Should home business owners give holiday gifts to their customers/clients?  If so, what should they give and how much should they spend?
This all depends on your business, the number of customers, and how much you have to spend.
Receiving gifts pleases most customers and serves as a good public relations technique.  However, most businesses can’t spend too much on gifts and must be careful they don’t favor one customer over the other.
Some ideas:

Calendars
Planners
Cheese and crackers gift box
Something you’ve made
A hand written thank you note
Grab bag
Include something extra with a holiday purchase
Open house party

What do you give as gifts…to your walk-in customers …read more

Keeping your customers happy and satisfied means much in your home business and any business.  They are the lifeline to your success and profitability.  For some tips about this, check out a post I wrote at Small Business Boomers, Customer Satisfaction – The Lifeline of Your Business.  i also linked to Linette Gerlach’s post at Bizzia, How Do You Deal With An Angry Customer.
What tips do you have for ensuring customer satisfaction in your home business?
Have you ever dealt with a customer situation and turned it around so the customer was satisfied and stayed with you, actually thanked you for solving …read more

HomeBizNotes.com
Customer service and customer relations are very important for maintaining your business.
*Encourage customer feedback and learn to handle it in a diplomatic way.
*Sometimes, no matter what you do, you won’t satisfy a customer and are better off without them. However, try, as much as possible, to have the parting amicable.
*Develop an interest in your customers so they feel you care about serving them.
*Smile.  This makes customers feel better when they meet you.  It often diffuses a difficult situation.
*Try to be patient with people. Unfortunately, in today’s “instant results” world, many people aren’t patient and …read more

HomeBizNotes.com 
Following up on customer sales and services helps with satisfied customers or repeat sales and visits. 
Have you tried any of these 13 Thoughtful Follow-up Tips?  Some tips will work better than others, depending on your customer, your product, and the nature of your business.

Send an e-mail, asking if they have any questions.
Write and mail a post card or note with a “thank you” and inquiry regarding satisfaction.
Make a phone call to see if a package arrived safely and satisfactorily.
Include a value added item in the package.  Some authors include colorful bookmarks with their books.
Keep a record of who purchases from …read more

Home Biz Notes.com 
 Dealing with difficult customers presents a challenge in any business and home businesses are no exception.  This sometimes is additionally challenging to those involved in the arts because they’ve often concentrated solely on creating their work.  Now they discover, if they want to develop an income producing business, they must deal with customers who can present difficulties.
Generally, most of your customers are pleasant to work with and understanding.  They pay you on time and the agreed upon amount.  But you must be prepared for the exceptions.
At  The Artful Crafter, you’ll find several posts discussing this topic.  These may …read more