Get To know  them
So many times we see a company provide what the customer is looking for and then send them on their way. In a bicycle shop, for example, a customer walks in and is obviously searching for something related to a bicycle. He or she mentions that a desire to purchase a new bicycle is what has brought them into the store that day. The shop owner has plenty of bicycles for sale, lets the customer find one they like, receives payment, and lets the transaction end there.

One thing to remember is that, often, the businessman or woman knows more about the product or service they are providing than even the most informed customer. Suppose that the customer in the bicycle shop picked out a street racing, ten-speed bicycle and the shop owner, neglecting to develop a personal relationship with the customer, let the customer’s choice be the beginning of the transaction and the payment for said bicycle be the end of it.

Now, suppose that the same customer with a new street racing ten-speed bicycle was planning on taking that bicycle on a mountain trip through rugged and desolate trails. Obviously, the street racing ten-speed is not the best of choices for doing so. If the shop owner had taken the time to talk to the customer and asked questions such as, “So, planning on doing some riding? Where at?” the shop owner would have been able to suggest a better product for the customer and, hence, developed an appreciative bond between the business and the customer, causing the customer to, more-than-likely, make a return visit.

Make It Special
Sometimes, excellent customer service calls for the unusual. Make an effort to go the extra mile and provide what is known as “customer-led services”. Some customers might work until 5:00 p.m., which is just when your store closes. Offering to let the customer shop after the store closes is catering to a customer’s special needs and goes a LONG way in the relationship department. This sort of action also goes hand-in-hand with developing a personal relationship with the customer, as mentioned earlier. This example of customer service is something that can be used anywhere, from a small storefront business to a large corporation. The point is, pay attention to special needs of your customers, whether a customer is a casual shopper or a corporate client, and you will be rewarded with continued business from that customer again and again.

Customer Service Starts at Home
It is important to remember that good customer service starts with employees that are happy to serve the customer. Take care of your employees and they will take care of you. Make sure their needs are met and do what you can to create a workplace free from negativity and full of motivation and recognition for creativity. Happy employees love their job and it shows when they provide a service or product to your customers.

Time’s Up!
If an idea, plan, or strategy is not working, bring it to an end. So often, managers are faced with the realization that perhaps the system which was put in place to increase customer service is not going to produce positive results after all. Still, they are reluctant to drop the curtain due to pride or hoping that with just a little more time the plan could still be effective. Forget it. If it’s not working, move on to something else. Shut it down and start something else. There is no use in wasting customers’ time and business in the hope that whatever method is being used will eventually work out. Out with the old, in with the new is good advice.

Above all, remember that customer service is the single most important thing to consider in your business, second only to taking care of your employees. Be willing to be flexible and get involved in the process of customer service in any way possible, no matter how high on the food chain you are. Not only will this serve as a good example to your employees but it will increase the level of service that your customers receive.

There are three different top business management techniques out there. These business management techniques include the autocratic technique, the paternalistic technique or the democratic technique. Here we will do a comparison of the top business management techniques, including the good and bad of all three techniques.

The autocratic technique of business management is for a manager who likes to make all the decisions themselves. The autocratic manager likes to closely supervise their employees along with controlling those employees. These managers give orders and don’t listen to the employees. The orders are to be followed in an autocratic business management technique. There is the one sided communication style which many employees do not like and have a hard time working under. This business management technique can work well however with a large company of low skilled workers. The technique can also work well when a company is in crisis and needs to have answers right away or decisions made very quickly.

The paternalistic technique for business management would include a manager that will give more attention to the social side of the business for his employees. This type of business manager will also keep in mind the views of his employees. These managers are very concerned on how happy their employees feel, almost the same way a father would. These types of paternalistic managers care more about the employees’ views and will consult with the employees on a regular basis. The manager still makes the final decision but for the best of all the employees. They listen to all the feedback from the employees no matter how many there are. The paternalistic manager believes that their employees still need direction and so this technique of management still can look like an autocratic technique. This technique of business management slows down decision making so is not good for fast paced businesses.

The last business management technique is democratic. In this type of management technique the manager puts trust in their employees and will help encourage the employees to make the decisions. These types of democratic managers empower their employees by giving them authority it the particular business. These managers will also listen to the advice and ideas of their employees. The democratic style managers need to have good communication skills for discussion groups that are common with type of management. The democratic manager also needs to be willing to push employees into leadership skills. The best democratic system occurs when all decisions are based on the majority view of all the employees. This is hard to achieve however and will lead to a longer wait in the decision making. There can be more mistakes in a business with this type of management technique because the workers may not always be skilled enough to face some of the problems they have been empowered to fix.

Ultimately the best technique for business management would be to incorporate parts of all these techniques. A good business manager will be able to distinguish between what types of direction their employees need and how to go about it. Not every employee is the same and so no technique will work for the business as a whole.

This comparison of the top business management techniques is to just give you an idea of what types are out there. If you are a business manager you will need to find your own technique. Look at the comparisons of the top 3 techniques and find what will work best for you and your business.

Last week’s article covered the likely responses of three “Janes,” Jane Dough, Accidental Jane, and Tenacity Jane. This week, we explore the reactions of Go Jane Go and Merry Jane.

Go Jane Go is a successful female entrepreneur who has grown her business to the point that she may struggle to get time away from work. She’s confident and organized, and is likely to have put systems in place to get her work done in an efficient manner—which may have something to do with why she’s four times as likely as the average female business owner to hit the million-dollar. Accounting for 14% of all women entrepreneurs, Go Jane Go types are the least common of the five Jane types.

Because Go Jane Go has grown her business to the point where her she has plenty of work coming in—and the right systems in place to accommodate that work—the loss of a single client (or even two or three) does not pose a serious threat to her business.

However, because Go Jane Go tends cares so much about her clients, the loss of one or more of them may set off some serious alarm bells anyway. If the customer had been a good one with whom she had a relationship, she may feel guilt about whether she failed to provide the right level of service and almost obsessed about what she might have done wrong or what she might have done to prevent the loss. This “looking backward” approach can take up considerable energy from Go Jane Go and keep her from being able to see all of the good she has done.

It is also possible, again depending on the relationship, that Go Jane Go might actually feel relieved. In these cases, it is likely that the relationship wasn’t working for Go Jane Go but because she is committed to good service and doesn’t generally like to engage in what she may see as confrontation, she may have been quietly suffering the relationship. When this client goes, she may actually feel liberated.

In either case, Go Jane Go has an opportunity to remind herself to depersonalize things somewhat and focus on re-investing her energy. In the case of the “bad” customer, she is now free to spend her time focusing on stronger and better relationships. In the case of the lost “good” customer, she should:

1. acknowledge that sometimes things happen that are out of our control,
2. give herself credit for all the things she did that were right
3. acknowledge any lessons learned and commit to improving next time
4. and finally, release any guilt feelings and reinvest her energy in a happier way.

Our last entrepreneur, Merry Jane, is very committed to running her business in a way that helps her be master of her own time. She realizes she may not be making as much money as she might, but she’s happily running her company in a way that works for her lifestyle. Roughly 19% of women business owners are Merry Janes.

Merry Jane cares about her customers and wants to keep them, but at the same time she knows that she only has so much time to invest in any given customer. Therefore, when a customer leaves, she is likely to see it fairly pragmatically, knowing that sometimes these things happen in business. She’ll quickly turn her attention to identifying the next new customer to replace the loss.