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There is a popular saying that “the customer is always right”. Without the customer, your business will fail to grow. So, one vital ingredient of a successful business is its customer service. Today, you will learn what customer service means and how to do it properly.

DEFINITION

‘Customer service (is) the ability of an organization to constantly and consistently exceed the customer’s expectations.’ In other words, customer service is meeting the needs and desires of any customer.

Characteristics of Good Customer Service

Promptness: Promises for delivery of products must be on time. Delays and cancellations of products should be avoided.

Politeness: Politeness is almost a lost art. Saying ‘hello,’ ‘good afternoon,’ ‘sir’, and ‘thank you very much’ are a part of good customer service. For any business, a ‘thank you’ is appropriate whether the customer makes a purchase or not.

Professionalism: All customers should be treated professionally. Using this characteristic of good customer service shows the customer that you really care about them.

Personalization: Using the customer’s name is very effective in producing loyalty. Customers like the idea that whom they do business with knows them on a personal level.

Types of Customer Service

There are different types of customer service that are provided by businesses. The type of service that customers encounter will depend on the product or service that a business provides, what the customers’ needs are, and whether the service is problem-oriented or focused toward enhancing the consumer’s experience.

Call Center: One of the most basic types of customer service is the call center. A large business will often devote an entire department to taking calls from customers who have needs or concerns about the business’ service or product. The representatives who work at the call center will usually be the first people to hear about the customers’ concerns and will either resolve the problem or contact the people who can. Company call centers are the link between customers and the company, and how they handle customer concerns reflects on the company in a very important way. Now your company or business call center can be one or two persons on a desk at the corner of your office or shop taking calls.

Technical Customer Service: Technical customer service involves the repair people who fix issues with products, either in the customer’s home or when the product is sent in for repair. Technicians and repair people are often face-to-face representatives of their companies, and their knowledge and efficiency is an important factor when it comes to satisfying the customers and inspiring customer loyalty.

It is also vital that you understand what benefits your business stands to gain from rendering a very good customer service. A few of them are highlighted below;

Good Public Publicity

Good publicity from clients comes from great customer services. When a client receives excellent customer services, they tend to tell their friends and families which leads to word of mouth and good public publicity. This not only creates more exposure for your business, but it also increases your visibility and popularity around products and services you provide.

Higher Profits

As stated above, happy customers lead to higher profits. However, there are a number of business owners that aren’t aware that this is one of the major benefits they can receive when providing good customer services. Higher profits mean more money to re-invest on employees and new business.

Increase Customer Confidence

As word begins to spread about the service being provided at your company, this will begin to build customer confidence. After all, this is one of the primary focuses of any business. In order to build credibility, it will be important to build a customer base by providing excellent customer services.

Increased Responsibility

You will discover that over time, you will begin to take on additional responsibilities in order to make this process work effectively. By setting the bar high, you will find that many of your business will try to meet or exceed expectations as a result of the popularity your business will experience.

Saving Money

An efficient workplace has always allowed the business owner to save money. After all, when providing excellent customer services over time, you will discover ways to streamline this process which will allow you to save on a lot of things especially when you begin to expand, developing different systems, and taking care of problems that might pop up from a direct result of bad customer service.

Enhanced Efficiency

As a result of all of the previous benefits, you will be able to enhance the overall efficiency of your business. After all, the primary goal for a business owner is to be as efficient as possible. By providing good customer services this is something you will achieve and everyone who is involved will be winners as a result.The benefits of good customer services were meant to help you understand more about why treating your customers with care are extremely important. By practicing excellent customer services on a consistent basis, you will be able to help your business grow in a way that provides maximum exposure, visibility, and popularity around the products and services you provide for your clients. When an individual who has done business with your company feels that they have received the best possible service, they tend to spread the news which allows your business to reap the rewards of referral business. However, there are other additional benefits you’ll receive but the list is endless.

Source: http://businesstools.com.ng/customer-service-and-how-it-affects-your-new-business-startup/

Visit www.businesstools.com.ng for more business articles

Story for the gods.

Thanks. I just submitted my form. Wish me success.

BRIMHOME:
Less than 3 hours 2 end YouWin!4

I need to speak with you on a small job. Send your contact to my email, patrickokunima@gmail.com

iwriterng:
bump!

"Family is the most important thing in the world" - Princess Diana

Before we proceed with the next topic, I'll like to have your views on the areas we've covered. With that, I'll be convined that there are people following me.

2. Identifying inefficiencies in an existing product or service. You can also source for business opportunities by looking out for good ideas that have not been effectively executed. People value quality products. They also like speedy delivery and convenience. So, If you are able to improve on the quality of an existing product or the process of delivering the product to the customers, you may be in business soon.

3. Import an existing product or service into an untapped market. Lookout for products that were successful in a different geographical location. Maybe you’ve traveled to a different city or town and seen a product (good or service) that is selling very well and is not being offered where you live. You can do some research to see how you can successfully introduce it as something “new” in your area.

Business opportunities come and go. Just like time, they wait for no one. If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you should always lookout for problems experienced by people or businesses. When you finally spot one you have the resources to solve, don't hesitate to take advantage of the opportunity immediately. Otherwise, someone else will do it.

ASSIGNMENT:

1. List ten companies and identify the type of opportunity they leveraged upon to break into the Nigerian market.

2. Pick any town or city of your choice. Identify at least five (05) major problems affecting the residents of the town or city. Are you sure these people are willing to pay for a solution? Which of these problems do you have the resources to solve? Why do you think you will succeed? What threats are you likely to face in this business and what measures will you put in place to minimize their effects on your business?

Have a wonderful weekend!

Cont'd

1. Identifying unmet customer needs. A customer need is unmet when it is important to the customer, but he/she is not satisfied with the solutions currently available or the solution is not available at all. The more important the need and the less satisfied the customer is, the greater the business opportunity.

Most successful businesses have capitalized on the pains, struggles and challenges of people. They were able to achieve success by identifying what the problems were and proffering solutions to them. Since you may not have the funds to hire a market research firm to survey the market, the best option available to you is to sample peoples opinion. Talk to friends and family members to find out what their problems, needs or challenges are. The internet is also a good source to discover what goods and services people are looking for.

Let me share with you how I came up with the idea of a CV writing business I founded two years ago. In 2011, a friend approached me to help him write a CV and cover letter. According to him, he has submitted applications to over 20 companies without hearing a word from them. As at then, I did not even have a CV myself. I scrutinized his CV but couldn’t see any reason he wasn’t getting interviews. So, I sacrificed a couple of hours of my time to do a little research on the current trends in CV, Resume and cover letter writing. That was when my eyes were opened to the mistakes on his CV. I restructured his CV and to my surprise, He was invited for an interview within a month.

Few months later, when I went to the cyber café, before my very eyes, a young lady paid three thousand naira to one of the attendants to help her prepare a CV. In my curiosity, I waited to see the finished results, and it was not even as good as what I wrote for my friend for FREE. I then asked the attendant how often he gets to write CVs for people, and he said, “Almost every day. When business is good, I even write up to three in one day.” That was when it occurred to me that I could make good money by offering the same service. Prior to this incident, I never knew people paid money to get their CV written. The rest is history. Today my CV writing service is recognised as a leader in the CV writing industry in Nigeria.

Stay tuned.

How to identify business opportunities

The reason most people fail in business is that they create a product and start looking for a market. An entrepreneur does not do that. Instead, he searches his environment for problems. Then, he proceeds to creating a product (good or service) capable of solving the identified problem. In that case, he doesn’t have to struggle to sell his products. All that he needs to do thereafter is to introduce the product to the market (people or businesses experiencing the problem) by advertising, and they will be more than willing exchange the solution for money. If you try to do the opposite, i.e creating a product before looking for a market for it, your business is destined for doom.

Business opportunities are everywhere but are usually in disguise, So you can only notice them when you pay close attention to the world around you and the people living in it. Today’s lecture will help you understand what business opportunities are and how to identify them.

I would like to explain the concept of business opportunity by looking at the definition of marketing. Marketing is not the same as advertising. It is a much broader concept. Unlike advertising, marketing starts even before the product is created.

Marketing is the process of identifying a need in the market, designing a product (good or service) capable of solving the identified need; pricing, promoting and distributing the product to the target customers through various channels. The underlined word “need” is the business opportunity we are talking about here. Businesses start having difficulties when they try to do things the other way round – i.e. creating a product and start looking for problems that the product can solve.

For an idea to qualify as a business opportunity, there must be four elements present, viz: a need, a means to fulfil the need, a method of applying the means to fulfill the need and a method to benefit the provider of the means (the provider of the means is the entrepreneur). In order words, for a need to qualify as a business opportunity, there must be a good or service that can satisfy that need, and the person providing the product should be able to enjoy financial reward for his efforts.

The key to identifying viable business opportunities is to focus on people’s pains and frustrations. In that way, they will be left with no choice other than paying you, if you are able to come up with a solution. Take yourself as an example. What are those products you need that are not readily available to you? Or the product is available but of poor quality or the process of accessing it is time consuming or inconveniencing. If others are experiencing the same problem, then you’ve just found a good business opportunity. The next issue would be that of having the resources, capability and most importantly the guts to solve the problem.

There are several ways of identifying business opportunities. But in order not to confuse you, we’ll be looking at only three:

To be continued......

I just returned from exile. I'll continue with the tutorial soon. Thanks for your patience.

For avoidance of doubt, let me state again that I'm an entrepreneur to the core. I'm an accounting graduate and an MBA student, but I'm not one of those who believe University education only prepares one for paid employment. I took an entrepreneurship course at the university, and since then, I've developed what I refer to as the most important trait of an entrepreneur - the love for risks. On this thread, I won't just be talking about the theoretical part of entrepreneurship, but practical, real-life cases, drawing inferences from my personal experience (both failures and successes). Some people think entrepreneurs don't fail. That's a big lie. Do a little research on all the big names we know as entrepreneurs, the likes of Bill Gates, and you'll be surprised to learn that they've had more failures than successes. Like I always tell people, entrepreneurship is a game just like football, basket ball, tennis etc. Sometimes, you win, other times, you lose. The ability to rise after falling is what makes you a real entrepreneur - Entrepreneurs don't succumb to failure.

When you decide to run your own business, there are only two approaches available to you. The entrepreneur approach or the businessman approach. Your success or failure to a large extent depends on the approach you adopt.

So why did I create this thread? I created this thread because I care. Because I want you to succeed too. Here, I’ll teach you how to start and grow a profitable and successful business or reinvigorate an existing one. A business that earns you real money, but that also allows you to enjoy the lifestyle you want. I’m optimistic that this thread will help you become more successful.

Here’s an outline of what you will learn on this thread:

1. How to identify business opportunities

2. How to conduct a feasibility study to determine the viability of an idea (No. 2 is very important. Don’t get me wrong. Other topics are equally important too, but this is where you’ll acquire the skills to ascertain whether or not an idea is worth investing in, before parting with your money). 95% of businesses failed as a result of poor feasibility study or lack of it.

3. How to prepare a simple business plan

4. How to prepare a simple but powerful marketing plan

5. How to launch a successful business

6. How to choose the best location for your business (Retail businesses specifically, if you get the location wrong, there’s absolutely no way out – You are destined for failure).

7. How to develop and implement the most effective advertising strategies

8. Customer service and how it affects your new business start-up

9. How to differentiate your business from the competition

10. Recruiting and selecting the best employees

11. How to manage changes in the business environment

12. Sources of funding (This is another very important topic. Here I’m going to teach you how to get free grants from the federal government to finance your business. Some of us are not aware that there is special funds set aside by the federal government of Nigeria for this purpose. I’ll also teach you how to secure grants from the African Development Bank and how to secure business loans without collateral).

13. Building a successful business

14. Major causes of business failure and how to avoid them

Stay tuned for the first topic – How to identify business opportunities

Modified

If You are a regular visitor to any business forum, You should be familiar with threads like, "I have N1,000,000. What kind of business can I do?” Or “I need urgent advice on where to invest N700,000" which is usually followed by various suggestions from people who have never owned or managed a business, not even for a day. Original posters of such threads and other followers ignorantly invest their hard earned money (in some instances, bank loans with outrageous interest rates) into these ideas without adequate preparation. No feasibility study, no business plan, no guide, no mentorship, no survival strategy, no marketing plan, no contingency plan, Nothing. What baffles me most is that some of them are not even patient enough to learn the ropes of the trade. They just go ahead and pour in all their money, Wham! And they start regretting. I'm not surprised they end-up that way. Winston Churchill was not drunk when he said that, “He who fails to plan is planning to fail.” What on earth were they thinking?

After going through this FREE Course, your question will change from “What business can I start with Nxxxx?” to “There is this need in my town/ state/ country. How can I turn this opportunity into a profitable business?”. The later is the kind of question an entrepreneur asks.

(Pls stay tuned - I will continue soon).

Dear Business Owner/ Future Business Owner,

I welcome you to this thread, “FREE TUTORIAL: How To Start And Grow A Profitable Business (Online or Offline).” I created a similar thread sometime ago, but couldn’t continue due to some circumstances beyond my control. God’s willing, I’ll make it up to you this time.

Note: This is not your regular business thread where the OP comes here to introduce you to business concepts he has never practiced. I am a “talk na do” kind of person. I practice what I preach. I have tested all the business concepts I’ll be sharing with you here and I know they work. It doesn’t matter if you run an online business or a brick and mortar business, fundamental business principles are the same. If you apply them and they do not give you the desired results, then it’s either you’re missing something or you are not abreast with your business environment.

As you already know, a business does not operate in a vacuum, but in an environment. The environment in which a business operates can affect it, negatively or positively. A business can also influence its environment, depending on its size and the role it plays.

Stay tuned to this thread as I hold you by the hand and guide you through the process of starting and running your own business.

To be continued shortly.

.

It's really sad.

Scammers everywhere.

Whether running a store, an online business, a photography business, consulting business, etc or working as a freelancer, many entrepreneurs start their businesses as a “side hustle” while still working full- or part-time jobs. It’s a smart way to test the waters before pursuing entrepreneurship full-time.

If you’re one of these people, the time will come when that side business grows large enough for you to consider ditching your day job altogether. And how you go about making the leap is every bit as important as the steps you take to get to that point. If you don’t plan your transition properly, you could find yourself sheepishly returning to a day job because you leapt before you were ready.

To make sure your transition goes smoothly and that you set yourself up for success, take these steps:

1. Build Up a Savings Fund

The standard advice given to those considering the leap is to save up six months’ worth of living expenses before calling it quits. Entrepreneurship is naturally a feast-and-famine cycle, as your projects or orders can fluctuate from month to month. Having a little something in reserve can carry you through the leaner months. It’s also important when you first make the switch to full-time self-employment, as this is often a time when you’re still building and expanding your client base and may have some gap between your income and your budget.

Having some money put aside will do more for you than making sure your budget stays in the black each month—it will also give you the freedom to build your business on your own terms. When you’re struggling to make ends meet, you can find yourself accepting clients and projects with terms you know aren’t the best. Some extra bucks in the bank gives you the freedom to say “no” to projects you know aren’t worth your time.

3. Know How Much Income you’ll Need to Quit

In addition to building up your cash reserve, you’ll also want to have a clear handle on how much income you’ll need to bring in monthly to reasonably clear your expenses as an entrepreneur. This will give you a better idea of when your business gets large enough that you can feasibly “afford” to quit.

Keep in mind that once you’re no longer working for an employer, your expenses can change. If you’ll be working for home, for instance, you can deduct commuting expenses like gas, parking, and tolls. However, you may need to pay extra in other areas, like heating and cooling your house now that you’ll be home eight more hours a day, or boosting your Internet package so you can work more efficiently. Put together a budget for your projected monthly expenses so you know how much you’ll need to bring in to make the leap.

3. Know Your Potential to Scale

Once you know how much you’ll need to quit your day job, it’s time to tally that amount against what you’re currently bringing in from your side hustle and what you can expect to bring in once you’re doing it full-time. You may decide to wait until you’re bringing in exactly what you’ll need, or you may decide to leap with the faith that having more time to devote to your business will enable you to quickly scale to reach that amount.

Making the leap from side hustler to full-time entrepreneur is always a bit of a risk, but by making it a calculated one, you can better ensure your success.

For how long? May God help us in this country.

In my opinion, PDP is more Nigerian than any other political party in Nigeria.

It's an obvious fact.

100% true.

edogho:
its like i've been disagreein too much these days. buh don't u think d capital is just an excuse for not starting? except u are looking at leaping to the skies with just one jump. i hope businesstools will agree with me. i started mi business with 306,000naira+, having only 3,000naira of mine and i live not exactly mi own definition of comfortable life, that's y i'm crazy/hungry for more. buh today i can take goods of 500,000 without paying a dime, why? because i've built peoples trust in me. whenever i show real zeal, I make sure its built on trust or i walk. so whats d idea u have, so businesstools and other ogas will help u push start it.

The capital issue: You've said it as it is - mere excuse. That's because one does not need a lot of money to start a business. The slogan is "Start small and grow big." Besides, if you've got a very viable idea that requires a huge capital, there are people out there who have the money and will be willing to finance you, but you must be able to prove your business model.

No one has attempted question 2. Is it too difficult?

Tydies:
yeah..do you have any website or a blog?

I don't have a personal website or blog, but all my businesses have websites and some of them have blogs attached. Why do you ask?

Source: Unknown

In sales situations, it is common for people to conceal what they are really thinking, either consciously or unconsciously. It's all part of a natural resistance some people have when being sold to. That's why the most successful salespeople learn the art of Harnessing the Power of Body Language in Selling.

All of us are trained in the use of speech, to communicate what we mean in a way that other people will understand. And most of the time, others understand what we mean. In a telephone conversation, we communicate through speech alone. In a face-to-face meeting, part of the communication is carried in a non-verbal form, what is often called body language.
Why is body language so important? There are two principal reasons:

? You have probably heard many times that people remember more of what they see than what they hear. Long after a meeting, we are likely to have forgotten the exact words someone used, but we may retain a vivid image of the same person's facial expression.

? Through life experience, we have learned, perhaps unconsciously, that people often lie with words. (We're talking here about the little white lies and omissions that are part of many conversations.) But facial expressions and other body language tend to be more honest. When a person's words and body language are consistent, we believe that person. When a person's words and body language say different things, we tend to believe the body language and doubt the words.

Picture this scenario: You say to a friend: "How was your review with the boss?" Your friend says, "OK." Then her smile vanishes, and her hand tightens around the notebook she is carrying. Did your friend really do OK in that review? Probably not, but she does not want to talk about her true feelings right now. When a person's facial expression differs from her words, your experience tells you to go with the visual cues, not the words.

The Vocabulary of Body Language

Body language, unlike spoken language, is inexact, so you have to be careful about how you interpret it. A certain movement or facial expression may be quite meaningful, or it may mean nothing at all. As a starting point, the lists below provide you with some common body language terms and their generally accepted meanings:

Positive Body Language

Positive body language is generally quite reliable as an indicator of a person's feelings. It signals interest in the other person and in the conversation.

Relaxed posture

Comfortably seated, relaxed breathing, no visible stiffness or abrupt movements. These indicate no major barriers to communication.

Arms relaxed

Uncrossed arms and open hands (palms up or otherwise visible to the other person) are signs of openness.
Good eye contact

Looking in the other person's eyes, particularly when he is speaking, indicates interest in that person. Proper eye contact involves looking away occasionally to avoid staring.

Nodding agreement

When nods are used to punctuate key things the other person has said, they signal agreement, interest and understanding. However, continual unconscious bobbing of the head usually indicates that the listener is tuning out.

Taking notes

Shows interest and involvement, particularly if notes are on what the other person is saying.

Smiling or adding humor

This is a very positive sign. It signals a warm, personal relationship.

Leaning closer

Reducing the distance between two people, particularly when the other person is speaking, indicates interest is up and barriers are down.

Gesturing warmly

Talking with hands, particularly with palms open, indicates involvement in the conversation and openness to the other person.

For all of these positive gestures, moderation is the rule. When they are exaggerated, they can become more negative than positive.

Negative Body Language

Negative body language is somewhat less reliable as an indicator of the person's comfort with the current conversation than positive body language. Actions that are generally considered negative may just be a matter of comfort for this person, may indicate that the person is tired, or may result from other matters that are weighing on this person's mind.

Tense body

Stiffness, wrinkled brow, jerky body motion, hands clasped in front or palms down on the table can indicate concern with the topic or dealing with the other person.

Arms folded in front

This creates a barrier and can express resistance to what is being said.

Hand on face

A hand over one's mouth is a closed gesture. Leaning on one's elbow with the chin in the hand can communicate boredom.

Fidgeting

Moving around a lot, playing with things and drumming fingers are usually signs of boredom, nervousness or impatience.

Arms behind head, leaning back

In a well-established relationship, this can be a relaxed gesture. In a new relationship, it is often used to express a desire for control or power.

Yawning

This signals boredom or confusion. The other person is talking too much or in too much technical detail.
Impatience

Some signs are trying to interrupt what the other person is saying or opening one's mouth frequently as if to speak.

Distraction

Eyes flicking about, blank stares, flipping through literature without really reading it, looking at others in the office or looking at the person's body or clothing all represent distraction.

Leaning away

Avoiding moving closer, even when something is handed to the person, is strongly negative.

Negative facial expressions

These include shaking head, eyes narrowed, scowling or frowning.

Combinations Count More Than Individual Gestures

Body language is more meaningful when several expressions take place at the same time. For example, the combination of leaning forward, nodding and smiling is a strong indication of agreement and openness. Most meaningful is a matched set of gestures, which also agrees with what the person is saying.

Transitions Count More Than Positions

As a rule of thumb, individual body positions or movements are frequently meaningless. Some people's faces form a smile or a frown more naturally than a neutral expression. Some people lean on their hand all the time; others never do it. Some people can't sit in a chair for more than a few minutes without crossing their arms; others sit erect with their hands at their sides.

What is meaningful, however, is a transition from one body position to another. If a person spends the entire meeting leaning forward, that may be just comfort. But if the same person starts out leaning back and then gradually moves forward as the meeting progresses, that's non-verbal communication.

Using Body Language Effectively

There are two ways you can use body language to enhance your face-to-face meetings:

1. Observe the customer's body language.

2. Control your body language.

Observing the Customer's Body Language

From the moment you greet the customer, observe the customer's body language. At the beginning of the meeting, it is normal for customers to appear somewhat reserved or nervous. If this is a new relationship, the customer may not be ready to trust you yet. As the meeting progresses, the customer should normally warm up and begin to display more open body language.
Pay particular attention to any changes in the customer's body language, both positive and negative. Positive moves are buying signals -- you are on the right track and should keep going in the direction where you are headed. Negative moves are objections. They mean that you and the customer are beginning to diverge. Stop the track you are on, and get back in sync with the customer:

? If the customer's body language is expressing discomfort or disagreement with what you are saying, you need to uncover the basis for the customer's discomfort and restore the positive track.

If the customer is dropping out of the conversation, it is time to stop talking and ask an open-ended question to get the customer involved again. The more the customer has drifted from the conversation, the more you must go back to the customer's goals and background -- something the customer knows a lot about and cares about.

Watch out for the concluding part. Also follow this thread for FREE training on how to start and grow a profitable business: https://www.nairaland.com/1974923/free-tutorial-how-start-grow

The info you get here may be insufficient. So swallow your pride and Look for someone that runs a related business and learn from him for a while. Make sure it's not close to your proposed location. Follow this thread for FREE training on how to start and grow a profitable business: https://www.nairaland.com/1974923/free-tutorial-how-start-grow. All the best.