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BUSINESS WATCH
A SMALL BUSINESS' MOST IMPORTANT ASSET
This last buying season gave Rick
and I an interesting vantage point to watch how businesses
operate. If you were to ask a small business owner to identify
their business' most important asset, what do you think the
answer would be: their location, their suppliers, or maybe their
employees? The truth is, the most important asset to the success
of any small business is their customers. It was very clear to
us that the understanding of this truth is sorely lacking in the
majority of businesses we came in contact with.
In the last
couple of months we have been observing businesses from a
personal buying perspective. We have had mixed experiences
throughout the entire process. What always perplexed us was the
attitude of the staff at some of the places we visited. We will
be writing detailed articles on each of these experiences in the
following months. We want to say that we are relaying OUR
experiences. It is unfair to make a judgment against an entire
operation based on an isolated incident. We are sharing our
experiences to spotlight good customer service or the lack
thereof.
I’ll start with
the good experiences. They all had a common thread. They
listened to our needs and concerns, were never pushy, and took
as much time as necessary to help us with our purchases. A few
vendors stood out here: Saturn of North Charleston, Sports
Authority located on Rivers Ave in North Charleston and Alltel,
our cell phone provider. At the other end of the spectrum were:
Hoover Dodge on Old Trolley Road in Summerville, Kia of North
Charleston on Rivers Ave, and Home Depot’s Home Services
Division in Summerville. Their major downfalls: they did not
listen, they did not value us as customers, and in the case of
Home Depot, they were totally unresponsive.
Having now run
a service based business for 3 years, Rick and I continue to
remind ourselves that our most important assets are our clients.
It is very easy to lose focus on this fact when you are trying
to run a small business. At the most basic level, our job as
business owners is to service a need. Whether it be the need of
a product or a service, the root word to remember is SERVICE.
The concept of truly serving the customer, without thought of
personal gain, needs to be rediscovered in the US marketplace.
Now more than
ever, building customer loyalty is critical. There are so many
options for consumers, not only brick and mortar options, but
the web offers hundreds of places for them to spend their
dollars. The only advantage you have is the added value of
customer service.
Maybe Rick and I
are unique in the fact that we maintain loyalty to a particular
store, but we do. When we are treated well, we remember it and
not only do we return but we spread the word of how well we were
treated to everyone we know. When we are treated poorly, we
remember that too and are less likely to ever go back. Over the
next few months we will be relaying our various experiences. Our
goal is not to sling mud but rather to provide positive feedback
of how a vendor can improve their most critical function,
servicing the customer.
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PAST NEWSLETTERS:
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April 1,
2005:
Voice Recognition That Works?
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April 1,
2004:
Saturn of North Charleston, SC
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February 1,
2004: HOOVER DODGE
Putting Service back into Customer Service?
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January 1,
2004: A Small Business' Most
Important Asset
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November
1, 2003: Doing Things Right the First Time
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September
1, 2003: Marketing your Website, Amended eMachines M5310
Product Review - what happens when you call tech support...
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August 1,
2003: Designing your Website, eMachines M5310 Product
Review
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July 1, 2003:
Hosting your Website, LCD Monitors vs. Conventional CRTs
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June 1, 2003:
Planning your Web Project Part 2, MAGIPIX Digital Binoculars
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May 1, 2003:
Planning your Web Project Part I, Maxtor's new "One Touch"
backup solutions!
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April 1,
2003: Protecting your Domain Name Investment, Apple
iBook "Digital Hub" product review.
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March 1,
2003: Merchant Services for Web sites, Apple iBook
Hardware Review.
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February
1, 2003: Content is King Part 2, Not All computers are
created equal.
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November
1, 2002: Content is King!, Great Small Business Phone
System.
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October 1,
2002: Buying Products On-Line, Good Multi-Function
Printer
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September
1, 2002: More about Search Engines, Inexpensive Computer
Systems
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August
1, 2002: Ad-Aware Software to protect your PC, Benefits
of Dual Monitors.
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June 26,
2002: Pro's and Con's of the Sony Clie
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May 24,
2002: On-line Training, Raid Hard Drive Controllers and
Server Backup
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April 24, 2002:
Billing Changes, Marketing to Search Engines, Digital Cameras.
Contact Info
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you would like us to
review a product and place it on our site.
Phone: 843.835.5624
Alt Phone:
843.278.0379
Fax: 843.278.0252
Email:
staff@dogriverdesign.com
Address: PO Box
156
Cottageville
SC, 29435
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