Coming Full Circle

Posted by denise on September 10, 2007 at 01:53 PM

I worked 25 years as an Assembly Production Supervisor and thought I would retire doing so. Then one day, out of the blue, we were told the company was closing its doors. 500 people were to find jobs. What a shock to all to have our lives turned upside down, and have no say, no discussion. It was a done deal. I wasn't sure what I was going to do. All I knew was I wanted to work in a safe place with real people that wouldn't just up and leave. Well I feel like I fell into a pot...

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Customer Service Lessons from Microsoft

Posted by jak on August 31, 2007 at 12:02 PM

As a system administrator, I am not in the middle of SEO/SEM land for the most part, but I have come up with a blog topic that does relate to all of us: Customer Service. I have been working in the computer industry for about 10 years now, and the one thing that seems pretty consistent is the fact that customer service has pretty much gone out the window. My latest experience is with Microsoft. We recently implemented software from Microsoft that should have made it much easier to manage our customer contact information. For this purpose we moved from...

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Representation, Relevancy, and 44 Screws

Posted by samantha on July 11, 2007 at 09:22 AM

A couple of weeks ago, my partner and I went to our local furniture store and found a dining room table set that we fell in love with. As we discussed how the table would look in our home, we were approached by a salesperson who informed us what a great deal it was. We already liked it and since it was such a good price, we decided to buy it. When the topic of delivery came up, the salesperson quickly explained that the only thing left to assemble was the table itself; the chairs came pre-assembled. Of course, a...

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Contact Us?

Posted by chris on December 05, 2006 at 09:06 AM

There is nothing new about your standard Contact Us page. Everyone expects to find one on a site, and expects to get some sort of feedback from the site in question. What really bugs me is filling out a contact form then getting an automated response telling me they won't be getting back to me due to insert excuse here . I recently received an automated response that stated the site would not be getting back to me due to volume of submits. If you can't handle the volume that the page creates, then what good is the page serving?...

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Backin' It Up With Customer Service and Care

Posted by teal on October 05, 2006 at 04:33 PM

Throughout my life, whether in college or in my professional career, I have always worked with clients. I enjoy speaking with people who are interested in what my company or institution can offer them and usually, by the time they get to me, they are already on board and are looking for answers and assistance. Whether lifeguarding, waitressing, working at an RV park in Fairbanks, Alaska, a JCrew store, or now, as a SEO project manager, I have always enjoyed working with people as they choose their dinner, business suit, or keywords for a SEO project. As a lifelong customer...

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Big Internet, Small Retailer

Posted by on July 12, 2006 at 08:22 AM

Before the internet, small specialty retail stores always wondered how they could compete with mail order catalogs. It was tough; mail order catalogs didn't need a prime location, ample parking, store front, attractive displays and in many cases a sizeable staff to assist the customer. Dollar for dollar, how could a small specialty retailer compete? The answer is Customer Service. In this age of automation, most people still enjoy talking to and interacting with a real, knowledgeable and understanding human being. Take the Tortoise & Hare Running & Fitness Center in Ann Arbor, for example. The store was founded in...

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Customer Service is a Class Act

Posted by steve on April 11, 2006 at 01:27 PM

Here's a question for you: What's the difference between great service and great services? Let me tell you a quick story to help answer that question. I switched my cell phone provider not too long ago. In the process, I decided to upgrade my plan as well. Not for more minutes, but for more services (my old phone was barely advanced enough to make a call). I wanted text messaging. I wanted 411 service. I wanted telekinetic dialing - apparently they don't have that yet, though. I wanted all of the new, first-rate services. So I got them. What I...

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Walk a Mile in Those Entrepreneurial Shoes

Posted by bill on April 04, 2006 at 02:26 PM

Take a look at the world from the eyes of the self-made entrepreneur. These are a few experiences you may never have:

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Lemon-Aid Anyone?

Posted by anne on February 06, 2006 at 11:38 AM

As a newcomer to the industry of Search Engine Marketing, I found myself paralleling this form of marketing to a more simple time of my life. Lemonade stands were a “big thing” in my neighborhood and each year I would take an inventory, defining my competition in my neck of the woods. Each year my strategy changed; each year the timing of this big event solely depended on the weather, the perfect intersection and of course, customers’ needs. Mrs. Bade was one of my biggest customers who liked tart pink lemonade with lots of ice. To accommodate her taste buds,...

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