Category Archives: Customer relations

Standing out from the crowd in your business

Posted on September 30, 2013 by Jon Stow

Boring shopping I was walking through the main shopping area of our county town the other day and I could not help thinking it looked just like the main drag of every other large town I have been to recently. … Continue reading →

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

Customer service, flexibility and common sense

Posted on September 16, 2013 by Jon Stow

Flexibility Customer service is a hobby-horse of mine, but in a small business or any business, it should have top priority. We can only meet the customer’s needs by being flexible and adopting an understanding approach to give them what … Continue reading →

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

Keeping your customers’ faith

Posted on September 12, 2013 by Jon Stow

Why do our customers buy from us and go on buying.? It is because they trust us to deliver what we say we will, and we make them feel safe in our hands. Their trust is essential as Seth Godin  … Continue reading →

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

Customer service, reputation and call-out charges

Posted on August 9, 2013 by Jon Stow

In a professional service business a call-out charge is alien. If I meet a client for the first time just to get to know them, I am not going to charge a fee; that is unless I have to go … Continue reading →

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

Payment issues and being the door mat

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Jon Stow

Everyone we meet in business is different; they have different visions, different ideals, different lifestyles and different ideas about paying their providers. It is the different ideas about paying that concern us here. My business is different from most accountancy … Continue reading →

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

More “how not to network”

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Jon Stow

Yesterday I reported on Twitter a power supply unit failure in my office important computer-server. By the time I tweeted about the mishap my usual computer repair shop down the road had already repaired the machine and had installed a … Continue reading →

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

Don’t sell yourself short – lessons from a great physicist

Posted on July 29, 2013 by Jon Stow

  As you know if you read this blog, I am all for selling our skills on value. All too many business professionals think “How much will it cost me to do a project?”, then they add a bit of … Continue reading →

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

Keeping our nerve with unpleasant business experiences

Posted on July 22, 2013 by Jon Stow

If we run a tight ship in our business lives, for the most part we will avoid major problems. Sometimes things do go wrong, and it will not be our fault. It may be that we have simply come across … Continue reading →

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

Giving the customers what they want

Posted on July 18, 2013 by Jon Stow

  Taking a dip The famous UK department store chain, Marks and Spencer, has reported falling sales in clothing and non-food items again. It is sad to see a flagship high street name struggling. They always used to be so … Continue reading →

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

Service continuity, customer expectation and being as comfortable as an old shoe

Posted on July 8, 2013 by Jon Stow

  Our regular clients expect from us an excellent service and it is up to us to live up to their expectation. That does not mean that we never change what we do for them. In the last decade, advances … Continue reading →

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