitter I complained that I had missed the post as the local collection was made early. I just saw the … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer relations, Customer service | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Taking our business lives seriously

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Jon Stow

Playing at business You may think the title states the obvious, but some people don’t use their heads. They take short cuts in their work, such as the carpenter who does a quick botch job, or they take long holidays … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer relations, Customer service, marketing | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Small business is a life of hard knocks: discuss!

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Jon Stow

I wrote a little while ago about the tough economy  and what might we do in the face of it.  We can all write the best advice we can and we can try to take advice in a positive way. … Continue reading →

Posted in Business planning, Customer service, marketing, Sales | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Conversations make team work

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Jon Stow

As you may remember, I believe that there is a difference between hearing and listening. Listening is the bit where we actually take in what someone is saying rather than just appearing to be polite by giving them time. Listening … Continue reading →

Posted in Business planning, Customer service, productivity | Tagged , | Leave a comment