What's your customer service score?

If polled, most business owners believe their customers are fairly happy with the level of service they receive. But are they? Do you know how your clients feel about your business? Would they readily recommend your products or services to one of their family members, friends or colleagues? Remember, as we become seasoned business owners, we tend to get lost in working in our business instead of on our business. As a result, we sometimes lose sight of how our business is truly operating.

Customer service should be part of any marketing plan. After all, your customers are the ones that can make or break your business. Statistics show that every person who has a complaint about your company will likely tell 10 other people about their bad experience. Service that's so-so or average may get one or two people recommending your company over the competition. But, what do you think would happen if you delivered consistent and superior service? I would imagine you would quickly develop raving fans who would gladly tell others about how well you solved their problem or served their need.

Consistency is probably one of the best ways to make sure you are providing a high level of customer service. This can sometimes become difficult, especially if you are a sole proprietor. But it becomes even more critical when you begin to hire employees. As business owners we like to have things done a certain way, and many, if not all, of our customers have learned to depend upon us to get the job done to their liking. When you start to hire employees, they may not have the same degree of enthusiasm or loyalty to your vision.

So, the burning question is, how do you provide the consistency that will give you "raving" service scores from your customers? The answer... with planning. Go through your company's entire customer experience and systematize every aspect. Write it all down - everything from scripts for answering the telephone to scheduling an appointment to talk with your prospects about your product or service. Create your Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and don't leave anything out.

As I mentioned in the last issue, if you want a better foundation for the planning you will be doing, I highly recommend reading the book, "The E-Myth Revisited" by Michael Gerber. To purchase a copy, you may click on the link below. Eagle Soars Marketing is also available, on a consulting basis, to help you evaluate your customer service score and create an SOP that will be sure to turn your customers into raving fans.

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do about It By Michael Gerber

Small Business Marketing: Getting Back to Basics

As we become seasoned business owners, we sometimes get lost in working in our business instead of working on our business. In doing this, we start to lose sight of why we decided to go into business for ourselves and everything we do becomes a habit. This is why, over the next several issues, we're going to get back to some of the basics of marketing.

With the economy the way it's been, I've seen a lot of business owners responding to the slow times in fear. The first place business owners cut back is in the amount of money they spend on marketing. One of the reasons for this response is because many business owners view marketing as an expense instead of an investment. I'm sure we've all heard the saying, "You've got to spend money to make money." It's true.

With that said, the first thing you need to do is view marketing in a more positive light. Instead of cutting back on your marketing dollars, you need to take this time to regroup and review your business model, see how well you serve your customers, and create a strategic plan for moving forward.

So where do you start?

It's important to take a look at what you've been doing and evaluate how well it's working. Hopefully you have a plan in place to find out from where you are generating new customers. If not, that's the first policy you should begin implementing right away.

In evaluating the effectiveness of your marketing program you need to be answering a number of questions like "What strategies have I been using to market my business and which ones have been successful?," "Is my marketing message focused on what the customer wants or on what I am selling?," and "How well am I serving my customers?"

Once you do your research, you'll be able to identify what strategies are working and those that need to be stopped. You will also be able to determine how well your marketing message works. Finally, by talking with your current customers you will be able to ascertain if there are areas of your service that need to be improved. As soon as you reach this point, you'll be able to create a marketing plan that will get you better results for the investment you are making.

In the issues to come, we'll be discussing the different aspects of a marketing plan including customer service, prospecting, sales, advertising, etc. If you want a better foundation for the planning you will be doing, I highly recommend reading the book, "The E-Myth Revisited" by Michael Gerber. To purchase a copy, you may click on the link below.

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do about It By Michael Gerber / Harpercollins

Selecting keyword phrases for Search Engine Optimization

One of the secrets to search engine traffic is using pre-selected keyword phrases within the content and other areas of your web site. Keyword phrases are what potential visitors would use when searching for the products and/or services you provide. You want to find the best phrases and use them in your site in a deliberate and pre-planned way. Too many keywords and your site ranking goes down. Not enough and your site goes nowhere.

If you've done any research about keywords, you may have seen or heard the term "KEI." The KEI is a search engine optimization tool used to measure how effective a keyword phrase would be for your web site. Technically speaking, it compares the number of searches for a keyword phrase (a/k/a popularity) with the number of search results (i.e. your competition). The higher the KEI, the better chance you have to get higher in search listings.

Ok, for the nuts and bolts of how this works... Before you do any searches, you want to really put some thought into your keyword phrases. One thing to remember is that you need to be looking for several keyword phrases (two or three words) that describe the content of the particular page on which you are working. For example, if you are in the business of fixing cars, a good keyword phrase would be "automotive repair shop."

Next, you want to identify the KEI for your phrases. The following formula is used to determine the KEI.

KEI=Number of Searches / Number of Results

To begin your research you can use Google's Free Keyword Tool. This tool is an excellent way to start your research. Another way is to use Wordtracker. They offer a free search, but the information you gain is limited. You may want to consider a weekly subscription for a small fee and complete all your research then. They also have a free trial subscription to their service. To check it out, go to:

Free Keyword Search Trial with Wordtracker