Personal touches are key to customer service
Dear Karen: Do you have tips on how my company can improve customer service?
Answer: Personalize interactions with your customers: Call them by name, ask about their families, suggest purchases for them. Be on time for appointments, when answering inquiries and with your shipments.
“Make sure that the first and final elements of your customer interactions are particularly well-engineered, because they are going to stick in the customer’s memory,” said Micah Solomon, co-author of the book, “Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit.”
Hire “people persons” who smile frequently to be the face of your company, and train employees to have great attitudes and use proper words when interacting with your customers.
No grants for small businesses
Dear Karen: Where can I find information about grants for women-owned small businesses?
Answer: There are no grants for most small businesses, women-owned or otherwise.
Resources for entrepreneurs are generally available in the form of counseling, training and small-business loans, some of them involving government guarantees and low interest rates. Many scammers promise government grants. Do not fall for them.
The Grants.gov website is the clearinghouse for government grant funding and eligibility.
The Small Business Administration’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership provides management and technical assistance to entrepreneurs, particularly disadvantaged women.
Insurance broker can assess needs
Dear Karen: What kind of insurance does my company need?
Answer: It depends on what you are selling and whether you have employees. Talk to a broker about what kind of coverage you should carry and how much it will cost.
Many small companies buy general liability policies designed for entrepreneurial firms, said Tim Gaspar, president of Gaspar Insurance in Encino. They may add property insurance, errors and omissions insurance, worker’s compensation or automobile insurance, depending on the situations.
Questions? Write to Karen at inbox.business@latimes.
com or In Box, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012.
