From Satisfied Shopper to Loyal Customer

By Marci Bikshorn

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Developing an excellent customer service culture within a business is what creates loyalty in the long run. Cultivating an environment where simply meeting expectations isn't enough, but going above and beyond to exceed expectations and create delight is essential. Like most truly successful companies have learned, fostering an emotional connection with your customers begins with an evaluation in customer service and ends with a company-wide program built around insight.
Let's take a look at two rules and recommendations to follow for effective customer satisfaction measurement.
1. Don't just meet expectations, exceed them.
The very minimum requirement for keeping a company in business is to simply meet your customers' expectations. However, that gets you no closer to loyalty than your competitors. To stay ahead of the competitive game, you have to give your customers something positive they aren't expecting. In other words, exceed their expectations.
To discover what your shoppers need, try performing an evaluation in customer service, such as implementing a customer feedback program within your company. More than likely, your customers have an opinion they're just waiting to share - all you need to do is give them the means with which to share it. Provide surveys to gain information, and once you have that insight, put it to action. This will let them know their voices have been heard and they'll feel more invested in your company.
Only once you've effectively met or exceeded your customers' expectations you can begin to gain their trust and loyalty.
2. Delight customers daily
The next phase of customer experience enhancement involves taking it a step further and creating an emotional experience. Imagine a consumer who is not only happily greeted with great customer service upon entering a store, but a smile actually crosses their face every time they interact with your brand.
Delighting your customers is a necessary part of building a successful brand, and it doesn't have to be costly. Sometimes, showing you genuinely care about them - their questions, concerns and opinions about your product or service - can be just enough to bring a smile to their face.
Finally, focus on that word: daily. Customer experience management needs to be consistent. It's having habitually great service that could mean the difference between a loyal customer and an occasional shopper. Your customers should know to expect surprisingly excellent service upon every engagement with your brand.
Don't know where to start with delighting your customers? First, perform an evaluation in customer service by hiring a mystery shopping service. Mystery shopping services educate professionals to analyze and deliver actionable research to provide the objective feedback you need to improve. They can go beyond sight and sound and focus on what makes your brand unique and ways to leverage that benefit and move toward success.

Service Excellence Group is a customer experience measurement and solutions provider putting a focus on performance management and customer intelligence. Take a look at our various services available to help you perform an evaluation in customer service. When creating your customer retention program, consider brand research, audits, training programs and mystery shopping services.

Top 5 Google Commands for Market Research Professionals

By Amitava Sen

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Google has provided a few readymade search commands for advanced users, which can filter results on the basis of input queries. The word 'advanced' user may sound geeky but believe me, there is no rocket science in this. Even an average person too can easily use these commands and get benefited. So are you ready to learn a few tricks which make your search a lot easier and quicker? So here they are:
1. Dot (..) Operator: This operator will help you to find results containing numbers in a given range specified by you. Do remember that there should be no spaces in the query string.
Syntax: text number..number
Example: VAS market research reports $250..$1000
Uses: When you are searching for a specific market research report and you have a price range or budget in your mind.
2. Wild Card (*) Operator: This operator is also known as the fill in the blanks operator. Each * (asterisk) represents one or more words in a given phrase. Google acknowledges * as placeholder for a single word or group of words.
Syntax: text * text
Example: US Defense Expenditure Oct * 2003..Oct * 2012
Uses: When you only remember certain phrases by parts and are not able to recollect the exact words, or you want to include somebody's name and you are missing out his/her middle/last/first name, then this command will be the right option for you.
3. Site Command: When you want to search something specific within a site, this command will return all the related pages containing your search term.
Syntax: Keyword/Search Term site:URL
Example: Mining Industry site:www.marketresearchreports.in
Uses: When you are searching for a report or looking for specific data within a site, this command will fetch you results, which can tell you whether the desired data is available within the site, or you have to look for some other website. Indeed a real time saver.
4. News Search: News sites deliver very important and timely information beforehand, related to industries and market. Market Research Professionals always follow their favorite news and PR sites for latest industry information. This command will help you to extract desirable news from the sites that you visit regularly.
Syntax: Keyword/Search Term Source: Site name
Example: Fuel Price Hike source:Times_of_India
Uses: Very useful when you are writing a report or a blog post on a current topic and you require some quantitative and qualitative data for reference.
5. File Type Command: File type command will let you search files of various kinds of formats. Using this command, you can easily search Acrobat PDF files, Word Files, and Power Point Files.
Syntax: Keyword/Search Term filetype: pdf/ppt/doc/txt/png
Example: 4G Market Reports filetype:pdf
Uses: Very useful when you are looking for sample reports for reference.
Note: Copy and Paste Examples in Google Search Box and See the results.

Hope you liked this article. This Article has been written by Amitava Sen He has been working with a market research company and using these commands for many years and by the virtue of these techniques, he has saved lot of his time while doing research work for finding secondary data and market research reports. Your comments and feedback would be appreciated.

Economical and Unique Logo Design Services

By Rajot Chakraborty

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When someone starts talking to you about Google, what image of Google do you instantly get in your mind? Of course, you visualize a colorful logo of Google. Same is the case when you talk about the most famous sportswear and beverage brands. You are most likely to have their brand logos in your mind. In the same way, your company needs a representation in the form of a logo. Company logos need some real hard work to complete, starting from a perception and turning into a unique shape that sticks in the minds of your customers.
In reality, every logo design should be a unique one. Your company for sure is an entity and your logo is the picture of your company. Shouldn't the picture be presentable and neat? Your logo is your company's representation and it needs to speak out, stick in minds and reflect your mission. On top of everything, it should not be out of place. So without waiting any further, start searching for a professional designer today who has simplicity in his work, but provides you with the best. Your logo should be simple but unique, and above all, it must be powerful.
That's the main idea behind a logo that it should stay simple yet powerful as if it was saying to your customers, "I am the best option you've got". Why your logo should be simple is, because you want it to be memorable. Understanding these basic aspects of logo designing, a professional designer will create a unique logo for each and every client. Professional logo designers dedicate all their time in coming up with the right representation of your business, right design, right colors and right font. Their job is to make it impressive, sticky and memorable for anyone who sees it once, not only your existing customers.
Your company's unique logo design starts with one simple step and that's to contact an individual designer or a company that specializes in this area. Most companies now offer direct contact services on the websites, so you can take advantage of those services for instant contact. Getting the professional advice and services from a hardworking team at economical rates is something you will seldom find in today's world. Without paying too much for a logo that does not have a personality, find a professional log designer to help you with your unique logo creation, at affordable rates and with a quality that does not look like a compromise.

Doing all of logo designing, website designing, poster and brochure designing in cheap rates and still taking the upper hand from its competitors, Ellie-design is your next stop for an efficient and successful approach: http://www.ellie-design.com/graphicdesign.html.

Strategy Vs Culture - Can We Call A Truce?

By Scott Span

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Much discussion has transpired lately regarding strategy and culture - though, more so the battle between which is more important and why. Although I find the various points of view to both be of value and interest, I find the entire discussion to be quit absurd. Can we call a truce?
I imagine that if "Sally Strategy" and "Calvin Culture" were having a debate it would go something like this...
Sally Strategy: Calvin, I find that you sometimes make it very difficult for me to do my job! It's hard to keep us on track when I feel you and I aren't on the same page.
Calvin Culture: Well Sally, I sometimes feel the same way. Your job doesn't always fit in with my work, sometimes you can be an impediment to what I'm trying to achieve.
Sally Strategy: Oh really, how's that Calvin? What exactly is it you're trying to achieve?
Calvin Culture: Well Sally, I'm trying to achieve building a positive environment for our people, an environment with a clear set of values and norms that engages and aligns our people, unifying them in delivering high performance and value to our customers. I just feel that the direction you've set can be a bit ridged and can be prohibitive to my work.
Sally Strategy: Interesting point, Calvin. You realize when I first started my work my intent was not just to help us formulate a clear direction and define who we wanted to be - but also to help us get there. It's my job to execute, to get things done. Though we have come a long way since I first started my work and it may be time to revisit a few things. After all, I can't get things done if I'm in the way.
Calvin Culture: Don't get me wrong, Sally, I couldn't do my job without you, and I value the direction and execution you bring to our work, as we both play a huge part in the happiness of employees and customers and in overall success, perhaps we could collaborate together more closely moving forward?
(*Aside - See the way that was phrased? Calvin acknowledged what Sally brings to the table and made her feel valuable and important to the process. Speaking to and providing feedback to your employees in this style can be beneficial to engagement and performance...but more on that in another article.)
Sally Strategy: That sounds like a fantastic idea. I'm glad we got a chance to connect. Thanks for taking the time to chat with me today, Calvin. Let's stay in communication.
In reality, culture and strategy are often viewed independently - they are both parts of the system and need to be viewed together.
Strategy can be defined in various ways...
According to Henry Mintzberg's book, The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning: Strategy is a plan, a "how," a means of getting from here to there. Strategy is a pattern in actions over time; for example, a company that regularly markets very expensive products is using a "high end" strategy. Strategy is position; that is, it reflects decisions to offer particular products or services in particular markets. Strategy is perspective, that is, vision and direction. According to Kenneth Andrews's book, The Concept of Corporate Strategy: "Corporate strategy is the pattern of decisions in a company that determines and reveals its objectives, purposes, or goals, produces the principal policies and plans for achieving those goals, and defines the range of business the company is to pursue..." According to Michael Porter in his Harvard Business Review article and books:
Strategy is "...about being different...It means deliberately choosing a different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value." "...It is a combination of the ends (goals) for which the firm is striving and the means (policies) by which it is seeking to get there." A strategy delineates a territory in which a company seeks to be unique.- Michael Porter
Based on how most define strategy, the main reason for the existence of strategy is to achieve end goals. Culture is the environment in which strategy achieves those end goals. It is a general framework that provides guidance for actions to be taken, and, at the same time, is shaped by the actions taken...this shaping in part occurs due to the culture.
No culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive - Mahatma Gandhi
Culture can be defined in various ways...
According to Edgar Schein: Organizational culture is "A pattern of shared basic assumptions invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration that have worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to those problems." According to Charles W. L. Hill, and Gareth R. Jones book Strategic Management: Culture is "the specific collection of values and norms that are shared by people and groups in an organization and that control the way they interact with each other and with stakeholders outside the organization." According to Geert Hofstede: "Culture is the collective programming of the human mind that distinguishes the members of one human group from those of another. Culture in this sense is a system of collectively held values." "We tend to think we can separate strategy from culture, but we fail to notice that in most organizations strategic thinking is deeply colored by tacit assumptions about who they are and what their mission is." - Edgar Schein
Whether written as a mission statement, spoken or just understood, organizational culture describes and governs the ways a company's leaders, employees, customers and stakeholders think, feel and act. Culture may be based on beliefs or spelled out in your mission statement - which should be created as part of the strategy. Beliefs and values are words that will pop up frequently when defining culture. Culture is the identity of a company, and because of that, in some ways it becomes an identity of those who work there, as well. The people end up affecting the culture as much as the culture is affecting them. So while there are many definitions of organizational culture, all of them focus on the same points: collective experience, structures, beliefs, values, norms, and systems. These are learned and re-learned, passed on to new employees, and continues on as part of a company's core identity.
So - culture is how "work gets done around here" and strategy determines "what work gets done around here." A positive culture and a clear strategy are both needed for organizational, employee and customer satisfaction and success. After all...
A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all. - Michael LeBoeuf
We need to call a truce and work more collaboratively, both between and with culture and strategy, to truly create high performing organizations. Based on the definitions, and based on my experiences, the relationship between culture and strategy is - or at least should be- a symbiotic relationship.
What do you think...Is a battle between culture and strategy occurring in your organization? Do you think one is more important than another? If so why or why not?
*In this article, culture refers specifically to corporate and organizational culture and strategy to organization and business strategy

http://www.tolerosolutions.com
About Scott Span, MSOD: is President of Tolero Solutions Organizational Development & Change Management firm. He helps clients to facilitate sustainable growth by developing people and organizations to be more responsive, focused, productive and profitable. http://www.tolerosolutions.com

The History of Neon Signs

By Jo Connelly

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The bright colourful lights of neon signs have been around for 100 years already now and despite the advent of LED signs, neon seems set to continue in popularity for many more years. So how did scientists discover that combining a glass tube, an electrical current and certain gases made an attractive and compelling formula to advertise commercial businesses?
It was in 1856 that Heinrich Geissler first discovered that he could create a light source by passing electric current through a gas sealed into a glass tube. Subsequent experiments showed that most common gases would conduct electricity and quite a few would produce light. Unfortunately none of the gases produced a lasting effect as they would react with the electrodes reducing their efficiency.
In 1898 Sir William Ramsay and Morris William Travers developed the fractional distillation of liquid air. In so doing they discovered the rare gas elements of neon, argon, xenon and krypton. They found that these gases produced good light sources in various colours without reacting with the electrodes, so the illumination was long-lived and constant. Neon produced an orange-red, argon an intense blue-violet. This process was too expensive to develop in any commercial way at this time however.
In 1907 Georges Claude found a more economical method of fractional distillation. He was intending to produce pure oxygen for use in hospitals. The rare gases were by-products with no commercial application at the time and he wanted to find a use for them to avoid wastage. Using the previous research done by Ramsay and Travers he was able to develop the illuminated sealed tubes into intricate shapes and forms, utilising the various gases, and so the first neon signs were born. His first commercial signs were installed in 1912 and demand for these signs picked up quickly so that his company Claude Neon was able to sell franchises.
Neon signs were brought to the United States in 1923 by a Los Angeles car dealer, Earle C. Anthony. They quickly became popular, spreading like wildfire as businesses discovered the power of neon to attract customers to their stores. Eventually neon signs were essential to catch the eye in any business district and Las Vegas was legendary for its elaborate neon displays.
While the heyday of neon signs was perhaps the 1940s and 50s, neon continued to thrive despite the introduction of illuminated plastic signs in the 1960s. Today with LED signs also grabbing a share of the signage market, neon is still first choice for many people for its artistic qualities, atmospheric and character full signs.

Tec-Know Signage specialises in supplying signs wholesale to the Australian market and neighbouring countries.
Check out their LED lightboxes, neon signs, display signs, banner stands, as well as all the tools, hardware and electrical components to make the graphic producer's work easier, faster and safer.
Contact Tec-Know for advice on the right solution for your signage needs and for outstanding service and technical know-how.

Making the Most Out of Your Custom Pop Display

By Horace Moody

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When marketing a small product a custom point of purchase display can be a very effective tool. Often these displays are found near registers of retail stores. The main goal of a pop display is to have you purchase an item before you checkout with your additional purchases. These displays are designed to catch your attention with marketing materials that consist of funny jokes, slice of life, sex appeal and more. Custom pop displays can be a very effective way to get your product a final push before a consumer exits a store.
In today's retail markets consumers are hit with endless amounts of noise when shopping. Only the most innovative and effective marketers are able to capture and retain the interest of a consumer long enough to have them buy a product. With sixty percent of purchasing selections made at the point of sale it is essential to have your product displayed in an appealing way to your target market.
In addition to increasing your bottom line profit, pop displays will help increase your merchandise sales potential and impulse buying from customers. One method to make your pop display effective is to educate your target audience with your display. Tell your potential buyers how your product separates itself from the competition and explain unique features that make your product special. In addition it is also important to keep your brand consistent across display variations. Keep your logo and company colors consistent to maximize product recognition.
Using a variety of shelving levels can be a great way for you to attract customers to your custom pop display. Pedestal stands can be used to add height to your displays when floor space is limited. It is also important to make your display approachable and easy to access. In general you are going to want your customers to be able to touch and pick up the items displayed. This goes back to the goal of the displays, which is to have a person add an additional item to their shopping cart before checking out.
The last tactic we will be touching on will be how to speak to your customers through your display. It is essential that your displays allow you to display information about upcoming sales, an event or a limited time offer. The most effective signage is simple signage. Having a clean and effective way to speak to customers will relay your message most efficiently. These are some of the initial ways to get the most out of your custom pop display.

Horace Moody frequently writes about industrial and marketing advancements. He has a strong interest on how these advancements have changed the course of history and how they continue to evolve. Recently he's written about custom pop displays.

Advertising Waste

By Michael John Weber

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An area of wasted publicity I would like to highlight is printed material. Many are the times I have come across boxes of fliers and business cards that have sat in storerooms for years - why? The reasons vary - changes to menus, phone numbers, address, policy, management. One might ask; why haven't these obsolete leaflets been thrown out? (Re-cycled)
There are two reasons; first, all this beautiful colour printing with pretty pictures did not come cheap, and second, there is a thought harbouring in the back of the mind that one day in the near future this material will somehow once more become useful.
This brings me to a more important question: why were so many fliers, menus, business cards or whatever, ordered in the first place? The problem lies in not being able to resist a bargain; the more we buy, the better the deal. What is the solution? Order what we intend to use, and not what we hope to use. It should be as simple as that, but no.
All of us love to get a bargain; it has a way of making us feel good about ourselves. So next time you find yourself calculating how much you will save by doubling your order, try this. Apply the principle of shopping during the sales; regardless of how fantastic the discount is; it is only a bargain if we need the item and will use it.
I come now to the matter of the distribution of our printing- who does it, and more to the point, how well do they do it? This is a particular problem for large retail companies and yet they seem unaware of the wastage that runs into millions of dollars, pounds, euros each year. Large stacks of expensive magazines and brochures are casually dumped in the trash without a moment's thought. Was it necessary to leave fifty magazines at a building with ten apartments? Others are placed in such a way that they are blown away by the wind because not even a moment of consideration was given to their placement. Now, what was to be attractive advertising to catch the eye becomes an ugly eyesore.
This monumental waste of printed publicity happens when no effort has been made to make sure distribution is targeted and effective. We could look at it this way: one properly paid, trusted man could distribute 500 leaflets yet bring in more business than ten men badly distributing 500,000 leaflets. As ludicrous as this may seem, it could easily be true - just look around.

Michael Weber a.k.a. Robert Swianworter is the author of "Restaurant Psychology for Everyone". More information can be found on his website http://www.restaurantpsychology.com/synopsis.htm

The Basics of Wedding Videography - For the First Time Shooters

By Johnson Jacob

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A wedding, being the once-in-a-lifetime event, demands that that the videographer be utmost attentive and alert at all times. Basic shooting skills are not the only tools required by a videographer. The videographer has to be at many different places at the same time in a wedding! The wedding and reception ceremony require good time and resource management skills on the part of the videographer.
If the videographer is covering the event solo, then they have to be careful because they will be managing the cameras on their own. It will require proper planning so that nothing is left uncovered.
If the videographer is a friend of the bride and groom, they might think that they will be able to cover the event, as well as attend the ceremonies as a guest. However, experienced videographers say that it is very likely that you will be working nearly all the time and will not really get to enjoy the event as a guest.
If you have been asked to cover the wedding of some friend or relative and have no idea where to begin, you could probably take some tips from veteran videographers.
Preparation
Preparation of wedding videography will mean attending rehearsals, planning on how to capture key moments and deciding the placement of cameras.
Develop a schedule or checklist of how you will cover the event. This should include the things you need to do before the wedding such as arranging cameras and relevant equipment beforehand.
The schedule should also include how you will cover happenings such as the groom and bride getting prepared, the groom and bride arriving at the venue, and the wedding ceremony.
If you are using a two-shoot camera, you could shoot the bride's procession from the bride's side of the aisle at the altar steps. After the bride's arrival, the best place for you to move with the camera would be behind the officiant. For this, you will need to coordinate with the officiant at the time of rehearsal.
Shots to take at the wedding
It will also be in the benefit of the first- time videographer to remember some key shots that they must cover, some of which are the arrival of the wedding party, entrance of bride, dance, cake-cutting, guest book signings and cutaways. A reenactment of the ring ceremony can also be staged.
Seasoned videographers also advise first-time videographers to keep ample time at hand for preparing equipment in the church before the arrival of the wedding party. There is never enough time as the wedding party may arrive before time and your equipment may not be ready to cover the proceedings.

Laird Productions is a full provides weddings videography service company. It covers weddings, corporate events, sports functions, birthdays and parties. For more details, visit us at: wedding videographers.