The most important thing to remember when getting negative feedback is to not get mad. Sure, getting mad may give you an energy burst to be more effective and get more things done, but it’s more likely going to get you worked up over nothing and make you waste time.

There are two things you can do instead of getting angry or upset, and which one you choose depends on what kind of negative feedback you got. Negative feedback can pretty much be divided into two categories: useful and mean spirited.

If someone sends you feedback that simply says they disagree with you and says nothing more than that, your next step is simple – ignore it. There’s nothing you can do to change their opinion and acknowledging them is simply going to waste both your times. Just forget about it and move on.

Just because feedback is negative doesn’t mean it’s bad. Negative feedback should be looked on as an opportunity for improvement. And while this person may have been upset and not have been the nicest person in sending their feedback, the first thing to do is thank them.

It doesn’t have to be big, just a quick email letting them know that you value their opinion and will look into the issue. If you already know, you can let them know how you’re going to fix the issue at hand. This will not only help you keep a customer (and possibly make more by referrals), it will also encourage them to send more feedback so you can make further improvements in the future.

Once you have helpful negative feedback, the first step is to analyze whether or not it matters. Just because a suggestion gives a good idea, doesn’t mean it’s worth the time and money you have to put in to it. If a problem is difficult to fix but only affects a few of your customers, it’s probably not worth it to spend your resources making it better.

After you’ve decided you need to take action, it’s time to brainstorm what action to take. This could take a few minutes, or even a few weeks. If you are getting stuck, you can even ask customers (or the person who gave you the feedback) what they think would be a good fix.

For each possible action, also go back and weigh it based on how much the negative effect matters. While you may agree that the problem needs fixing, you may not agree that you need to make a substantial investment to fix it and opt to go for a cheaper, but less effective fix. Once you have all your options laid out, it should be much easier to choose a solution.

Once all this is done, you can finally implement your solution, but don’t forget to let your customers know about the changes – particularly the one who inspired the changes in the first place.

How important is customer service? It is a vital part of your auto repair business. Satisfied customers keep coming back. They will tell their friends about you and they will buy from you. It is the way that business owners ensure that their business will continue.

I try to put myself in the customer’s shoes. Actually, I am not just a business owner but a consumer as well. I know what constitutes excellent customer service to me and anyone I do business with deserves no less than that.

One thing about customers; you never know who they know. Any one of them could be a person with a lot of influence in their town or city. A word from them could send people to your website. On the other hand, their job could allow them the opportunity to tell others of influence that you don’t provide good customer service.

All right, so it could be a hundred to one shot that one of your customers is someone like this. But, the average customer who is concerned about customer service can post a bad review on forums, eBay, and other places where you may be looking for new customers. And, the truth is, people flock to bad news. They will think twice about using your services if it is floating around in the ether that you are a bad egg.

As your business grows, so will your customer service responsibilities. The people who purchase goods or use your services are more than dollar signs. They have lives and spheres of influence. Treating each one like gold is our responsibility.

It is a mistake to think that your business could ever get so big that one customer doesn’t count. It is also a mistake to think that providing a cheap product just to make money won’t come back to haunt you. It is a fact that it will. You could be on the receiving end of a suit. This is not a good way to do business.

But, neither profits nor customer service has to be suspended to have a successful business. It you feel that customer service is getting lax because you are spending most of your time marketing the business, consider outsourcing parts of the operation. Set up email drafts and use other features to handle emails effectively and in a timely manner.

There is always a way to make it work. Consistently providing good customer service will help expand your customer base and your image on the Internet. This is vital to continued growth in your industry.

When in a service-oriented position, take the time to smile and offer assistance. This will immediately let the customer know that you are aware that they are in your store. Customers will feel more welcomed and appreciated and the likelihood of them returning is much greater. That’s exactly what you want, repeat customers.

Active listening is also a must for good service skills. If a person does not listen to the customer, chances are that they will not fully comprehend what the customer is trying to convey, thus leading to a potential problem that could have been solved by listening. Active listening requires a person to focus and be present in the moment. Inactive listening can cause a company to lose customers, receive a bad reputation – and depending on the severity of the issue, potentially can lead to a lawsuit.

There are the occasions where problems arise that an associate cannot handle for one reason or another. Be honest about this. Let your customer know that you do not know the answer, but also make sure to explain the choices available to them and to obtain the help they are seeking. This could be as simple as calling another associate or in-store manager. Maybe you will have to locate the phone number to your headquarters so that it can be offered as a possible avenue of resolving customer conflict. Just know that for the most part, the more helpful you are, even if the customer is agitated, the higher chance you stand of having that customer return – they will remember the help that they were receiving.

In dealing with customers of any kind, look at yourself objectively and ask yourself if you would like to be treated in the manner that you just treated that customer. If the answer is yes, then you are using good customer service skills. If the answer is anything but yes, then it is strongly suggested that whatever it was that bothered you, you change. If you don’t like yourself at that moment, then what makes you think anyone else will like you?

Smile, greet, offer assistance, be courteous and find creative ways to solve conflicts. Attend any conflict resolution classes offered as well as other additional service classes. Don’t make assumptions about people by the way they dress or don’t dress, as this is nothing more than a stereotype and more often than not in today’s world, stereotyping will backfire on you.

As an added incentive, take an extra 20-30 seconds to go out of your way to help a customer. Maybe you can lead them in the right direction for what they are seeking, or find out, before a lot of time is wasted, that you don’t carry the product being looked for. Maybe simply helping them to sit down, stand up or out to their vehicle is what is needed. If that is the case then just do it. Those minimal seconds in your life can impact another person’s life in a variety of positive ways.

Lastly, when a customer leaves, tell them to have a good day or night. I myself tell them to have a better one. I believe that if their day has been crummy then the better day comment will have more effect. It stands out more and in little ways shows that much more of a caring personality behind the associate tag, which of course comes back in positive waves.

You can keep putting out the deals in expensive advertising, but when that fails does that mean you go broke? Absolutely not!

Not if you have already built up a customer base, and have provided those customers with good auto repair service and good products. What you have built up by doing this is your company's number one asset.

Do you know how much that asset is worth? Do you know the lifetime value of your customers? That is how much a customer spends a year on average with you, times the number of years they stay a customer, times the number of customers you have.

It can add up to a lot, if you are doing things in the right way.

Do you have marketing geared toward your current customers?
Do you take the trouble to find out things they specifically and generally like and dislike? Do you ask what you might do to serve them better? Do you publicize a solid guarantee and honor it?

With the right customer service you can keep your customers for LIFE!

Find out information about your customers. Keep a list of their names and addresses so you can keep in constant communication with them by sending a heads-up on deals, new stock, and anything that would make them feel special. Postcards are perfect for doing that. Even get their month and day of birth so you can send them birthday cards giving them their own special discount on anything they want.

Give away things to your customers. Make promotional items freely available like pens, pencils, pocket planners, calendars, calculators, key-chains, mugs, you name it. All those things will have your business name, address, and phone number on them. Sending something like that to them in the mail would even give it more value in your customer's eyes. The more useful the item, the more you will be in the customers sight and mind. That is a good thing!

If you have a clothing store, get to know your customer's sizes. As soon as they walk in the door, greet them by name and say you have saved something for them that you know will look great on them. Then pick the newest most expensive piece of clothing to show them. Say that they simply must try it on, and while they will be in the changing room anyway, fix them up with everything to go with it for trying on as well. You will collect sales for more items once they see how good they look in them. Throw them over the edge by giving them a break in price if they get the entire outfit with accessories.

If you do not have a clothing store, find a way to get samples of what you do have to your customers that they can try. Get them to use something on a trial basis. Once you do that, their ownership of it is practically assured! Once someone is in possession of something, giving it up creates the painful emotion of loss.

A happy customer is a loyal customer. Loyalty comes by your customers knowing you care about them, are actively educating them in the things they are interested in, and knowing you will continuously be able to meet their needs in the best way for them.

The customer is always right in that they know what they want. You are always on top of it by presenting what you have as not only something they want, but something they've got to have. And not just something they themselves got to have. Maybe they have a husband, wife, or children. Compel your customer to treat the family too.

Here is something to jump on. Perhaps your customer is a business owner. Get that person to send the customers for their business over to your business. Beyond word of mouth referral, they can do that by giving coupons good for things in your store, or maybe you can get permission to put a raffle box in their store that gives prizes given by your store. You can either pay them to do it or return the favor. There can be many ways to help each other in cooperation, even paying each other commissions, and also bundling your two company's products and services together at favorable prices for customers. You will find that such arrangements, called Joint Venture Partnering, can be very lucrative as it quickly builds your customer base.

It pays to know your customer, and to know how to supplement and expand your products and services with things like go-along additions, deluxe automatic maintenance service, special package deals, premium upgrades, complimentary products, etc. Think of anything you can.

Give your customer something to put in their purse or wallet, something that equals money to them. A discount card that gives discounts on purchases, or a buyers card that gives rewards after a determined amount of purchases accumulated from multiple visits are two examples. The surest way to get your customer to spend more with you is getting them a charge card. Your own store credit card in your customer's possession is guaranteed to spike sales.

You will have a solid relationship with the customers you have already gotten, and through that relationship, your business will evolve!

This gives lifetime value of a customer a whole other meaning. You are finding ways to improve yourself and your business. Take periodic customer surveys. That way the customer is giving intellectual input as well as money into your business, and if you are innovative enough to make use of them, the customer will more than likely also be giving you new customers by recommending you to their friends.

Other things you can do: offer your customers incentives for making referrals & collect testimonial stories from them to use in your ads because the best advertising comes from satisfied customers. Not only that, a customer that gives a testimonial for you will become even more loyal by doing it. Imagine that! It just goes to show how things get solidified when written down. Do you write down the goals you have for your business? How about the goals of your business?

Write a Service Pledge to your customers. Post it up where you do business so your customers know what great service they can expect. Find the greatest benefit that solves the most major concern to your customers, perhaps something unique that no other business in the area offers. Make a catchy slogan out of it. Use it wherever the name of your business is displayed so that your business will be known by the slogan. When employees eagerly answer the phone, have them not only say the name of the business, but the slogan as well, followed by giving their name and asking "how may I help you?"

If you spruce up your business enough to make it an interesting topic of conversation, your customers will even talk you up to strangers they meet. Your reputation will travel by work of mouth.

Instead of you looking to find new customers, they will be finding you. And on top of that, their lifetime value will be much greater by your building the greater value into your business. This happens just by catering to your current customers rather than doing the usual routine of chasing after new ones.

That is why you will never lack if you keep your auto repair customers coming back.

Business is a combination of talent and hard work.  The talent can only take you so far, so begin by doing your homework.  Every business benefits from advertising in some form or another.  The key to becoming a name that people can trust is to let them know who you are and what you stand for.  Here are a few marketing mistakes that, if avoided, will spare you much grief and money.

1.  Not having a marketing plan.  What is a marketing plan?  It is the way that you will go about promoting your product or service.  Just like you wouldn’t begin to get serious about your business without a definite plan, it is best not to approach the marketing of your product without a plan.  When a product is promoted well, sales increase.

2.  Putting all your eggs in one basket.  This old saying seems to work in a lot of situations and marketing is one of them.  You may find a strategy like email marketing that has been successful for you.  But, don’t base your entire marketing plan on that one strategy.  In order to grow, diversification is the answer.  By not exploring other options, your business will become stunted in no time.

3.  Ignoring the value of networking.  For business, networking is invaluable.  It is the way that entrepreneurs get together to pick each other’s brains.  During these “meetings of the minds”, partnerships are struck.  You can find someone who will complement your business with a new idea.  Joint ventures mean more profits for everyone.

4.  Working as a force of one.  All businesses need support in some form.  There are not enough hours in the day to do it all and still make money.  Outsourcing can be your best friend.  You can outsource for practically anything that you need.  Hire someone to design your web page, answer your emails, and organize your invoices.  When these tasks are taken care of, more time can be devoted to marketing the product in new and creative ways.

5.  Cutting back on your marketing budget.  When business is slow, we can panic unnecessarily.  We want to save as much money as we can until things pick up again.  Since business is down, we might decide that we don’t need to advertise as no one is buying.  That is the worst mistake we can ever make.  This is the time to use our extra minutes in the day to beef up that marketing plan to appeal to a wider net of customers.

Have you already made some of these marketing mistakes?  In this world most things are fixable.  Begin again, but this time with the knowledge of what not to do.

The busiest season for most auto repair businesses is the winter.  When your auto repair business has defined highs and lows, capitalize on those highs by working a strategy during the lows.  Here are five tips to help you prepare for the busy season when business is slow.

The slow period is not a time to panic or take a break.  Business will pick up and you can be ready with a few simple preparations.  As an auto repair shop owner, seeing the big picture is a constant struggle.  But, we must continually work on our perception to see into the future.  Without the benefit of a crystal ball, use the five tips below.

1.  Beef up your mailing lists.  The heart of any business is its customers.  Be sure that your website has a place for visitors to leave their information so that you can communicate with them.  Let customers know when you add new features to your website and your storefront.

2.  Develop an email campaign.  Most people who are linked to the Internet have an email account.  If they are like me, they probably receive a ton of junk mail also.  But, they do check the titles of all the mail to see exactly what it is.  Use that to your advantage and create directed emails with catchy titles to peak their interest.  Don’t send too many — just enough to keep your name in their memory so that they think of you when the busy season rolls around.

3.  Find new clients.  We always put out feelers when we are starting our business to create a customer base.  Once we have something to start with, we forget that this is still a useful way to bring more clients in.  Were there potential clients who didn’t come on board initially?  Sending cards to these potential clients lets them know you are still interested in having them on board.

4. Networking, networking, and more networking.  There is never a time that networking is not in fashion.  You never know who you might meet.  Maybe your auto repair shop could benefit from a partnership with a new supplier or wholesaler who is willing to dropship products for you.  Setting the wheels in motion when business is not so demanding puts you in the position for the big payday when the business picks up.

5. Learn a new skill.  Business is about meeting the demands of the customers.  A customer who can get all the services they need from one provider won’t want to deal with one who only offers one service.  Increase your services and more clients will come.

What are you doing in the slower periods?  Preparing now for the future will pay off handsomely.  Let the ideas flow and lead you into new directions.

You bravely took the first step and started an auto repair business.  Entrepreneurship is rewarding but also scary.  Just as many things can go wrong as can go right.  The biggest “wrong” is losing money.

The first question anyone asks is, “How can my auto repair business be losing money?  It was doing so well.”  Losing money is not a matter of just one thing.  Usually it is a combination of things that somehow got overlooked.

Unfortunately for us, those things don’t show up at the beginning, or even in a form that is easily pinpointed.  It will take a directed effort to find out what is causing our business to operate in the red.  As soon as the money drain is noticed, finding it is a top priority.

Luck can play a part in our auto repair business.  Some think that this is a good thing, but luck will only get you so far.  When luck runs out, the business will suffer.

Insufficient marketing analysis will put the kibosh on your business profits.  Marketing research determines if you have a viable product or service that the consumer wants.  It is not easy to tap into a new market.  Even if you happen to luck up on something, analysis of the market will show if this will be a long or short ride.

Lack of a strong advertising campaign will eat into your profits.  With so many businesses out there, finding a new spin to sell a product is not easy.  Starting with one medium is okay, especially when money is tight.  But, as the business takes off, the only way it will survive is with a more diverse plan.  Limiting advertising is a bloodletting.  Slowly, your business is being drained of life.

Maybe you only have experience in one type of advertising.  Make it a point to learn others.  Connect with other business owners and learn their secrets to advertising success.  Customers are always looking for the latest thing to catch their eye.  If your business is not meeting that need, customers will flee for other venues.

What are your goals for your business?  When you hit a wall – and you might, new directions are in order.  Goals that are not clear result in a loss of business revenue.  Your money will disappear into that great abyss unless you branch out and use your current service as a stepping stone.

The business may start off as a service-based enterprise that meets the need for now, but where will the business go after that?  People always want more.  A business that can draw them in and keep giving them more options will stay afloat and become successful.

A business is more than one idea and one hook.  Filtering all your ideas and creativity into it over time equates to a business that makes money now and in the future.  If not, the business will lose money hand over fist.

One goal of any auto repair business is to provide quality service that people want to buy.  We’ve all seen or heard about what can happen when people get poor service and complain about it.  Law suits are filed all the time against companies for unethical practices and faulty products.  Earning more money is not to be gained at the expense of proper customer service.

How important is customer service?  It is a vital part of your auto repair business.  Satisfied customers keep coming back.  They will tell their friends about you and they will buy from you.  It is the way that business owners ensure that their business will continue.

I try to put myself in the customer’s shoes.  Actually, I am not just a small business owner but a consumer as well.  I know what constitutes excellent customer service to me and anyone I do business with deserves no less than that.

One thing about customers; you never know who they know.  Any one of them could be a person with a lot of influence in their town or city.  A word from them could send people to your website.  On the other hand, their job could allow them the opportunity to tell others of influence that you don’t provide good customer service.

All right, so it could be a hundred to one shot that one of your customers is someone like this.  But, the average customer who is concerned about customer service can post a bad review on forums, eBay, and other places where you may be looking for new customers.  And, the truth is, people flock to bad news.  They will think twice about using your services if it is floating around in the ether that you are a bad egg.

As your auto repair business grows, so will your customer service responsibilities.  The people who purchase goods or use your services are more than dollar signs.  They have lives and spheres of influence.  Treating each one like gold is our responsibility.

It is a mistake to think that your business could ever get so big that one customer doesn’t count.  It is also a mistake to think that providing a cheap product just to make money won’t come back to haunt you.  It is a fact that it will.  You could be on the receiving end of a suit.  This is not a good way to do business.

But, neither profits nor customer service has to be suspended to have a successful business.  It you feel that customer service is getting lax because you are spending most of your time marketing the business, consider outsourcing parts of the operation.  Set up email drafts and use other features to handle emails effectively and in a timely manner.

There is always a way to make it work.  Consistently providing good customer service will help expand your customer base and your image on the Internet.  This is vital to continued growth in your industry.

Why do you need a Business Card?

A business card can be thought of as a marketing instrument which does a little bit of everything, it provides a quick glance of your company to your customers, partners or investors and it also paints a picture of yourself as a business person. So in a nutshell, yes! If you run a business you do need business cards.

Business Card and Branding

There are many ways to market your business, you can choose a direct selling approach which focuses mainly on the products or services that you manage in order to make a sale or you can choose to differentiate your business from all other businesses which are competing against you in a similar niche.

If you run a business, chances are that you are not selling a unique product, this is why creating a good image for your company and setting yourself apart really comes in handy at the end of the day. If you are all about numbers and long-term returns you will definitely see how building a strong brand has a lot more value than trying to sell an ephemeral product. You can think of it like buying stock, you can either go for the quick kill or you can stick around for the long run and see steady returns. A business card can help you build your brand.

Creative Message and Humor

What is your business about? What kind of people run it? Are you a nice person to deal with? Can you be trusted as a problem solver and business partner? Believe it or not, all of these questions can be quickly answered by a business card and most of the time the message that the business card itself conveys is so strong and precise that all of these questions are answered at a glance.

If you are starting a business or if you already run a profitable operation you definitely want to project yourself and your company as the best in the field but also as an organization which has been built and run by individuals everyone can relate to, individuals who have a sense of humor and that see life exactly the way it is.

Business Card Texture and Materials

Finding the right texture and materials for your business card is just as important as brainstorming the message that you're going to put on it and obviously the more unique the material the better image it will project of yourself and your company. Some people have opted to break away from the conventional business card paper and have moved on to other materials such as plastic and even stylish metals, if you can't afford those materials it is a great idea to have images or patterns engraved in the card itself for instance, if you are a dentist or work as a dentist assistant you can create a plain looking business card which can be enhanced by engraving or indenting the shape of teeth into the side of the card, now remember that indenting a shape on your business card paper is not the same as printing an image on it, there is a big difference!

The bottom line when it comes to business cards is that they are a necessary tool for you to create a good image for your business and yourself in front of potential customers, business partners and investors so, the better it looks the higher its ROI will be.