Here’s a little fun trivia about leap year that shows you how creative human beings can be…
In case you didn’t know – leap year is a year containing one or more extra days in order to keep the calendar synchronized with the astronomical year. Apparently Julius Caesar was concerned about such matters and took care of it for us back in 45 BC.
My husband and I have been blessed with many wonderful customers over our 25+ years owning and operating a residential construction business. In fact, I could count on one hand the challenging ones.
One customer in particular caused me many sleepless nights and more than a little stress for a few weeks. The relationship started out on a positive note, but quickly turned south when it became clear that their expectations and ours could never meet at a place of compromise.
Here are 5 tips to help you build a better customer relationship that will keep them coming back again and again.
As a business owner, how you perceive your customers trickles down into all aspects of your business. How you feel about them, talk about them, and serve them provides a filter that your employees and service providers see through, and that your customers can perceive right away. This is a filter that your customers are intuitively aware of in their interactions with you. They will be attracted to you, or not, based on how you feel about serving them.
When you’re starting out in a new business, you may be looking for ways to best utilize your time, since it may be just you juggling all aspects of the business. Utilizing the latest technology is one way you can potentially alleviate some of the stress of being the only person answering the phone. As a small business, you may be competing with many larger companies, so customer service is especially critical. One major advantage of being small is that you get to interact with your customers on a more personal level, and this is where you can shine.
So, you’ve been thinking about getting out of the corporate rat race for years, and starting your own home-based business. But your old friend FEAR keeps reminding you about how good you have it – paid vacation, benefits, a good steady paycheck… Still it’s hard to leave your kids every morning and let someone else shape their lives for 10-12 hours a day. It’s hard to give up the dream of being in control of all of your time.
Here we are smack dab at the beginning of a brand new year. I love new beginnings because they hold so many glorious possibilities for great things to happen in my life.
Last year I found myself wading through the river of days with my head barely above water, struggling to figure out where my business was taking me. This year will be different. This year I already have a good aerial view of the plans I want to bring to fruition. But then again, who knows what surprises I will find along the way …
