The rise of social media has changed the landscape of service delivery beyond what many people expected.

Today, thousands of companies have realized the influence social media has and how they can harness this opportunity to reach out to their current, as well as potential clients through customer support.

In a competitive business landscape, customer service is important than ever before. For the last few years, businesses have tried to tap into social media as a possible customer support tool.

But how exactly can social media be used to provide customer support?

In order to monitor anything touching on your business across any social media platform, having a good social media dashboard in your toolbox is crucial.

Such a tool will allow you keep track of several social media streams at ago. A typical example could be a Twitter home feed or Facebook newsfeed.

We are living in a mobile-obsessed society where anything can be done through a simple touch of a button. It is not uncommon to see customers update their Facebook status during or prior to their experience at a given business outlet.

If you catch these updates and respond to their concerns in a timely manner, then this will definitely leave a lasting impression on them.

Unfortunately, it can't be a rosy affair in the social media arena at all times. There are times when customers will air their grievances or bad experiences through these channels.

If you happen to notice disgruntled customers air their views, then a company can take that opportunity to apologize to the customer and make necessary adjustments that will portray the business in a positive light.

As a business operating in a competitive environment, you understand that your customers are the most valued assets. In that respect, you must strive to understand how best you can help them to improve their experience.

So, why not use Facebook's question feature to reach out to your customers? Just ensure that you are ready to respond to the questions in a timely and professional manner while providing them with valuable information.

Did you know that you can use one stone to kill two birds when it comes to customer support through the social media? A good example is the decision to make your Facebook wall open for all to post comments publicly.

By responding to one customer, you may end up providing valuable help to more than just the person who posted the question. This is because there are chances that it is not just that one person who had the same issue.

Yelp is another great tool that can allow you to monitor reviews and find out what issues your customers are raising about your business. You should take negative reviews as an opportunity to appease your customers and rectify what you did wrong. Here, one can respond either publicly or privately, depending on the nature of the issue raised.

There is no doubt that providing customer support through social media provides an excellent opportunity to find out what your customers' needs are. Above all, it is also a platform where customers appreciate excellent service delivery for improved business performance.
 

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It is challenging to run any business because of various activities that need to be handled simultaneously.

These tasks include employee management, administration work, data entry, handling sales and marketing duties, and arranging official conferences or meetings.

With the number of responsibilities, some people end up feeling exhausted from managing their business.

There may be instances when business owners fail to give excellent customer service because of too many responsibilities that they need to accomplish.

Fortunately, they can obtain a solution to their concerns by obtaining virtual assistance.

A virtual assistant is an independent service provider that can deliver services to clients online. These professionals can provide different types of services such as creative, administrative, secretarial and technical. They can communicate and deliver services online through various channels including fax, email, and phone.

Examples Of Excellent Customer Service Delivery By Virtual Assistants

Many business owners recognize the importance of virtual assistants in promoting the success of their industry. They can outsource business tasks to offshore companies and individuals without the need for face to face interaction.

Through different communication channels, businesspersons can contact their virtual assistants regarding any concerns. The following examples prove how virtual assistance can promote an outstanding customer service delivery.

1. Virtual assistants can handle personal and administrative tasks.

Personal assistance include many tasks such as attending calls, making arrangements for travel or transportation, taking notes, and reminding of business conferences or meetings. Virtual assistants can also take care of administrative duties involving business presentations and meeting with clients.

2. These professionals can provide marketing and executive assistance, as well as data entry support.

Businesspersons who need talented people to promote their products or services can rely on the creativity and marketing skills of virtual assistants. They can carry out the task with remarkable efficiency and proficiency.

These professionals are also reliable in handling executive duties such as database and project management. In addition, these virtual assistants can also undertake data entry that is very important in any online business.

3. Provide technical support when necessary.

It is also ideal to hire virtual assistants who have an extensive experience in software or troubleshooting computers. When there are technical issues, these specialists can provide the most effective solution in only a matter of minutes. Prompt customer service delivery is not affected when there are no technical issues left unsolved.

How To Provide The Best Customer Services

Business owners can provide outstanding customer care when they hire qualified virtual assistants. These professionals should be trustworthy and reliable in handling the workload assigned by the client. The following tips can help virtual assistants in providing professional service:

1. Set up a meeting with the client and learn about the company and any affiliation with a particular industry. This can promote a solid working relationship between the virtual assistant and client.

2. Maintain a professional reputation by answering and returning calls promptly. This may be done by using voicemail when the assistant is unable to respond to messages due to various reasons.

3. Exceed clients' expectations by going the extra mile in completing work ahead of the deadline. It is also important to have a back-up plan in case of emergencies.

Bottom Line

It costs any business more to get new clients that to retain existing ones. When a client leaves, this can be very disadvantageous to small businesses. In addition, business owners might have to suffer the consequence of having a negative image from other potential clients.

However, proper business management and notable customer service delivery can prevent these situations from happening. Through virtual assistance, any business can succeed and maintain long-term support from clients.
 

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With 2012 still full of brightness and hope, there is plenty of room for most businesses to improve their customer service trends.

Given the unprecedented access to most company reviews, customers should no longer be ignored.

Unfortunately, customer service is mostly characterized by underfunding, disorganization and understaffing.

So, what are some of the key trends that customer service professionals should consider the most as they look forward to an eventful year?

1. Video will remain a mainstream customer service tool.

The massive popularity of online video sites such as Youtube will make it possible for the use of video content to provide customer services.

There are several ways through which this can be achieved; dedicated videos which tell customers how to do certain things, through the integration of special codes in to the website and direct videos which facilitate agent-to-customer interactions.

2. Websites should be optimized for smartphone access.

More than ever before, people now use their mobile phones for various reasons besides the traditionally known ones. With the increased use of smartphones, millions of customers can be reached through their mobile phones by designing websites that are optimized for smartphone access.

3. Using customer feedback to track service delivery metrics.

2012 is set to be the year when companies started working on modalities on offering high quality service delivery and financial success.

Through the use of feedback applications, companies are able to instantly measure metrics to enable them ascertain how effective their customers are in doing business with them. This will enable the business to take necessary steps to tackle customer frustrations.

4. Service delivery through virtual assistance.

In 2012, the gap between the contact center and the web should get much closer. One of the innovative and time tested ways of doing this is through virtual assistance. This innovation provides customer service operations that interact with web visitors, giving them the opportunity to easily navigate the site and share relevant and valued information.

5. The use of cloud computing and technology.

The invention of cloud computing has come as a blessing for businesses in 2012. This technology has played a significant role in enabling contact centers work more efficiently. It has actually helped businesses to strike a balance between the traditional methods and the flexibility offered by cloud computing.

6. Capturing customer voice.

Speech analytics technology has reached a level where it is both affordable and mature. Through the use of this integrated customer service tool, you can easily and quickly determine why your customers are calling, and why you get a sudden rise in customer calls.

With this technology, 2012 is the year to ascertain why your customers are calling and finding a lasting solution to their problems.

7. Social media.

The use of social media is rapidly changing, and this is having positive effects on customer service industry. More than ever before, it is easier for customers to complain about a given company and have their voices heard by millions across the globe.

As such, more organizations are considering establishing social media customer services that will tackle issues raised on such platforms.
 

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The demand for customer support is increasing with each passing day and cost associated with providing customer support to customers is also increasing.

However, outsourcing customer support services to a third-party company or vendor is a proven alternative that is available to all types of small and large-scale companies.

Hiring a third-party company to provide customer support on behalf on another company makes it easier to achieve results and save money.

However, for those who want to outsource their customer support, choosing the right company a third-party company or vendor is not an easy task.

The following tips can be considered by companies that are choosing for a third-party vendor to outsource their customer support services.

1. Only recognized companies that are reputable for providing prompt customer support service should be considered. Businesses these days use voice and/or non-voice based systems to provide customer support service.

Therefore, the customer support provider that is being considered should have a skilled and strong technical team to avoid any glitches that might occur.

2. In case an overseas telephone customer support provider is hired, the company should be willing to train its staff so that they are able to communicate with the customers easily. If the staff does not do a good job of understanding the requirement of a customer, this can result in the loss of business.

3. Business owners who want to outsource their helpdesk customer support services should make sure that the company or vendor they are hiring will operate around the clock.

Business owners will also have to keep their budget in mind when outsourcing their customer support and should go for a company that is charging an affordable price. Before the outsourcing customer support, company is hired; the terms and conditions of the contract should be thoroughly examined and evaluated.

4. The performance of the outsourcing customer support company can also be monitored through a service level agreement.

The level of service that customers expect to receive is either maintained or exceeded this way. The contract signed with a customer support provider can even be renewed or additional services can also be obtained.

5. When outsourcing the customer support services of a business, a person within the company should also be appointed for managing the transition process. This way, customers will not have to face any inconveniences.

Appointing one of the employees from the company to coordinate with the outsourcing customer support provider is also a sensible decision.

If a reliable outsourcing customer support service company is hired, both resources and time can be spared that can be focused on the core competency of a business. In order to ensure, that a variety of customer queries are competently handled, the chosen company should have a vast number of experienced staff members.

Providing customer support is never an easy task and for businesses that get burdened because of providing customer service on their own, outsourcing to another company seems like a viable solution.

Since the customer support services are a major aspect of a business's reputability, so a outsourcing customer support provider should be chosen wisely.
 

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Companies are increasing their use of the telephone as the quickest and most convenient way of establishing customer contacts. Call centers and mail order is one of the fastest growing operations among many industries.

It is essential that all employees represent their company with a professional and friendly manner. Clear and effective communication is essential to ensure that the business is not lost.

If your staff is not trained properly on telephone skills, it can damage the reputation of the company. Every customer calling should receive a positive and seamless service that is professional, efficient and responsive.

Customers who are handled well will notice the good service, bring more business and hopefully build a long term relationship with you. Customers who are not handled well damage your reputation and take their business to the competition.

Working over the phone can be a challenge. You can’t see what they are talking about and they can’t see what you are trying to explain. Clarity is a must when offering customer service on the phone.

The need for customers to have answers for their questions and concerns is high, having the option of calling a customer service representative has proven to be appreciated as it does not require a customer to leave their home each time they need help.

If your company has not offered this service, it may be something to consider for the future. It’s a way to keep your customers happy and coming back for more.

Choosing Your Staff

When you are hiring persons to work in your store/business, you want to ensure you are promoting your ideals through the right people. Having a person who is not approachable, doesn’t "look the part", is rude or sarcastic, doesn’t smile, or is generally incompetent will hurt your business.

There are skills and attributes to consider when hiring staff, some of these are:

• Congenial personality – An outgoing individual who appears confident and posses a polite demeanor gives the customer a feeling of comfort. If a customer is comfortable with the agent they are speaking with, they are more apt to stay and return producing the sales you are looking for.
• An aptitude for managing difficult situations is a good thing. If your employee takes everything to heart, it may be hard to keep that employee feeling comfortable, and this may reflect on the customer.
• An aptitude for presenting merchandise that will help your customer takes a great person. Customers want people who are knowledgeable and can ensure they will get the item they need.
• A strong team player is a good quality in an employee. If your employee cannot work well with others it will be hard on everyone, including the customer.

Consider who it is you are hiring, they represent your company. You will want to have people working for you who can bring your customers back again and again.
 

Any business of a decent size will have its fair share of customers who are, for whatever reason, dissatisfied with their lot. Maybe it's a faulty product; maybe it's entirely their fault.

However, either way, if you want to ensure they'll use your services again, good customer service is vital. With a large institution, you'll likely want to use customer service technology to automate that, at least in part.

That's fine, but consider these questions before you decide on your solution.

1. "How large is my business?"

When you're looking to invest in customer service technology, this is the single most important question for you to ask. A larger business means you're serving more customers, and that means that you have a heavier workload with regards to customer service.

So, your customer service technology will need to be considerably more resilient if you have a larger business, it has to deal with substantially more demand on it. If you have a large enough business, you may even want to consider contracting for a custom customer service system.

2. "What are we doing?"

The purpose of customer service is, put simply, to remedy problems which present themselves to your customer base. What you do for your customers matters in determining how to solve their problems.

If you run a retail business, most of your problems will boil down to either defective or unwanted goods; if you run a tech support center, you might have to send out another technician when one of yours botches a job.

There's no “one-size-fits-all” approach here; you need to make absolutely certain that your customer service technology is well-suited to the demands of your business sector. If you provide software, you need a bug tracker, for instance.

3. "What is our budget?"

Like anything else, your customer service system is dependent on the amount of money you're willing to put into it. If you want more features in customer service technology, you're going to have to be prepared to put more money into it.

If you don't have the funds to enable you to sink a decent sum in your customer service system, you're going to have to settle for a lesser feature set. However, if you have the money, it's worth thinking over your budget again before you ditch features which are useful in your enterprise. Good customer service technology will save you money in the long run.

4. "Will this assist in satisfying the customer?"

This is the single most important question listed here. In running a successful business, there's absolutely nothing which comes before building a base of loyal customers, people who will reliably choose your business over competitors in its sector.

Even if you have a near-monopoly, if you abuse your customers they will defect given the chance. By definition, your customer service system will be seeing an overwhelming number of customers who've already had one unpleasant experience with your business.

If their experience trying to get help with their problem is thoroughly miserable, their custom may be lost forever. So, make sure that your customer service technology provides a good experience. The easier it is for customers to solve their problems, the happier they'll be.
 

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Customer support is indispensable to businesses in order to look in to customer queries and complaints.

Nowadays, with flourishing e commerce businesses, this is adequately done by various online support systems.

The importance of customer support

Good customer support is invaluable to businesses. Through these the company can effectively handle all kinds of customer issues.

The customer feels that he or she can approach the company and have a representative handle his or her queries or grievances.

This helps a business gain a good reputation and build a strong client base. Since many businesses are customer driven, having a good customer service set up is a must.

For online businesses where the customer fails to see the brick and mortar store, having strong customer support is very essential.

Ways to provide customer support

• Online chat support:

Many businesses have online chat support systems where real-time support can be given to several customers at a time. The customers feels satisfied at the individual attention and the way the queries are answered instantly.

This is like an instant message system where the customer clicks on a link and a small chat browser opens. The representative greets the visitor through a message and the visitor can begin to type his or her questions.

Chat support can be provided online 24X7 or during office hours, depending on the nature of business.
 

• Email support:

There are many customers who like to write emails to the company for making queries and complaints about products. Having an email id on the website gives customers a chance to interact while increasing the trust factor.

The email answering time should not be more than 24 hours in order to avoid further grievance. Emails should be answered efficiently and in a professional manner.
 

• Voice support:

Some e commerce companies have voice support systems to handle customer queries. This is a specialized system that only a few online companies practice.
 

• Phone support:

This is an age old support system that several customers like to resort to. A website should have the phone numbers on the site as this makes it convenient for the clients to contact as well as enhances reliability of any business.

There should be representatives ready to handle calls efficiently. The phone support hours can be given on the website.

Outsourcing Your Customer Support

Customer support service is extremely important for any business that conducts transactions as it helps to develop reliability and increase consumer convenience.

However, having a proper customer service in place needs investment of time and money. This means recruitment and training of more employees and increased company overheads.

There are several companies who specialize in customer service. One can outsource all client support to these companies and save on time and money while benefitting on quality and timely customer services. These companies have trained and experienced staff who are experts in handling customer issues.

Good customer support is mandatory for a business that is customer oriented. Outsourcing the services to a professional company takes care of customer needs adequately while saving on time and money.
 

The use of Test Driven Development (TDD) has been receiving much acclaim over the past years, and there is good reason why.

The value of Test Driven Development (TDD) in software development continues to prove itself worthy as time goes by. There have been actual studies reporting that TDD often results to greater productivity, since it results more tests written.

Although there is yet to be a method to ultimately test this claim in terms of the quality of the code, the possibilities that TDD can bring to the table are indeed promising.

New projects, called "greenfield" projects, are often worked on without the use of certain debuggers since the use of TDD alone proves enough.

If the Test Driven Development (TDD) is used together with a version control system, reverting a code to a previous version (if it passed all tests then) in the case of a failed test, is generally easier and far productive in comparison with the use of a debugger.

TDD provides a method that is more than a validation of a program's correctness. Other than this, it also contributes a huge chunk in the design of the program.

Test Driven Development (TDD) focuses first on the test cases, which gives the program a view of how the user will experience the functionality of the interface. This is beneficial for most programs.

In complement to "Design by Contact", TDD works on the test cases to program codes instead of going through plain mathematical preconceptions and/or assertions.

TDD gives the programmers the capability to make use of smaller steps whenever the need arises. This means that the programmers can concentrate on the current task, in a way that the task becomes the "goal" before he can move on and make the test pass.

At an early stage, the programmer does not focus too much on handling of errors and special or complicated cases. The tests that deal with these issues are applied separately.

Test Driven Development (TDD) makes sure that this flow of work allows all of the written code to be covered by one test, at least.

As a result, more confidence in the code of the program is achieved, not only by the team, but by the future users as well. Aside from this, the total implementation length (time) of the codes in TDD is generally shorter than in other methodologies.

In conclusion, Test Driven Development (TDD) is a way to produce better codes in terms of flexibility extensibility, and modularity – all because the method requires its programmers to put themselves in a perspective that places them to focus more on the smaller units that could be written individually (which will be put together in a later stage) rather than viewing the program as a whole.

This results in a clean interface, a loose coupling, and a smoother operation flow. In TDD, the use of the design patterns of the "mock object" backs up the entire modularization of the program code.

This way, there is easier switching to and from in between modules, allowing for better testing of particular units and of the actual version of the program.
 

Corkboards with pinned pictures and colourful memorabilia hanging inside a room can look ultra darling and stylish. Imagine having the website previews pinned in this board and incepted in another website.

Sounds interesting? More like Pinterest-ing.

Pinterest is the latest craze in website design. This virtual pinboard of websites allows users to organize and share pages found from the Internet.

Aside from the unique design of websites, Pinterest have also elevated the perks enjoyed by website developers in ways they have not expected.

Traditionally, sites, photos and other materials are shared on social networking sites through the "share or tweet buttons."

After the launch of Pinterest, however, netizens spread the word by sharing pins. This way, promotion of websites, articles, pictures or personal blogs will be easier.

Here's how it works: Imagine yourself having multiple number of boards where you pin photos and sticky notes separated in different categories – one board for travel, school, foods, fashion, etc.

Pinterest allows users to have these pinboards where they organize their contents. As an alternative to the usual tabs and buttons, web design may be laden with boxes that feature different links, photos and thumbnails of different websites.

Given that users have the freedom to categorize their subject of interest, they can easily use Pinterest to their advantage. This hype works magic for a lot of rising online companies as Pinterest has become a major tool in Search Engine Marketing and Search Engine Optimization.

Virtual pinboards give an enviable level of exposure and visibility of photos and videos from search engines thereby increasing page traffic. Similar to how social networking sites operate, Pinterest also paves the way for a satisfying number of followers.

The 'Follow' button sends updates to the followers for every image or videos pinned on Pinterest, which creates natural links necessary for a successful SEO. And once the photos are pinned, they would stay there permanently.

This simply means that users can easily find the links without even digging through the archives. The trick into gaining high ranking from search engines is the optimization of blogs and focusing on keywords related to the promoted site or biz.

Note that Google keeps a list of all the Pinterest account and pinboards. Thus, it is important to provide detailed titles containing keywords for every account made. Few modifications may also be needed to be done if you aim to have the boards easily located by the audience. The research box should contain searchable keywords and key phrases.

The online gripe about Pinterest is that it can only be acquired from invitation. Then again, one can request an invite from a user registered on Pinterest. The invite should be received after a few days.

By then you can create an account and login through social networking sites like Twitter. You can also have the option of logging in via email to connect with friends or followers faster.

After accessing the main profile, you can choose among the plethora of default boards constructed with colourful themes. These can be personalized according to your taste and interest after you have gotten the hand of pinning. The last step is to organize the pinned photos of links and enjoy a good traffic and unique web design.

So do you think a Pinterest-like design will work for your own website?
 

The last few years have seen ease of use on the Internet surge forward in leaps and bounds.

Where once it seemed necessary to have a PhD in web design to put together an attractive site, it's now possible for even the most technically unskilled user to create something beautiful with the click of a mouse.

With ready-made themes and low-cost, on-demand web design it's possible to dramatically alter the look of your website in just a few minutes.

While this is all well and good (and it certainly makes for a more attractive Internet), there seems to be a tendency towards a sleek, technical look in the majority of websites.

People seem to favor a clean, modern design, and while this is usually a good thing it often doesn't effectively communicate the theme of a site.

You see, the primary objective of your web site design shouldn't be to simply make your content look attractive. It should also be to communicate an idea about what your site is all about. This means that if you're blogging about the latest 3D televisions then a clean, stark and futuristic look will fit the content perfectly.

If, however, you're selling vintage clothing or talking about quirky interior design… well, a clean, clinical web design might not work as well for you. What might fit the bill, though, is a retro design.

So what exactly are retro web designs? Well, they can incorporate anything from vintage typography to period icons to traditional textures. Retro designs are very much a 'know it when you see it' kind of thing, and they often go far beyond the usual basic template.

You can incorporate retro elements into your web design with something as simple as an old fashioned badge or logo, or you can go the whole hog and make your site look like something you'd find in a Victorian era newspaper, much like the design at www.dollardreadful.com.

Some of the best looking retro designs work heavily with simple texture, creating a rich, beautiful background with textured elements you could almost reach out and touch, such as this simple but effective mottled background from www.thigpendesigns.com.

Retro web designs are a great way to make your site stand out from the crowd. Mixing modern elements with vintage touches can not only create a rich user experience but can also make your site stick with visitors after they've left – hopefully enticing them back in the future.

In terms of the user experience people will always enjoy a break from the norm, and a site that incorporates vintage elements will stand out as both creative and valuable, offering more substance than the basic, run of the mill designs Internet users see every day.

In short, if you're looking for a simple way to give your website an edge over your competition there are few more effective ways to gain that advantage than adding some elements of retro web design to your pages. Your visitors will thank you.
 

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