Business: It's Hard to Imagine

It's Hard to Imagine

Written by Dave Balch

I was driving through repparttar

fog in 35-degree temperatures and a forestry truck passed me. I remember thinking that repparttar 106592

fire danger must be zero; "It's hard to imagine that it will ever be so hot and dry again that repparttar 106593

fire danger will be high." But I knew that it would be. Then I realized that when it is so hot and dry, it will be hard to imagine it being as cold and foggy as it is now. But I knew that it would be. This area has been going through repparttar 106594

same cycles since repparttar 106595

beginning of time, and will continue to do so until repparttar 106596

end of time.

It occurred to me that repparttar 106597 same could be said for many things in life. Take your health, for example. When you are feeling well, it's hard to imagine that you will ever have another cold; that sore throat, stuffy nose, headaches, muscle aches. It's hard to imagine, isn't it? I'm sorry to say this, but you undoubtedly will have another cold. By repparttar 106598 same token, when you are sick it's hard to imagine feeling well again. But you probably will be. Cycles: sick, well, sick, well. What a funny world this is.

The same can be said for your business. When things are not going well, it's hard to imagine prosperity, but if you stick with it better times are bound to be around repparttar 106599 corner. By repparttar 106600 same token, when things are going really well, it's hard to imagine hard times, but don't be lulled into complacency, or they will be upon you faster than "you can imagine".

COMPLAINING CUSTOMERS ARE GOOD FOR BUSINESS

Written by Bob Leduc

Remember repparttar

Coca Cola marketing disaster a few years ago? They tried to switch Coke drinkers to New Coke. It didn't work. Fortunately, repparttar 106591

company quickly recognized repparttar 106592

problem and had repparttar 106593

resources to recover fast. Their follow up research revealed that only 1 unhappy customer in 50 takes time to complain. The other 49 just quietly switch brands.

It's human nature to avoid unpleasant experiences like customer complaints. Nobody likes bad news. But uncovering customer complaints and satisfying them can give you a powerful competitive advantage.

WHY YOU WANT TO HEAR CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS

Dissatisfied customers or clients can do one of 4 things:

1. Remain silent 2. Complain to a legal or public agency 3. Complain to friends and anybody else who will listen 4. Complain to you

Which choice would you like them to make? The best choice may surprise you.

You certainly don't want them to complain to a legal or public agency. And you definitely don't want them to complain to their friends and associates. Imagine how much business that can cost you.

Remaining silent may seem like repparttar 106594 best choice. But it's not, for 2 reasons. First, because it really won't happen. It's human nature for people to talk about their experiences -- especially experiences involving emotions like those generated by an unsatisfactory business transaction. The other reason you don't want a dissatisfied customer to remain silent is because it deprives you of repparttar 106595 chance to correct repparttar 106596 problem and save your relationship with your customer.

The best choice is to have your unhappy customer complain to you.

COMPLAINING CUSTOMERS ARE DOING YOU A FAVOR

Customers or clients who take repparttar 106597 time and trouble to complain to you are doing you a favor. They're helping you grow your business. They're giving you repparttar 106598 opportunity to resolve their problem and keep them as a customer. They're also alerting you to a problem that may be costing you business from other prospects and customers without your knowledge.

Cont'd on page 2 ==>