Welcome to the October 2007 edition of ChamberExpress™ News to Use.

Here's what's waiting for you in this month's edition:

Best Practice:  Business Lifeblood

Tools of the Trade:  Color Your Site Fantastic

News from ChamberExpress™: ChamberExpress Welcomes New Clients 

 

 

Best Practice:  Business Lifeblood 

Good customer service is the lifeblood of any business, and the essence of good customer service is forming relationships with customers, but how do you form these relationship? All you have to do is ensure that you consistently do these things:

• Answer your phone. People want to talk to a live person. Get call forwarding, an answering service or hire staff, but make sure someone is answering the phone.
• Don’t make promises unless you WILL keep them. Reliability is key to any good relationship. Think before you give any promise because nothing annoys customers more than a broken one.
• Listen to your customers. Let your customer talk and show him or her you are listening by making the appropriate responses.
• Deal with complaints. No one likes hearing complaints, but by giving the complaint your attention, you may be able to please this one person this one time and position your company to reap the benefits of good customer service.
• Be helpful even if there’s no immediate profit in it. Assist customers as a sign of respect and service. The gesture does not have to be large to be effective.
• Train your staff to be ALWAYS helpful, courteous and knowledgeable. Talk to them about good customer service and what it is—and isn’t—regularly. Most importantly, give every member of your staff enough power to make small customer-pleasing decisions.
• Take the extra step. Whatever the extra step may be, if you want to provide good customer service, take it. They may not say so, but people notice when you make an extra effort and will tell other people.
• Throw in something extra. People love to get more than they thought they were getting.

Excerpted from an online article by Susan Ward

Tools of the Trade: Color Your Site Fantastic

The Internet is a visual medium, but one of the most important visual aspects of websites—color—is often overlooked. The background color, the color of your headers, the color of your text, headlines and sub-headlines etc. can all have an impact on your visitors. Here are some simple tips on choosing the best colors for your website:

1. Make sure your text color doesn't clash with your background color. A classic white background with black text is often the best choice. 
2. The key to using color is contrast. Make sure you specify colors for your text and links that contrast well with your background color. For example, green doesn't contrast well with a white background. 
3. Use colors that compliment your subject matter and are relatively pleasing to the eye. 
4. Don't use red or blue on a black background.
5. Don't use yellow (yellow) on a white background.
6. Don't use light text colors on light backgrounds or dark text colors on dark backgrounds.
7. A black background can create a problem if your visitor prints the page.
8. Keep background colors the same on every page.

Following these rules will ensure a better experience for your website by making it easier to read and more pleasing to your visitor’s eye!

News from ChamberExpress™:  Welcome To Our New Clients 

More and more chambers are getting the most out of their online operations, generating more revenue and telling their story to the world by signing on with ChamberExpress™:

• Mineral Wells, TX
• Huntington, OH
• Clermont, OH
• Ottawa, KS
• Ameila Island, FL
• Fort Walton Beach, FL
• Orange County, VA
• Stanton, CA
• Colleyville, TX
• Greenville-Pitt, NC

If you are looking for a new web solution, do what these chambers have done. Give us a call today! or visit our website!