One of the most commonly used mantras in business is the customer is always right. Business classes expounded the importance of listening to customers and doing whatever possible to satisfy their needs and meet their expectations. Does that adage still hold true today? Maybe; and maybe even more so with the Internet Age at hand. Customers now have more access to businesses than they have ever had before with the use of blogs and Web sites, and customer satisfaction sites. Business owners all over the globe shutter at the thought of nasty reviews on public forums and rants on blogs and Web sites. It is a reality of this world and as a business owner it is very important to recognize that how you handle customer complaints can have a very big and lasting effect on your overall bottom line. How so? One bad complaint is all it takes to steer several potential clients away from your service or product.

On the other hand, there is no expectation that a business owner or employee should have to suffer the wrath of an irate customer. In fact, a customer taking that approach cannot be considered right nor that behavior condoned.  Faced with a situation like that, it behooves the business to side with and support their employees. That stance will go a lot further in promoting relations with current and potential customers.

Finding the balance between the two is the key and the challenge for many small business owners. The livelihood of their business often depends on very small client base that can be swayed by bad reviews. Even strong verbal recommendations from trusted colleagues sometimes cannot sway a potential client from the effects of a bad review. However a skillful approach at addressing the issue while establishing the importance of employee relationships will likely mitigate the complaint. In fact, employees who feel supported often provide much higher levels of customer service under their own motivation and that is evident in customer relations.

Customers want to know they have been heard and their issue or problem has been addressed. But, it cannot be denied that sometimes a customer is just plain wrong. The key there is to handle it with tact and professionalism. If executed correctly, a caring and supported employee can carefully and succinctly communicate the error to the customer while somehow shifting the blame of the misunderstanding on the business. This is more times than not very satisfying for the customer and leaves them with a feeling that not only have they been heard, but something may change because of their difficulty. A dissatisfied consumer will tell between 9 and 15 people about their experience and 13% of dissatisfied customers tell more than 20 people. Make sure your customers are satisfied.

How you handle your customer complaints is crucial to building and maintaining your business. Be sure you have processes in place to train employees on efficient and effective ways to deal with difficult customers and forget the idea that the customer is always right and adopt the philosophy that as a business you will make them feel as though they are right to the best of your ability.

I am a huge advocate of the power of a newsletter. This allows you to provide your reader with an inside look at you and your business. What better way to build a relationship with your target market than through consistent opportunities to show your expertise. I always suggest the shorter your newsletter, the more likely someone will read it. A newsletter should be a quick read and offer the reader the opportunity to learn more through a link to your website or blog. When someone sees a newsletter is lengthy they are more likely to set it aside to read later, which very rarely ever happens.

A shorter newsletter which is setup with the possibility of skimming has the best chance for being read. This is best done by the use of bold for key words and by utilizing bullet points. I also suggest the more frequently you send out your newsletter, the more likely your reader is to remember you. Remember the goal of your newsletter should always be to build your list and the best way to do this is to provide enough value someone would want to pass along your newsletter to a friend.

If you would like to learn more about the power of an ezine, I suggest you download my friend Ali Brown’s (aka the Ezine Queen) report Ezine Publishing Profits.

The media is always looking for an expert opinion for their articles. By offering this “expert” opinion to their readers, it provides their article with more credibility. For you, as the expert, it provides great exposure for your business.

A great resource for finding reporters who are looking for experts on a variety of topics is helpareporter.com. Once you signup you are provided with a daily listing via email and you can apply to help a reporter in a variety of ways, through a variety of media outlets on a variety of topics.

Oh and when you do get media exposure I would love to hear about it!!

What better way to show you know what you are talking about than to host a free (or even a paid) teleseminar or webinar.It is a great way to reach new clients and show them what you know.

Remember too after a seminar you can utilize the recordings as giveaways, incentives or even as a future product sale to increase your passive income.

If you are interested in exploring this marketing strategy I would suggest you start small and try a free teleseminar first. Having a webinar or dedicated teleseminar room can be costly unless this is a marketing strategy you plan to implement on a regular basis.

Here are a few sites you can look into further so you are sure you find the one that is best for you:

• FreeConferenceCalling.com
• FreeConference.com
• InstantTeleseminar.com
• GotoMeeting.com
• Webex.com

When you are trying to determine which of these are best for you, don’t be afraid to ask your colleagues and friends, or feel free to let us know your thoughts below if you have tried one of these methods successfully or unsuccessfully.

Linked in is a great marketing tool, especially for business to business marketing. If your target market is any kind of business you need to get your business on linked in and consider answering the questions which are often posed on Linked In. Being selective about answering those questions which matter to your target market allows you to show your expertise and exposes you to your target market.

Another tool you may want to consider is posing your own questions of your target market. This will really give you the opportunity to gain some valuable insights into the questions and problems which are hindering your potential clients.

Good luck and don’t forget to connect with me when you get there!!

Twitter is an excellent way to show your expertise, especially if you take the time to grow a list of targeted followers that will be interested in what you have to say and benefit from it. Here are a couple of tips that I use when coming up with my daily tweets:

1. Twitter has become a whole new language of its own and for many people they are mystified by some of the “tweets” they are reading. In an effort to stick with 140 characters, people have turned to short forms that are sometimes hard to decipher. If you are interested in working with twitter I suggest you avoid short forms whenever possible and stick to providing valuable content for your followers. I always suggest to my clients they create a repetitive campaign that showcases their expertise.
2. Ensure your tweets are closer to 120 characters so if someone wants to retweet you they have the opportunity without having to “monkey around” with your original tweet to make it fit into 140 characters.
3. Make sure that you are providing valuable content and not just using twitter to sell yourself, your business and your services or product. Remember the key, relationships first … show them you care about them and the sales will follow.

Remember, twitter is not a marketing strategy that can be explained in a few simple paragraphs so if you are not familiar with twitter I suggest you do some research and learn all you can about this amazing marketing tool. If done properly it can work well for your business; the key is being careful and conscientious of others.

Good luck and happy tweeting!! P.S. if you share your twitter name I will be sure to follow you.

Blogging is a fantastic way to show your expertise and it also has another great benefit … it keeps the content on your website fresh which assists with the ranking of your website on google searches.

Blogging is like having an on-line “diary”, so to speak, where you can provide information, tips, advice and post articles on any number of subjects. It is a fantastic marketing tool for business to assist in building your “expertise” status provided you are consistent and using your blog regularly. When you stop blogging you will stop reaping the benefits blogging provides for your website and ultimately your business.

If you are finding it hard to come up with information and topics to write about on your blogs you can always try these tips:

• Visit the article marketing sites and post others articles (be sure to keep their bio intact and give them credit). I suggest you add your comments as to why you are posting the article
• Link to other blogs and conversations going on there
• Look to what is going on in the world around you – what news is impacting your business or the businesses of your target market

I will often create a theme on my client’s blogs for different days of the week. Here are a few examples I have used on different client’s blogs.

• Motivational Mondays (provides motivational tips on Mondays)
• Tips Tuesdays (provide tips and advice on Tuesday)
• Wacky Wednesdays (provided links to bizarre and interesting things we found on the internet)
• Thrifty Thursdays (gave tips for saving money and time)
• Freebie Fridays (gave away things)

The nice thing about blogging is you are only restricted by your imagination and creativity. It is a free resource for just getting out there and being you.

Many of my clients were hesitant at first to be themselves until I reminded them, “do you really want to work with someone who doesn’t like you? When you are yourself you are guaranteed the person contacting you knows all about you and accepts you for who you are. What better client could we ask for?”

Good luck and happy blogging … oh and by the way, why not let me know your blog address and I would be happy to stop by!!