Business and Money Tips

Following our "First Impressions Count" article (at here ), here's the 2nd step: Seeing Eye to Eye: Face-to-Face Contacts (note: GST here means Greet Smile Thank You) As we know, customers come into your business because of your products and services, but they will only come back again when they are treated well .  A business that does not have repeat business is not a business, it is only a promotion.  How to get them to come back again?  The secret lies in your face-to-face contacts: how to make every moment extra-ordinary .  The 4 steps are: 1.  Greeting the Customer A quick smile, an interested look, and a friendly greeting are necessary.   When you greet them, say more than hello . Add something to let them know that you are happy they walked into your premise.  Eg, "Good morning, we're glad to see you".   Next, ask or explain how you can provide help and give your name.  Say "My name is Andy, and I'll be happy to help you in ...

(For Face-to-Face Customer Service, read here ) 1. First Impressions Matter First impressions are mental snapshots the customer take when they first encounter you.  They include your look, your grooming, clothing, body language, posture, tone of voice and most importantly, your SMILE.   SMILE means Sincerity, Mental Readiness, Interested Look, Liveliness and Enthusiasm.   You need to maintain a relaxed and open demeanour.   2.  Courtesy The best way to convey a positive first impression is GST - Greet, Smile and Thank You .  GST also comes in other forms: Excuse me I'm sorry (when you did something wrong) Use Sir/Ma'am Use Yes rather than Yeah Smile Introduce yourself by saying "My name is Andy, I'll be happy to help you" Common courtesies include things that you should not be in the presence of customers, including talking with your colleagues, using your mobile phone, eating or chewing something.  3.  Attitude is Everythin...

In dealing with difficult people, you wonder if the strategy of service from the heart ever works.   Indeed there are 10 kinds of difficult people and they include: Slumper: Person who doesn't care anything ('bo chap' in Singlish) Dumper: People who offloads tasks and dirty work to you all the time Jumper: One who has no scruples, takes credit for others' work and is a 2-headed snake Grumper: People who complains ALL THE TIME and impossible to please Bumper: People who takes kudos when all goes well but blames mistakes on others Trumper: Always has to have the first and last word and be one step ahead of everyone else Thumper: Bullies and intimidates others and gets his own way by being aggressive Demander: Customer who demands 200% and yesterday's delivery for today's last minute order Smiling Tiger: One who laughs at others and pretends to give you a helping hand, only to stab you from behind Sabo King: ...