In and of itself, good service is a “hygiene” factor. Put differently, it is what a prospective client expects of business. In South Africa, however, it can be a distinctive benefit, as the overall level of service delivery is not up to standard. Your level of service delivery can actually determine whether the client will clinch a transaction with you or not. Here are a few practical ways to market good service without making it “cheap”.

When you have made a sale, follow up with customers, to make sure they are happy with the product and to ensure future sales. Following up after you've made a sale will enable you to capture repeat business, the cornerstone of most successful small businesses. You can follow up by phone, in-person, or through the mail. Here are some tips for you to try in your business.

Most businesses would like to increase their turnover, but often struggle to do so. One reason is that businesses simply set a growth target with no focus on where that growth should come from, or why people would buy more from the company. Increasing turnover means more sales to existing customers, more new customers, or higher prices. This article focuses on how you can increase your business's turnover by growing your existing customers.

In any business in any industry, customers play a critical role in determining success. Having adequate customer service and retention strategies are therefore invaluable to the small business owner or entrepreneur. However, before you can sell anything to anyone, you must first understand what it is they need. This article offers advice on how to learn your prospect’s needs.

The greatest challenge to the traditional product/service development approach lies in the fact that we ourselves are often not the potential buyers/users of our products/services. It often comes as a surprise that our ‘no-one has ever thought about this’ product/service does not perform according to expectations. There is a simple alternative: obtain the opinion of your target market on the product/service at the start of the development cycle. Products/services designed this way have a much greater chance of being successful.

A common mistake for SMEs is the tendency to overspend on marketing efforts. However, having a large marketing budget is not always realistic, nor is it the best option for SMEs. This article, therefore, looks at various ways for you to improve your brand image and visibility at zero cost, or maybe even less than that. To do so, it uses examples to highlight what you should do, what you should stop doing, and destructive things you probably don't even know you're doing.

When I came across the quote from Dr Ken Blancard, business writer, which reads: “Providing good service, on time, every time, is not good enough”, I was astounded. Is this not the essence of service excellence? In this article I quote some of Dr Ken Blancard’s tips that brought about a positive change in my way of thinking about service delivery. Read on to find out how to better approach your customer service.

The customer service action form helps prevent customer problems from being overlooked, while at the same time providing for an orderly hand off to someone who can address the matter. It also sets a clear procedure for your employees to follow when a customer is unhappy. This is intended to be a simple and practical tool to be adjusted and used by SMEs working in all sectors. You may adapt it to reflect your business needs, type of clientele, products and services you offer.

How much time do you spend looking after the customers that consistently come back to you? Attracting a large volume of clients and customers with flashy advertising and discounting should not necessarily be your ultimate approach. No matter what gimmicks you use, numbers can dwindle depending on the season, the economy and what your competitors are doing. So why not focus at least some of these resources on doing good business with your loyal customers?

Clients are and remain the treasure of every business. This article will try to answer the following question: “Who is the ideal client for my business?” by identifying which demographic indicators to use if your ideal client is an individual or a business. It also encourages you to think about whether your product/service fits the problem/need of your identified client as this will help determine if they are an ideal client or not.

In business, the general view is that there is no such thing as a “free lunch”. This implies that, if a consumer within your target market receives something free from a business, there is always an expected quid pro quo. If this is the conventional wisdom, the question remains as to how a business may provide value, without the potential future client experiencing it as “bribery” to buy something from the business? Here are a few examples of value-adding that may make a positive impression of your business on the client.

You may have tried new ways of reaching prospective clients like using social media, more traditional ways of getting out there like distributing leaflets, focused on optimising your website, or you may have targeted networking events. There are many options available to reach out to your audience. However, none of your efforts will work if you are not very clear about the key elements of your plan. Here is how to grow your customer base by creating and implementing an effective plan.

The title given here was the title of an article that appeared in the GIBS Review in September 2006. The article reinforces the key points already made about how to deliver great service. Starting with the self is the key to it, behaving well towards our customers is the proof of it. In a nutshell, the article argues that the key to excellence in customer service resides in people, not in marketing gadgetry.

It should come as no surprise that operational processes enhance your small business's service delivery. If you're starting out as a business owner, this article will answer two main questions: 1) What is a business process? and 2) How do you create and document your service delivery process? Here are some helpful tips for implementing an effective service delivery process in your small business.

The Consumer Protection Act (CPA) has implications for the way you run your business. Make sure you know what your rights are as a consumer and as a business owner. In particular, the article speaks to: mechanisms to block direct marketing communications; maximum duration for fixed-term consumer agreements; promotional competitions; prohibited times for contacting consumers; and exemption for certain categories of goods, services, or circumstances of trade from providing sales record. Read on for more information.

Surveys are an excellent way to find out how your customers feel about a new product, service, location, store policy or virtually anything that's important to your business. A survey will tell you what your customers expect of you and your company, and clarify how well you are performing in their eyes. If executed properly, you can achieve impressive results without spending a lot of money. These 10 tips can help you create an effective survey.