Susan Ward Quotations

We are very excited with the roster of skaters that are coming. It's the first time New Jersey has been awarded an event of this caliber in the skating world. It's definitely important to the area because we hear all the time that there are not enough major sporting events in South Jersey. It's a great opportunity to have such an event.

Train your staff (if you have any) to be always helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable. Most importantly, give every member of your staff enough information and power to make those small customer-pleasing decisions, so he never has to say, "I don't know, but so-and-so will be back at..."

Answer your phone. Get call forwarding. Or an answering service. Hire staff if you need to. But make sure that someone is picking up the phone when someone calls your business.

Listen to your customers. Can the sales pitches and the product babble. Let your customer talk and show him that you are listening by making the appropriate responses, such as suggesting how to solve the problem.

Deal with complaints. If you give the complaint your attention, you may be able to please this one person this one time - and position your business to reap the benefits of good customer service.

Throw in something extra. Whether it's a coupon for a future discount, additional information on how to use the product, or a genuine smile, people love to get more than they thought they were getting. And don't think that a gesture has to be large to be effective.

Because they're sponges, it's better to incorporate it into their lives now rather than change behavior (later).

That's not why we named the restaurant 17, ... but it seems to be a good omen.

The irony of good customer service is that over time it will bring in more new customers than promotions and price slashing ever did!

Lower prices are not service; they're just lower prices.