Reality

Reality sometimes hits you hard! Reality hit me while siting in my first born's high school orientation! With two babies 2 and under, a 3rd grader and a high schooler, I started to panic thinking about the proposal that I was working on. As a woman it is so difficult to find value in "mothering", when the world is telling us we have to be successful professionally! It is a lot of pressure! Since my daugher was born two years ago I have continued to take on more projects even though I had ANOTHER baby 8 months ago! When I started thinking about all of my responsiblities I almost started hyperventalating! I could have had a full blown panic attack right there in the high school gym. It was then that I decided I was going to have to back out of some projects and focus on who needs me MOST! I have been straining to find this work/family balance but I can't find the balance because I continue to take on TOO MUCH! With that said, with much continued prayer...I have decided to slow it down. Work will always be there...my kids won't! They will be grown and gone before I know it and the most important job is training them to live in this world. I pray that God gives me the strength I need to be a good role model for them. Who cares what the world thinks, I am shaping lives right here in this house and THAT IS ENOUGH!!

The Long Lost Art of Customer Service-Tips to Bring it BACK!

For the past two weeks I have been dealing with a broken Dell computer and different techs calling giving me the runaround from India. I have been told countless times by numerous people that I would be taken care of! This has NOT happened yet and it has been over TWO WEEKS! I am otherwise a patient person, and normally very calm but I am at my wits end! As I type now on a borrowed laptop that is probably older than I am I think to myself, what is WRONG with people? What happened to people honoring their promises? What about taking care of the customer no matter how big or small? That's the kind of company I want to support, that is the kind of company I will purchase my next computer from!

As a business owner, I want to provide quality service to ALL of my clients and insure that they are 100% satisfied! I want them to know that their account is important to me no matter the size of the invoice I will be sending them at the end of the month! Here are some rules I follow and sure wish companies like DELL would consider!!!

1. When you say you will do something, DO IT!
2. If you can't provide a permanent solution to a problem provide a temporary solution until it CAN be resovled permanently!
3. Don't leave your client or customer hanging, follow up and FIX the issue! Your client has customers too, be understanding of that and quick to respond with a solution.
4. SPEAK CLEAR ENGLISH! How many times have you been stuck on the phone with someone you can't understand? It is bad enough that you are experiencing a problem, adding further frustration by TRYING to make out what the person on the other line is saying can put customers over the TOP!
5. Treat others they way YOU want to be treated! Give someone excellent service, they are SURE to return. Make their business suffer and they will never return or promote your product or service to others!
6. Make it right! If you mess up, go ABOVE and beyond to make it up to the customer! There is A LOT to be said for refunds and special treatment. Some customers would walk away after an unsatisfactory incident. Give them a REASON to remain faithful to you and your product or service! Go out of your way to insure the customer is happy at all costs! You customer is your BIGGEST form of advertising and communication of your brand!

In this day and age, in a world that is "always on" due to online social networking and other outlets, you NEED to be sure that your customers are communicating positive information about your brand! One customer unsatisfied can make your business suffer! Don't get a bad wrap! Do what you say you are going to do, MAKE IT RIGHT if you mess up and make sure the customer is satisfied...no matter WHO they are! It MATTERS!!!!

Be Productive Without Being a PEST!

Have you ever dealt with one of "those" people? You may even like their product but choose not to use them because they are just too much of a pest! Persistently pursuing a prospect without becoming a pest is a key challenge for today's sales, marketing and public relations professionals. We have to walk a fine line between being invisible and becoming a "pest." Today, business is much faster, less personal and more technical. This makes it much harder to gain access to key decision-makers. Consumers are smart, resourceful and savvy and they have more tools and choices than ever before. Due to the ease of the Internet, customers are only a click away from the competition.

There are pros and cons to increasing technology. The speed of technology enables us to reach more people in a shorter span of time. With the convenience of e-mail and electronic publishing, you can keep in touch with 10 times as many people in easily a third of the time. But, as we increase the number of prospects we can contact, we lose the personal touch. With the ability to contact more prospects also comes the challenge of tracking them and being super organized. In most cases advancing technology allows us to create professional-looking communications fast without having to spend a lot of money.

Key Challenges: There is a fine line to walk between going unnoticed and overwhelming potential clients with too much information or information that is not of interest to them. It is important to prepare and understand what their expectations for communication are. While prospects may be interested in a particular product or service, they might not be ready to buy at that particular moment.You want to stay in touch with prospects and keep communications open so that you are the chosen vendor when they are ready to buy!

Unless a message is highly differentiated or uncommonly attractive, it's unlikely you'll be remembered. They won't return calls, reply to e-mails, accept meetings, or go to websites, blogs or online newsletters. I have learned that most prospects don't want to be sold. Try to keep that in mind when communicating to them by offering information NOT forcing information. If I've already made initial contact with a prospect, I ask about the next steps and how to proceed. This gives me a better understanding of what the prospect expects and it also helps turn a sales call into a relationship. Sometimes keeping top-of-mind is challenging, so just ask the prospect: "How would you like me to stay in touch with you?"

Be courteous and respectful of your prospects time, and do you best to form a relationship where communication is natural and comfortable. Finally an old, yet effective method of staying in touch is to drop by and leave something for the receptionist to give to the prospect. Just be sure that it's interesting and relevant to them so that you will be productive and NOT a pest!

Computer Issues and Dell is HORRIBLE

Okay it has been a week now since my initial call to Dell to report the issues with my PC. I was told that a Technician would be calling to schedule service in one to two business days. Well that never happened. I am STILL waiting. No calls, no updates, NO NOTHING! I have never received such horrible customer service! I have called once a day, for a week and each call has lasted no less than 45 minutes. Transferred and transferred until I get to the person that tells me someone will contact me within 2 days. With that said..I recommend that you never buy a Dell.

As far as working, I can't do anything and if this has taught me anything it is to save your most important and most used documents to another drive! I can't describe how paralyzed I feel without my files! But onward I march...with no files...and no working desktop! I can't wait until Christmas! Santa is bringing me a MAC!!!