home base business

Managing Customer Complaints With Your Business

By: Zachary Thompson

Part of owning a home business is providing customer service to your clients. There is a great deal of information that can be helpful when providing customer service. One issue that should be addressed is managing customer complaints for your home business. There is no way to keep everyone happy all of the time. When you market products and services, there is sure to be someone that is going to have a complaint. Complaints are fine for a home business as long as you manage them well and turn the experience into a good one.

A customer may be in a bad mood and end up taking it out on you. No matter how belligerent, rude or nasty the customer may be to you, it is important to not take it personally. You have no idea what happened in that person?s life that day or even week. Unfortunately, for whatever reason they may end up taking their anger and frustration with life out on you without even realizing it. Even if you know that they realize it, you still cannot take it personally. Taking customer complaints personally will create a volatile situation that you want to completely avoid. Remember that no matter what the complaint, it is not personal toward you specifically.

After the customer has calmed down, try and ascertain what the exact problem is that has upset them. Was the product different than they expected? Was the shipping delayed? Find out what the actual problem is that has upset the customer and caused them to complain. Immediately apologize to the customer. The best way to apologize is to tell the customer that you are sorry that they feel blank. For example, if the shipping took too long. You can say to the customer that you are sorry that they feel the shipping took too long to get the product to their house. This is not admitting fault because you are simply acknowledging their feelings.

For a complaint that there is no solution try and offer something to the customer. For example, if the shipping took too long in the customer?s eyes, offer a discount on their next purchase. Offer to provide them with free shipping next time if you charge shipping for your wellness products. As the last resort, you can give them a partial refund for their product. When determining a refund, calculate how much the product cost you. Make certain that the product is cost is covered and refund the profit. This will enable you to refund them a bit without losing a great deal of money or completely giving the items away for free.

For a complaint that there is a solution, fix the problem immediately. For example, if the product arrived in poor condition. Go ahead and ship another product to the customer and ask them to ship the poor condition product back to you. Don?t wait until you receive their item to replace it. The majority of time people will not keep both products. Let the customer know what solution you offer for fixing the situation immediately. This will let them know that you care about their happiness with your wellness products and services.

If the customer cannot be satisfied with any solution that you offer for the problem, ask them to give you a suggestion. In a calm voice ask them what they recommend that you do to rectify the situation for them. Often if they don?t have a solution they will be more willing to accept one of your previous suggestions. Remember that a happy customer is going to repeat sales and spread the word about your products and services for your new home business.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/business_and_finance/article_9076.shtml

Top Three Debt Consolidation Myths

By: Alan Lim

If you are thinking of consolidating your debts, watch out for debt consolidation myths and bad moves which can lead you further into debt.

Debt consolidation sounds like a magical solution to help solve all your debt problems. It is in fact, quite promising in more ways than one. However, take note that consolidating your debts is not the same as paying off all your debts. This is one of the pitfalls that many people make when consolidating.

More importantly, you should watch out for the false promises that many debt consolidation companies seem to be offering these days. If you have looked around for potential companies to consolidate your debt with, you would surely have encountered attractive offers from credit organizations promising you things like “debt relief within just a click away!” or “slash down your interest rates to zero!” or “cut down your payment by 60% or even more!”

These concepts are surely attractive and for a regular person who is neck-high in debt who is desperate to get out of it can easily fall into the trap of these false promises. It is quite understandable how people in debt will believe anything and do anything to just get out of debt. But remember that if you make the wrong move, you may end up in even more debt than ever before. To make sure you do not fall into this trap. Here are some debt consolidation myths you have to be wary of:

Myth No. 1: Debt consolidation loans are very easy to get.

The Real Score: Many people consolidate their debts because they have already missed out on a few payments and their credit histories have had bad blows. They hold on knowing that they can easily consolidate and breathe a sigh of relief. What makes the situation worse is that if you are in a bad credit risk, many companies will entice you with easy-to-get loans, which actually charge you rates much higher than you regularly pay for with your existing debts - as high as 22%! They usually distribute it over a longer term so you seem to be paying less each month, but you actually end up paying more.

Myth No. 2: Debt consolidators will take care of everything.

The Real Score: Debt consolidation companies usually promise to take care of negotiating to lower your interest rates and reduce your monthly payments. They actually do what they promise, but for a fee which you pay for monthly as well. This amounts to about 10% of what you pay for. If you do not have as much time to do this yourself, it can be worth the money you pay for. However, it is still very important for you to be personally aware and updated about how your credit status is.

Myth No. 3: Low interest balance transfer cards are all-in-one solution to credit card problems.

The Real Score: Though popular as a debt consolidation move these days, remember that the attractive balance transfer card rates only last you a few months. The danger here actually lies in your credit report. At some point, it will start showing up and will look like a bad credit move. So, if you think that a balance transfer card is for you, make sure you personally close all your existing credit accounts or it may look like your creditor closed it, leading to a worse credit standing.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/business_and_finance/article_9007.shtml