Posted by Dan on Sep 15, 2009 in
Lucky Hit Most people who find themselves in debt are in the situation because they have misused credit cards. Unwise use of credit cards is one of the quickest ways to fall into debt. They are so easy to use. People easily fall for the trap of buy now pay later. Credit card interest is typically higher than interest rates paid on any other extension of credit. Compounding interest makes the balances grow out of control very quickly. If you are going to recover from debt you must get control of your credit card spending. A good credit card counselor can help.
There’s a common misconception that you can pay a credit card company only once a month. The truth is you can pay them as many times as you like. So pay as often as you can, preferably once a week. Weekly payments mean that that you pay less interest because your balance goes down with every payment. It is also easier to make small, weekly payments than a single, large one.
The Consumer Counseling Center of America is another option if you find yourself in way over your head and cant seem to dig yourself out on your own. This is a non-profit organization which is there to help you take the necessary steps to recover from credit card debt or other unsecured debts.
This is not a debt consolidation company. They will not loan you money. What they will do is work with you and your creditors to come to a workable plan that will enable you to pay back your debts as quickly as possible.
Companies like the CCCA make the repayment process much easier for you. They act as a go between for you and your creditors, handling all negotiations and disbursements.
Creditors stop harassing you, your accounts stay updated and your payment, current. What’s more, since all the payment logistics are being handled by someone else, there are no misses and therefore no late fees or delinquency charges.
Sometimes people feel upset when their request for a debt consolidation loan is rejected by banks or financial institutions. They must realize that credit card debt is an unsecured loan and is not attached to any collateral. Most institutions will therefore ask you to mortgage an asset such as a house. This is not advisable because if there is a default then the bank will auction the house.
So your best bet out of any credit card induced financial crisis is plenty of self discipline and a little help from a counseling company.
Are you tired of struggling to keep up with your credit card debt? Get some simple credit card tips on the Debtopedia website. Get a free copy of my report “Secrets Of Credit Card Debt” at Debtopedia.com
Posted by Dan on Sep 15, 2009 in
Lucky Hit Why bother?
Good customer service is the life blood of any business. New customers are important but good customer service will help generate customer loyalty and repeat business. With each satisfied customer your business is likely to win many more customers through recommendations and remember, if you are not taking care of your customers, your competition will.
A customer satisfaction survey will help by not only identifying problem areas but will also demonstrate to your customers that you care and are proactive in looking for ways to improve the service that you provide.
Where to start?
Objective – As a first step decide what the main objectives of the survey are, in that way you will be able to retain focus and find it easier to decide what questions to ask.
Analysis – Consider how you will analyze the answers having completed the survey.
Bare in mind that ‘closed’ questions (where the respondents are asked to choose from a limited number of responses) are easier to analyse than questions that are ‘open’ (where the respondent can reply in anyway they want).
A great deal will depend on the predicted volume of respondents, the higher the volume the more important it is to have an easy method of analysing the results.
Opportunity – As well as obtaining valuable market research data keep in mind that customer surveys are also a good way to advertise areas of your service that your customers may not be aware of.
Once you have drafted your survey read through the survey with a market research hat on and confirm that you are asking the right questions in the right way and that with the feedback information you will be able to make informed decisions.
Next, read through the survey from a marketing view point, check that you have phrased each question so that every opportunity has been taken to promote your business?
The ideal question will perform the following three functions:-
- Market research – provide valuable feedback to help you improve your customer satisfaction levels and in turn your business
- Marketing – promote aspects of your business
- Information/Education – advertise a service that you provide that your customers may not have been unaware of
For example:- Do you find the in-store baby changing facilities useful?
By asking this question not only will the store receive good market research feedback on the facility they provide but they will also promote their facilities and advertise themselves as a family friendly store, even beyond those customers who have a specific need for the baby changing facility that has been provided.
Warts and all – to benefit most from a customer survey you need to be prepared to dig deep and accept the worst.
A customer satisfaction survey should be designed to highlight problems so that they can be addressed; regular customer satisfaction will prevent complacency and will also give early warning on where your competitors initiatives may be losing you business.
What should you ask?
Although each business is likely to have specific and unique factors that are important in providing good customer services there are common areas that are relevant to all businesses be they a physical store, online internet store or a service industry. The following are some key areas to providing good customer service.
Communication – What do you do to help your customers communicate with you?
When customers telephone are their calls answered quickly; are their enquiries about products or services handled properly? Good businesses will make every effort to ensure that whatever the customers query it is resolved by the right person, politely, quickly and fairly.
If a problem cannot be resolvable immediately do you promise to respond in a given time period and do you deliver on your promise?
Use a customer satisfaction survey to ensure that all your staff are considered by your customers to be courteous, helpful and knowledgeable.
Location – Are you doing everything you can to ensure that your customers find it easy to visit you, if a physical store, does it have good access and is it conveniently located?
Making it pleasant, making it easy – For an internet business it is important to ensure that your website is easy to use and aesthetically pleasing.
Regardless of the store being a bricks and mortar or purely online web based store, is the store properly laid out and can your customers find what they need and is there sufficient detailed information and help on hand to explain how a particular product works?
The right quality products – Not only should you measure the quality of the service that you provide but you should check that the products and services that you market are what the customer wants and closely match their expectations.
Value for money – Cheap or expensive is not always a good measure, value for money is.
Do your customers associate your business with value for money, if not, why not?
Speed and attention – No matter what the business, the majority of customers will want to be dealt with quickly but attentively.
Are you doing everything you can to avoid any delay?
A good business will try to treat each customer as an individual, does yours? Attention is one thing but only if it leads to a quick and satisfactory resolution to the query.
Demographics and Specific issues – Take the opportunity to profile your customers, for example what is their age group and where do they live?
The more knowledge you have of your customers the better you will be able to target your business.
For customers who have specific problems allow them to provide details and contact details.
What is next?
Once the survey has been completed analyse the results.
Trends – Look for common and specific areas where the service needs improving.
Ask yourself if any criticism is valid, be honest to yourself, is there anything that can be done to properly resolve, or at the very least, minimise the problem?
Training – Are the staff properly trained and do they have sufficient knowledge?
If customer service training programs have been implemented have they improved the customer experience?
Follow-up – If a customer who has completed a survey has raised a specific issue do all you can to ensure that their complaint is addressed.
Do not squander the opportunity to resolve a problem and keep a customer.
Continuously Monitor – Make changes based on the survey results and then re-measure by issuing further surveys.
If you are concerned about customer satisfaction and would like to view a sample survey for a store that will demonstrate some of the above advice please view the Sample Customer Survey