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If I was thinking of buying stocks and shares in a company - or more importantly buying products from them - I would try to find out how good they are at dealing with customer complaints. Many companies groan at the thought of complaining customers. More enlightened companies welcome, even encourage, complaints. Why? Because a complaining customer is providing a company with an invaluable service. At a stroke they are giving valuable feedback, quality control information and are more often than not, giving you a chance to put a problem right.

Of course, the best customer is one that is completely satisfied. The next best customer is dissatisfied and complains. The worst customer is one that is dissatisfied and doesn’t complain. This last example represents a lost
customer. They will not give any feedback and not allow you to put the problem right. They will simply walk away and look for a better supplier of their product.

Respect

So, how do you deal with customer complaints? It does not hurt to thank them for taking the trouble to contact you. Before you decide to investigate further, just think on this: the vast majority of customer complaints are genuine. Very few are made in order to get something for nothing. So, treat the customer with due respect from the start. We all know that many genuine complaints turn out to be errors at the customer end, especially with mechanical or electrical devices. The product may be fine but the customer doesn’t know how to operate it. Before you file this away under customer error classification, ask if the customer if they found the instructions hard to follow or found the product hard to operate. Not only may you find the feedback valuable, you will also be giving some respect to the customer. If the complaint is not a customer error then, as I said, it is probably genuine. Why not assume that the customer is right and
swap it or offer a refund or, at least, offer to repair it. When you or your staff get to see the product you will then know what the problem is (or isn’t) and be able to adapt the product - or your approach to customers - as a result.

Investigate

Thoroughly investigate their complaint. Try to do this quickly. If the investigation is dragging, keep them informed. DON’T expect them to chase you! If your investigation has upheld the customer’s grievance then apologise as soon as possible. Not only that, tell the customer what you are doing to prevent the
problem from being repeated. Assure them that this will not happen again and assure them that you care about the service and the products you provide.

Put it Right - Permanently

For many companies, even if they do everything right up to this point, the issue is closed as soon as the refund or replacement is processed. The promised action to prevent recurrence is not followed through. As sure as eggs is eggs, one day, the same problem will be repeated. Next time, however, you may not be
so lucky: you may end up with a non-complaining customer - the worse type - and lost future sales.

Trust

The thing about the customer who complains, is that you have a chance to build a relationship with them that is beyond the normal buy and sell transaction. You can demonstrate the exceptional nature of the problem and show the customer how seriously you take such issues. The complaining customer may
well buy more goods from you in future as they know you will “look after them” should a problem arise. Put simply, they will trust you.

Example

Arkay Hygiene sells Insectocutor Fly Killers. Now this happened just ONCE: a few years ago a customer had a machine with a faulty lampholder (it holds the uv bulb in place, dummy!). No investigation was necessary: the customer said she had a faulty lampholder and that was that. No arguments. We offered to swap the product for a new one. The problem, as the customer explained, was that the fly killer unit had already been unpacked and fixed into position. We decided to despatch an engineer with a new lamp holder and he quickly got the unit back in action. This customer has since purchased many other goods from us over many years. The bond of trust between us and this customer was born from this complaint.

Vernon Stent is the marketing consultant to Arkay Hygiene which sells a range of spare parts for fly killers such as the lampholder for circline lamps.

A banner or a text link on your website can generate hundred to million dollars for you! You don’t believe. You have to. Get an affiliate program signup for free and experience how your income double! Internet marketing is now affiliate marketing. It is the affiliate programs through which merchants are minting money. Become an affiliate marketer and start receiving hundreds of dollars monthly!

An affiliate program is a marketing strategy that a trading site uses to promote its services and products. Trading site makes marketing agreements with other sites about which it feels that its target audience visits these sites. These affiliate sites then post banners and links of the merchant site. When the visitor of an affiliate site clicks a banner or link, it takes it to the original merchant site and the affiliate sites in returns get a fixed commission for it. Affiliates are paid either on per click, per impression, per lead, or per sale basis. However, pay per lead is most useful among all. In pay per lead, affiliate is paid if the visitor sent by him signs up for a free trial, e-mail list, or sales call.

Affiliate programs are a great way to make your website profitable and to earn hundreds of dollars. It is a great business that does not involve product development and maintenance cost, client support cost, and order processing cost. So quite cost-effective business. The superb advantage of using affiliate programs is that they are free to join. You can run this business both as part-time or full-time.

Affiliate program undoubtedly is a great money making technique. Choose an appropriate affiliate program, promote it properly and tactically, and get a handsome amount check monthly.

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NEVER TO OLD

My great granddaughter said I was too old to learn to use a computer.

The trouble with the younger generation is that, they think that just because you are getting old, you are also becoming stupid.

At seventy three I suppose I do seem ancient to a twelve year old.

Never mind. I decided to show them by example.

A second hand computer and an old Epson printer cost me £200.00. Evening classes on how to use the internet were free to oldies like me.

I soon had myself set up with ‘Freeserve’ with my very own email address. They call themselves Wannadoo now.

It was not long before I was getting e-mails from hundreds of people and companies that I had never heard of before.

I learned my lesson regarding junk mail. I changed my email account and started all over again.

There was an affiliate program that looked interesting. I kept on getting references to it from various sources. The idea of earning a little extra money to boost my pension was very appealing.

I took the plunge and signed up. They gave me a ready set up web page with everything controlled from the home base. All that I had to do was to advertise the program and the money would come pouring in. (What a hope.)

Two months went by with no income. Just outgoings.

It was then that I discovered a book called ‘30 Days to success.’ By Stone Evans. (You can get it for free.) This is one man who knows what he is talking about. It showed me exactly where I was going wrong.

Ten days later I received an e-mail from PayPal to say that two payments had been made into my account, A total of eighty six dollars. Not a great amount but the first of many.

It was not long before I had a steady couple of hundred dollars coming in each month.

It was working because I was working to a system. If you work the system, the system will work for you. (I proved it.)

What will work with one affiliate program will work with others.

I expanded the system by signing up to a new affiliate program every two weeks. I set up my own website with links to each of them. It is easier to advertise one website with links to several affiliate programs, than to advertise each one individually. Besides, using your own website it is easy to capture the email addresses of your prospects and customers so that you have the opportunity to mail them with other offers.

I am affiliated to nine companies at present. I was going to aim for a dozen, but I would rather have more time with my grandchildren and their children than have to work that extra hour each week. After all, I am supposed to be retired.

I can now afford to send the whole family to Disney-land without having to count the cost.

I work about fifteen hours a week and leave the rest to the autoresponder, clickbank and PayPal.

As long as I can find time to reply to my e-mails and make a few other checks I can do whatever I like, when I like.

I can even do it on holiday using my brand new laptop.

If my great granddaughter had not told me that I was too old to learn new tricks in the first place, I would still be counting the pennies and watching television for the rest of my days.

Hurrah! for the younger generation.

You are never too old. I proved it.

.…..Robjfar……..

About The Author

Robert J Farey

Bob has been on line for over five years. He loves affiliate programs because all of the technical stuff is done by the owners of the programs. Leaving him free to concentrate on the promotion side of the business. If this article has set you thinking. Please take a look at: http://www.33daystoonlineprofits.com/video/?robertjay

Have you recently joined a new program, bought a new product, know of a great service to offer to others?

Are you also sitting there wondering, “Where do I start?”

Promoting that is…

This situation has recently been brought literally to my doorstep (by the neighbor next door), and recently via a phone call from a brand new online marketer.

Both bought into fairly expensive programs, and neither had a clue where to start.

It sounded easy to both of them - or should I say the person who talked them into it made it sound easy as pie.

Then, after parting with the cash, both were left stranded. No advice, no help, no contact.

How typical and how sad, since the initial “what should I do and where” is fairly easy to get going.

The very first thing you need to do is submit your website/affiliate url to the search engines.

http://www.submitplus.com has a free program that hits many of the not-so-well-known (and a few well known) engines for you for absolutely no charge. Cli’ck on their Free Programs tab, put your url into the box, and submit. It’s that easy.

Then, head over to http://www.google.com/addurl.html and put your website/affiliate url into Google. Google, and a few others out there, will only accept manually input urls. You don’t need to add comments, but a few keywords in the Comments field can’t hurt

Now… Mark this day on your calendar, and 30 days from now (for Google) and maybe sooner for the others, submit it again. Do this for several months on a regular basis. It works.

[Note: Google states you only have to submit once and they will find you. I’d still suggest submitting it for a few months in a row though since they change their minds so frequently… and their algorithms!]

Next, search out free startpage programs/services. Be creative in your search terms and don’t get sidetracked *smile!* You’re looking for the services that will allow you to join for fr’ee, insert your url into their system, and in exchange they give you a link to 1) surf with and 2) promote the program [you can usually build downlines in these types of programs which gives you more hits/views of your url when your downline surfs].

Follow their directions - read - and they are fairly easy to get rolling. Create a folder in your inbox and keep all the links in one place (or use any other method that will be handy for you, a favorites folder, etc.). Remember to surf! Once your f’ree credits are used up, you need to either surf the exchanges or purchase additional credits.

Okay, that’s two major and totally fre’e ways to get the ball rolling on your newly-joined program.

What’s next?

Well, right now you’re reading someone’s ezine and no doubt they allow you to submit text ads as a benefit for being a subscriber. Do it! Your first ad is usually the hardest, but I do suggest you write your own (assuming you’re allowed to by the owners of the program you’re promoting).

Personally-thought-up ads are always the best, though many programs out there do have an affiliate area with ready-made ones for you to use.

My suggestion is to read them all, then compose one of your own either using bits and pieces of some - or by writing your ad strictly from your own viewpoint of the program. The personal touch is always best

Next…? Decide if you want to keep finding free methods - which do work to a point - or if you’re going to allot some sort of advertising budget toward promoting your program.

Make use of words (text ads) and page views.

Start small. For $10 or less you can keep a text ad out on the net for 30 days or more (in most cases).

Text ads circulating for a longer period of time are always best. This is an excellent, and inexpensive, way to brand your program and/or yourself! Ads seen more often, for longer periods of time work light-years ahead of the “one shot, I’m done!” advertisements. Use longevity to your advantage.

For about the same cost you can also use other methods to really hone in on your market. Target marketing may be a bit slower but the return on investment works well since those arriving at your chosen destination were, no doubt, looking for your program or one close enough to it that the traffic benefits you.

You can target your market with both text ads and website visits. Choose one or both!

And… a very basic first step is to… educate yourself!

What neither of these people realized was their own affiliate websites were loaded with marketing material and, yes, even teleconferences, etc., to get started, keep them motivated, and help them market.

Read. Then read again. Then read again.

However you choose to start - free or paid - is totally up to you. But do begin. And again, your best starting points (after your own website training that is) are search engine submittals, startpage programs, and ezine advertising.

Marketing takes time, knowledge, and motivation.

Remember, the person holding you back just might be… yourself.

© Theresa Cahill - All Rights Reserved. Feel free to distribute this article. Please keep it intact and with the resource box included below.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Theresa Cahill, a two decade veteran of marketing, is the owner of http://www.mywizardads.com and invites you to take a look at the services of MWA and download fr.ee helpful information and more at http://www.mywizardads.com/sitemap.html