Perhaps the number one thing we hear from our new clients is how bad their previous vendor’s customer service was. It’s really what ProcessingPoint was founded on and it’s a little dumbfounding that companies still continue to get this so wrong.

In today’s social world you have two options. Do it right and succeed or do it wrong and everyone will be commenting on your Facebook page, your Twitter account, your blog, and anywhere they can complain about you. Online reviews are becoming more and more important and people are becoming educated about how to shop. Reviews play a big part if the buyers decision process and the last thing you need are unhappy clients commenting how bad your service is.

Succeeding in customer service is more than saying “the customer is always right”. Its about listening and taking ownership. You not only have to show the customer you are listening but let them know you care, you understand, and you personally will be back in touch with a resolution. It’s a full circle process that starts and stops with you solving their problem.

At ProcessingPoint we have always operated on the “single point of contact” rule. From day one and throughout the life of your account you work with the same person regarding account matters. We feel this is the best way to show our customers we care as our representatives get to know you and your business and they have a vested interest in helping the customer succeed. If issues arise they have that same familiar person to contact that knows them and can handle questions and account matters.

Being good at customer service really isn’t hard if you think about it. Treat each customer how you expect to be treated as a customer. It’s really that simple. When I am a buyer, I want to get answers to my questions, be dealt with courteously, and if someone can’t answer my question, I want them to be committed to find the answer for me as I am interested in buying their product or service.

It’s also important to understand every outlet you have where someone can fill out a form is an extension of your customer service. This could include a Facebook page, a Twitter account, a corporate blog, a company member’s email address, or any form on your web site that someone could fill out and submit. It could even happen on a non-affiliated web site like Yelp where someone is reviewing your business. Each of these could have a consumer filling out anything and you need to be prepared with a plan if that happens.

Here are three fail proof steps to great customer service and how your business can improve.

• Follow the Golden Rule – Treat people how you want to be treated. If we all did this the world would be a much better and less hostile place but think about it in terms of customer service. How do you want to be treated when you sit down at a restaurant, call about tires for your car, or fill out a form online? Now do that for your own customers.
• Record calls or review email inquiries – One of the most revealing ways to see how your employees are doing is to have calls recorded. They are excellent for training purposes and have helped many companies improve their customer service skills just by letting them listen to themselves on the phone with customers. There are many phone tracking services that can help set this up for you. Similarly reviewing emails that are sent out to inquiries can also be revealing. Are you answering the questions? Are you asking for the business? Not asking for the business is one of the biggest mistakes customer service employees can make. “Can I schedule you an appointment to bring in your car for those new tires?”, “Would you like me to get the paperwork started?” or even- “Would you like fries with that?”
• Call your competitors – secret shop your competitors and see how they do it. Find out what they are doing well and implement that at your own company. You know who your competitors are and who is doing well, steal some ideas and make your customer service experience better for your customers.

Always remember that there are others out there that do what you do, and they want your customers. You usually don’t get more than one chance to show your customer why they are at the right place; don’t screw it up by subpar customer service.

Today more than ever the idea of running a business can be so complicated. It used to be you could decide to go into business, open your doors and people would come. In the new business marketplace it’s much more social and being successful means establishing relationships with your customers. Everyone has a voice and you need to focus on making your business message successful.

Often times some of the most critical pieces of being in business are overlooked and one of them is payroll for small business.  Paying your employees on time, making sure its accurate, and correctly filing payroll tax reports is a constant hassle and it’s no surprise that more and more businesses are using outsourced payroll services to keep simplify their business tasks.

The decision to outsource payroll should actually be a simple one in that it has some very clear benefits to your company.)

1. Outsourcing payroll saves you time – let’s face it; the time it takes to deal with payroll can be daunting. It’s not just processing the payroll, its distributing paychecks, calculating withholding and employment taxes, preparing tax forms, and dealing with employee payroll inquiries. Letting experts do this not only takes away the hassle but allows you to free up time to focus on more important things in your business.
2. Online payroll processing saves you money – most business owners fail to realize how much their time is worth and the hours allocated to pay employees, file payroll taxes, and maintain paperwork.  By outsourcing these services to companies like ProcessingPoint, you can allocated  your internal resources elsewhere.
3. Payroll tax penalties can be costly – you didn’t get into bussourcing payroll taxes to a company that does this every day makes good business sense. Our payroll services are guaranteed accurate. If we make a misiness to spend your time calculating federal, state, and local payroll taxes.  Doing it wrong can mean penalties on the errors as well as interest so outtake and you re penalized, we will pay the penalty.
4. Value added services – outsourcing also means added benefits your payroll provider offers. For instance, ProcessingPoint’s uEmploy Payroll Services can offer your employees an Employee Pay Card allows your employees to be paid on a credit card they can use anywhere the Visa/MasterCard is accepted.  It has shown to increase employee retention as well as cut down on paper checks so it saves small businesses money. uEmploy also syncs seamlessly with uAttend time and attendance solutions for top notch time clock services.

Overall there are some very compelling benefits to outsourcing your payroll services to the experts. Learn more about ProcessingPoint’s uEmploy services today.