We’ve discovered, in our home  businesses, that using Skype or similar programs for communication and conferencing creates a more personal atmosphere with business associates and customers.  Nowadays we need to step into the modern technical age to help our business keep up to date.With these programs, you can instant message, as well as bring up that person on your screen and chat with them audibly.  These programs generally can be used for phone calls, too.  (There are various levels, some free, and others with a fee, depending on the number of people you want to conference with at one time.)You also can …read more

If you send and receive text messages via your cell phone, iPhone, Blackberry or similar communication device,  you’ve probably realized that many people write in code. 
In other words, they don’t spell words completely and accurately.  (4 represents for; u for you, etc.)
I’ve wondered how this will affect spelling in the future.  Will our youngsters cease to learn correct spelling?  Will adults forget correct spelling? Will this become the language of business?
I wrote about this on one of my other blogs, Will Texting Affect Children’s Spelling, and received a thought provoking comment regarding texting and business, especially as it applies to international business.
John’s …read more

I’ve always enjoyed writing and sending postcards.  Even with the speed and ease of e-mail, instant messaging, and Facebook, I still practice this habit.  I’ve discovered it’s very helpful in keeping in touch with customers and business associates, people I meet in my travels, friends and relatives.
I try to write at least one postcard a day.  Sometimes these are cards my husband and I make that involve our business news.  Others may be cards from my paintings and his photos.  There also are cards that contain illustrations from my books. We may add inspirational and motivational sayings.  Others simply have my …read more

In a previous post, Concentrate on Customers, Not Yourself, I mentioned service that might discourage or lose you a customer.  Today, I’ll relate customer service that made a very positive impression.  Although this occurred at a fast food restaurant, the principle applies in any business, including your home business.
A friend returns to the drive through window of this particular fast food restaurant to grab a sandwich after church each Sunday before her long drive home.  (She lives about an hour away.)  One of the window clerks, who also is a shift manager, has learned about this and always includes extra …read more

“If you don’t have anything else to discuss, do you mind if I get some paper work done?” the owner of a recently established small kitchen and bath design business asked my husband and me as he ushered us to the door.  This was after he had spent most of the time we were there telling us about himself.
Apparently when he found we weren’t there to purchase any services or appliances that day, he considered us not worth bothering with.  Justifiably, he probably had estimates and paperwork to do, but he really hadn’t talked with us enough to find out …read more

HomeBizNotes.com
“Be polite and smile, girls,” my mom would caution my sister and me when we complained about a customer at her small country grocery store.  “Remember, the customer is always right.”
So we took heed, smiled and kept our voices calm.  Occasionally we bit our tongues…or at least it seemed so.
However, sometimes the customer isn’t always right and you have to make a decision…are the complaints justified?  Do you want this customer or don’t you?  Is there a diplomatic way to handle this?
Hope Clark wrote a thought provoking editorial, Watch That Knee Jerk for her Funds for Writers Small Markets. 
As a supplier of a product (stories), …read more

You’re enthusiastic about a project.  You’re excited you have another customer.  You try to make an impression and agree to finish a project or perform a service in less time than usual.  Or you don’t allow time in case you run into a problem.
Take Eric Eggertson’s advice in this post from his Common Sense PR blog…Quick Tip: Don’t Promise More Than You Can Deliver.
Eric talks about resolving problems, but the advice applies to performing services and supplying products for customers.  If you find you can’t keep to the time frame or get the material agreed upon, let the customer know …read more

Matt Keegan, of The Article Writer, commented on my previous post about listening to your home business customers and made a very good point.  He mentioned the importance of maintaining “a strong line of communication” with one’s customers through e-mail or phone conversations. 
However, this part of Matt’s comment really makes a point, I think: Working from home is great, but it is easy to slack off on the customer satisfaction part of the equation if you do not remain vigilant.
This made me wonder….are we too inclined, especially if our business is basically an Internet based one, where our customers aren’t in front of …read more