Nordstrom’s philosophy has remained unchanged for more than 100 years since its establishment by John W. Nordstrom in 1901: Offer the customer the best possible service, selection, quality and value. While many businesses have similar philosophies towards customer service, few retailers have been able to inspire such an overwhelming public perception. By cultivating a service culture within their management and employees, Nordstrom’s name has become synonymous with superior customer service.

Many businesses spend thousands of dollars and scores of man hours every year looking for ways to attract new customers and to solidify existing relationships with their current clients. They focus on advertising, operations, sales and a multitude of other aspects of their company, without looking at the most fundamental solution, customer service. If you were to ask them how important customer service is, they will give you a sincere answer about how their customers are the lifeblood of their company. But do they practice what they preach?

Reflect back on some of your day to day interactions as a customer this past week. The restaurant, dry cleaners, grocery store, mall or any other consumer experiences you might have had. How many times were you wowed by the service you received?

What is considered good customer service anymore?

Here are a few simple keys to set your business apart as a leader in your industry.

• Smile, a friendly smile and greeting can set the stage for a great customer experience.
• Focus on their needs, not your profits. By providing solutions to the problems your customers face, you create a relationship and trust that can eventually relate to profits.
• Be quick and efficient when helping your customers. A long line is annoying, but watching employees lounge around when you’re in a hurry can be frustrating beyond words.
• When the customer is ready for your help, give them all your attention. Don’t let the phone or other conversations get in the way.
• When (not if) mistakes happen, fix the error, do it quickly and apologize to the customer, they will understand as long as you don’t blame them or try to make excuses.
• Thank them (by name if possible) for their business and ask them to return

You may be thinking that I didn’t explain anything you didn’t already know. But when was the last time you received this kind of service? Does it happen all the time or is it a rarity? If you and your employees will follow these simple steps, your business will differentiate yourselves from 95% of your competition and profits as well as customer loyalty will soar.

Daryl Sisk is Vice President of Sales and Marketing for A Plus Benefits, Inc. You can contact Daryl at dsisk@aplusbenefits.com

An interesting thing happened today when I called Southwest Airlines to ask about canceling a flight. To my surprise the pleasant voice on the other end of the phone said I could cancel my flight as long as I did so at least an hour before take off. I was so shocked I asked her to repeat what she said. I expected at least a 24 hour time limit for cancellations.

Southwest effectively demonstrates something important about customer service: offer extra flexibility. Customers will become increasingly more comfortable with paying for your service if you allow them to change their mind. With Southwest I will not get my money back if I cancel the flight, but I will get an equivalent credit to use within a year of the original date of my flight. If you happen to be in an industry where giving refunds is unwise provide credit or some other form of flexibility. Perhaps you could try one of the following.

In a retail setting, you could increase customer satisfaction by offering a flexible exchange policy. Within a service driven company you could offer a variety of choices/packages for your customers.

In the case of A Plus Benefits, we offer three different levels of service with a wide array of choices within each of those levels. Each client is able to hand pick which services they want ranging from a 125c cafeteria plan to workers’ compensation policy and claims management. This flexibility gives clients the piece of mind of having a service package created just for their business needs.

Whatever your business, think of creative ways to help customers feel comfortable with making a purchase. Flexibility will not only create more satisfied customers but, like I’ve just done with Southwest, will generate word of mouth about the quality of your product or service.

Samantha Bushard is an HR employee at the Idaho office of A Plus Benefits, Inc.

For companies of all sizes, cash is the life-blood for survival. This is particularly true for start-up and entrepreneurial ventures. There are many tools available to help manage cash flow. One of these tools that has recently gained wide acceptance is Factoring.

Factoring is simply the selling of accounts receivable to a finance company known as a “Factor”, at a discount. For example, “XYZ Corp.” may decide that it has a need for quick cash flow. At the same time “XYZ Corp.” may have a particular account with receivables of $1,000. “XYZ Corp.” would find a “Factor” and sell to that Factor the $1,000 receivable. At the time of sell “XYZ Corp.” would receive 70-90% of the $1,000, with the remaining 10-30% minus a fee payable at the time of collection.

Factoring has recently become very competitive, resulting in wider acceptance as well as a reduction in fees. Before deciding if factoring is right for a given company, one should understand the basic elements of factoring, weigh the pros and cons of factoring, and ensure that factoring fits the particular business’ operational characteristics.

Factoring – Elements

• A quick and easy way to generate cash flow. In most cases cash can be received within 24 hours
• Factors charge a transaction fee and take a discount of between 2-10% depending on factor period and size
• Factors generally pay 70-90% up front and the remaining 10-30% minus a discount upon full collection
• Factors’ decision to purchase the receivable is based on strength of the customers’ financial strength and not that of the seller of the receivable
• Factoring is flexible – companies can chose which receivables to sell, when to sell them and for how long they will sell them

Factoring – Pros and Cons
Pros

• Quick and easy method for obtaining cash
  
• Allows a growing company to take advantage of a big sales opportunity that poor cash flow would normally prevent
  
• Allows a company to take advantage of vendor discounts by paying invoices early
  
• Allows a company to extend vendor credit to a large and or important client
  
• Improves immediate cash flow situation
  
• Factors assume risk of non-collection associated with receivables
  

Cons

• If used as a permanent means of financing factoring can be much more expensive than conventional sources of cash
• Customers may not like paying and dealing with a third party – i.e. Factors

The beneficial application of factoring has a lot to do with the operational characteristics of a business. For example a company with very small margins would generally be ill-advised to use factoring, as fees would eat up profitability quickly. For companies with large amounts of cash on hand, factoring does not make sense either. If however, a company’s margins are large and cash in-flow is variable while expenses are steady, factoring might be beneficial for smoothing out the low cash flow periods.

Factoring, like vendor credit is simply another cash flow tool. It can best be used by shopping around for and setting up a relationship with a Factor before cash flow becomes an issue.

Factoring should be used sparingly to take advantage or large opportunities or smooth out short-term cash-flow lows. The internet is a great place to learn more about factoring and to search for a Factor that fits your business needs.

Richard Zollinger is a finance manager at American Express.

I hate winter and I especially hate driving in the snow. This winter I went into a local tire shop to buy some snow tires for my car in an attempt to lessen my extreme anxiety when it comes to winter driving. As soon as I walked in, a salesman asked if he could help me. I told him I was looking for snow tires and braced myself for “the spiel” about what was on sale or what high priced high performance tires would be “best” for me.

This particular salesman surprised me and took a different approach. He asked me more questions about how far I needed to drive and where I would be driving most often. After talking to him for a few minutes I felt he had a pretty good handle on my situation. Expecting his recommendation to include the highest price tires in the store, I was once again pleasantly surprised. He showed me the options and talked about what would be best for my car in various price ranges.

Needless to say, I bought snow tires. Which brings me to my topic: Why are some people more successful at selling than others? An article in the Harvard Business Review titled “What Makes a Good Salesman” answers that question with two simple words, empathy and drive.

Empathy refers to a salesman’s ability to feel for the customer. To stand in the buyers shoes and understand their wants, needs, and concerns. When the tire salesman asked me questions regarding my driving habits he was attempting to understand my position.

Drive is the need to make the sale. A successful salesman needs to sell to satisfy his ego in addition to monetary rewards. Salesmen are usually known for being egomaniacs. They want to win and do so by making the sale. With the tire salesman, I didn’t feel pushed into the sale. I knew he wanted me to buy, but I didn’t feel any pressure.

The difficulty lies in finding a good balance between empathy and drive. A good salesman’s drive will control his empathy. This will ensure that his empathy doesn’t damage company profitability or threaten the sale. Additionally, a good salesman’s empathy will control his drive. This will ensure that his drive doesn’t push him so far away from the customer that he is unable to make a connection.

This tire salesman struck a great balance between empathy and drive. In the process he won my business and I left feeling like I was sold the most appropriate tires in his store for my situation.

Samantha Bushard is an HR employee for the Idaho office of A Plus Benefits, Inc.

I walked into the sales office this morning and noticed a catastrophe on one of the desks. A smattering of business cards covering every inch. They weren’t in any particular order, at least as far as I could tell.

Maybe the owner of the desk knows which company’s card is located three cards from the top of a small pile in the upper left-hand corner, but to me it is a mystery. Not only is the collection a disaster, but it is also serving no purpose, unless he is hoping to liven up his working environment with a bit of creative decorating.

If your desk is often found in a similar state of despair, you aren’t using those business cards to their full potential. Next time you find yourself at a networking event, continuing to pick up business cards, try a different strategy.

During the next week, call those individuals you are genuinely interested in getting to know. Invite them for coffee or lunch. Timing is critical, if you want the person to remember who you are. If you haven’t made contact within a week of receiving someone’s card, it’s probably too late. They won’t remember you, nor should they. You haven’t given them any reason to.

Before the meeting, try to learn some background on the contact, company and the industry. Explore what intrigued you about the individual in the first place.

The purpose of the meeting should be to genuinely get to know them. Making a friend will get you further than trying to make a sale. It may take more time to build a positive working relationship, but this kind of connection will ensure that they think of you and your company in the future.

Following this guidance will make sure you don’t miss out the opportunities hidden under the third card from the top of a small pile in the upper left-hand corner of your desk.

Samantha Bushard is an HR employee for the Idaho office of A Plus Benefits, Inc.