Category Archives: Customer service

An Excellent Example of How to Foster Customer Loyalty

June 24, 2011 – 4:15 am

What are your customers really thinking? What’s working for them, and what isn’t? What do they really think about your company vs. your competition? That can be tough information to draw out of people, but Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery of Dolores, CO, has found a very effective way of doing so. (Click on the headline for more…)

By Val Gosset | Leave a Comment

Tools to Monitor Your Company’s Reputation

October 18, 2010 – 4:15 am

A while back, I was at a conference that included a mystery shopper session. In front of a live audience, a panel of gardeners placed phone and online orders from several catalog companies that had agreed to participate. The catalogers were certainly to be commended for the bravery in participating, and most came through with flying colors. One, unfortunately, suffered some public embarrassment when their telephone rep fumbled all the way through the call. (Click on the headline for more…)

By Val Gosset | Also posted in Resources | Leave a Comment

How a Single YouTube Video Rocked the Customer Service World

February 5, 2010 – 4:15 am

If you have anything to do with customer service and/or have ever been stonewalled by bureaucratic runaround from an inept corporation (I guess that should cover everyone), here’s a story you’ll love. (Click on the headline for more…)

By Val Gosset | Also posted in Social media | Tagged | Leave a Comment

A Clever New Way to Boost Online Sales

January 25, 2010 – 4:15 am

At the latest Mailorder Gardening Association conference, speaker Sundeep Kapur offered this interesting suggestion for boosting online sales: (Click on the headline for more…)

By Val Gosset | Also posted in Email marketing | Leave a Comment

Watch Your Wording When Talking to New Gardeners

January 15, 2010 – 4:15 am

One of the most interesting and beneficial programs at the Mailorder Gardening Association conference earlier this month consisted of a consumer panel who shopped members’ catalogs and websites in front of a live audience, then evaluated their experience with each company.

One of the panelists (Click on the headline for more…)

By Val Gosset | Also posted in Copywriting | Leave a Comment

Creating Positive PR in Online Communities

November 23, 2009 – 4:15 am

Our last enewsletter addressed the subject of How to Handle Online Customer Complaints. It included suggestions on what not to do, as well as best practices to follow. In the course of researching that issue, I came across a superb example of using customer comments to your advantage. To have a look, (click on the headline for more…)

By Val Gosset | Also posted in Social media | Leave a Comment

Insights Into How Customers Rate Garden Company Shopping

November 2, 2009 – 4:15 am

In my last blog post, I emphasized the importance of following best practices in all your customer touchpoints if you want to maximize your sales without increasing your marketing budget. As I mentioned, the Secret Shopper Survey sponsored by the Mailorder Gardening Association earlier this year uncovered an astonishing number of opportunities for improvement in this regard. A new program at the next MGA conference is sure to provide even more ideas for low-cost improvements. (Click on the headline for more…)

By Val Gosset | Also posted in Events, Marketing | Leave a Comment

Can You Increase Your Sales Without Increasing Your Budget?

October 30, 2009 – 4:15 am

These days, every company is looking for ways to get more out of their marketing budget. Experience suggests that an internal review of how you handle information requests and your ordering process is likely to uncover a wealth of opportunities. A couple shocking examples illustrate why I say that: (Click on the headline for more…)

By Val Gosset | Also posted in Marketing | Leave a Comment

Penetrating Customer Insights From 3 Simple Questions

October 5, 2009 – 4:15 am

Clients sometimes tell me they’re interested in doing a customer survey, but don’t know what to ask. From Fred Reicheld’s book The Ultimate Question: Driving Good Profits and True Growth comes three of the best questions anyone could ask their customers: (click on the headline for more…)

By Val Gosset | Tagged , , | Leave a Comment

Secret Shopper Survey Reveals Missed Opportunities

July 22, 2009 – 4:15 am

Twenty-six Mailorder Gardening Association members recently participated in a Secret Shopper Survey to evaluate and benchmark their ordering systems. Tom Beddows of THB Direct performed the survey and reported the results at last week’s Mailorder Gardening Association conference. Boy, do we as an industry have some work to do!

A number of Tom’s findings represent significant missed income opportunities. For instance, for the telephone orders placed: (Click on the headline for more…)

By Val Gosset | Also posted in Marketing | Comments (2)
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.