Category: Customer Service

Trust, Loyalty, and Long-Term Commitments

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

Did you know Ausoma doesn’t require long-term commitments from our clients? Our only contract is a service agreement stating the scope of work and cost, and an agreement to provide 30 days notice to cancel services. While we strongly recommend a 90 day commitment for new clients because it takes time to achieve results, no client is bound to us by a long-term contract. We take the risk, not the client.

Yet most stay long term.

If people stay when they don’t have to, spend their hard earned money with no contractual obligation forcing them, there must be something else keeping them.

If you’d like to find out what that is, just ask.

Don’t Cull Your Email List

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

My circle of author friends recently discussed how they were all pruning their email lists to remove the people who never opened them. I wailed loudly that this is an enormous mistake.

Pardon me while I get geeky for a moment.

Newsletter tools that report “opens” do not, in reality, know who opened your email (let alone who read it.) The only method possible right now to measure “opens” is to include a tiny invisible image in the email and hope that the recipient will enable their email program’s ability to include images. In Gmail, for instance, images will not be displayed unless you give permission. Many programs, like Microsoft’s ubiquitous Outlook, have a preview pane, allowing a recipient to read your entire email without ever actually opening it and activating the invisible image trigger that notifies the newsletter tool.

… more … “Don’t Cull Your Email List”

Going the Extra Mile for Your Client

Posted on by Sue L Canfield

going the extra mile for your clientHaving trouble with client retention? Go the extra mile!

Too often I find virtual assistants with the mindset of doing tasks assigned for an hourly rate. A Chief Virtual Officer has the mindset of a business owner and understands the importance of client retention. It means going the extra mile for clients – exceeding their expectations.

When you and your client first start, you both sign a contract stating expectations on both sides. That’s very important. But periodically, do something unexpected for your client – exceed their expectations. You’ll find you have happier clients, more client referrals, and a higher client retention rate.

Here are a few ideas for going the extra mile:

  • Create quotes from their blog, newsletter, or other marketing materials and add to images to post on Pinterest and Facebook.
  • Do you see something they could improve? Don’t be afraid to speak up. Share your thoughts with your client.
  • Periodically email or call your client to schedule a 15-minute phone conversation to brainstorm other ideas you could help them with.
  • Create a new Pinterest board and add content. Perhaps a “Tips” board based on some of their favorite tips they provide to their clients.
  • Look for a blog post relevant to their industry and send them a link encouraging them to comment on it.

What ideas do you have for going the extra mile? Please share them with everyone here!

6 Questions to Ask to Get Good Testimonials from Clients

Posted on by Sue L Canfield

6 testimonials to ask to get good testimonials

Getting good testimonials from clients allows you to use those to promote your services to prospects. Here are 6 questions to ask to get good testimonials from your happy clients.

  1. What was the obstacle that would have prevented you from using our services?
  2. What did you find as a result of using our services?
  3. What specifically did you like most about our services?
  4. What would be 3 other benefits of using our services?
  5. Would you recommend our services? If so, why?
  6. Is there anything you’d like to add?

Here are some testimonials we’ve received. We’d love to read some of yours!

How Well Do You Know Your List?

Posted on by Sue L Canfield

How well do you know your list?

Who are the people on your list that receive your newsletter or blog? Do you have hundreds on your list? If so, do you know where they all came from? If you had to write each one of them an individual message, could you include something specific that you know they would want to hear?

We have an extensive network of people around the world that we stay in touch with via blogs, emails, newsletters, forums, etc. Some have opted-in to a newsletter or blog that we don’t personally know. Otherwise, I can tell you something about just about everyone we to whom we send out a  mailing.

Joel and I were recently getting ready to send out a mailing about our web design company, Spinhead Web Design. We wanted to announce our new service, Kindle Formatting. It had been a while since we’d sent anything out so we decided to review the list first to make sure that only people who would really be interested received our email.

We started out with over 300 on the list and pruned it to about 120. But I could tell you where every one of those 120 contacts came from – how we met, whether in person or online. We knew these were people that had either done business with us or were fans of ours. These all are people who are our fans. If they don’t need our service, we know they’ll refer someone else who does.

It’s not effective to send eblasts out to those who are either going to ignore you or feel annoyed. But targeting our fans – that’s effective!

Thank you to all our fans!