While the majority of the people we deal with in business are good and love what we do, there are always a few bad apples and they can make the retailing business, whether on line or in person, miserable. Even if you deal with the service industries, such as tech support or graphic design, those problem customers can make you question why you’re even in business in the first place.

I’ve been in customer service for twenty years, starting at the obligatory waitress and fast food jobs when I was in high school, moving to other fields, all of which dealt with customer service skills to one extent or another. And now, as a business owner, oh yeah, I still get those customers. So here are some tips I’ve gathered over the years to help me to cope and even, sometimes, turn those problem customers around.

1. First, set a good example. Treat other people the way you want to be treated. In a frustrating situation with your cable provider? Take a deep breath before calling and remember that person on the other end of the phone is in the same space as you. Even if you can tell that it’s an outsourced job, don’t take your anger out on the person. Take actions, like switching providers or writing to the company, to make your upset heard.

2. Kill ‘em with kindness. Be nice. Not sachharine sweet, but really nice and empathetic. Often times, they’ll realize they can’t get you to yell back or escalate and will settle down. And if they don’t…

3. Don’t escalate. You may want to yell at them. Or that customer who says “well I can get this at such and such place”, tell them “then shop there!”. Don’t give in. Be deadpan if you have to, but be professional and do not give into the anger and fighting that the other person wants.

4. Don’t invest yourself. I love #2. It usually helps. And when it doesn’t, you know what, that’s their fault. I’ll be professional and be polite, but I won’t go out of my way for them. I also figure if they won’t soften with kindness, then that’s their problem. I won’t say that I stop being kind, but I also go into “smile and nod” mode where frankly, I’m done with ‘em.

5.  Focus on the good customers. Be grateful for the positive experiences you have. Be thankful. Thank the customers. Smile at them. That positivity will be rewarded.

It can be tough dealing with problem customers, but rest assured everyone has to do it. The ways in which you do deal with problem customers will also reflect in how many repeat GOOD customers you get. Because the kindness and professionalism carries over into all aspects of your business.

Let’s face it, there are a zillion “witch shops” on the internet. Some are large; some are small. All of them think you should stop there. So, why should a customer come to your store over all others? If you’re a small store, you might have less inventory than the big guys. You might also have higher prices. Specific merchandise might get your business found on the web, but it’s your vision that’s going to capture the sale and keep customers coming back. Your vision will also help you stay on track, otherwise you’re going to collect merchandise the way a raven collects shiny objects.

So what is your vision? Your business vision should consist of a few distinct parts. First, what do you think your store is? What do you see it becoming? If there’s a specific niche, say incense or homemade teas, on which you want to focus, this is part of your vision. To be the best darn incense store in the Midwest is a vision. And a good one, too.

Second, where do you see yourself in a few years? Yes, the dreaded five-year-plan, comes into play here. If you don’t know where you’re going, you will have no idea the roads you’re going to take. Hopping an east/west interstate won’t take you to Texas if you’re in Iowa, at least not directly. It might, however, take you to a junction where you can grab a southbound interstate and make it all the way there.

Narrow your focus down. Sure, you could sell everything to everyone, but I bet that would get really tiring, really quick. So focus on the items you know and love. If you’re an herbal expert, then you would do well to stick with teas, incense, potions, and tinctures. Trying to talk about homemade paper and spellbooks when you only know herbs will not be authentic until you garner some information.

Have a vision. Take the time to build it. So many times small business owners are going from crisis to crisis without slowing down, breathing and figuring out what they want. Because honestly, if you are hopping from issue to issue, doing nothing except put out fires, then that’s a good sign your business lacks vision and clarity.

Think about it.

Recently we made a change to our Pagan Packs main group to allow it to be more social. And I’m sure some are wondering, if we’re a business group—and you bet your broomstick we still are—why we went social. Well, the truth is, we need to be social.

I can hear people sputtering now, “but– but– it’s a business group. It’s supposed to be all about BUSINESS.” And it is, but you know what? Businesses are run by people and we need that social connection. Many of us work out of our homes. As any stay-at-home mother well tell you, sometimes it’s good to talk to others who share your same interests and who can talk “business” with you. Friends and family members are great, but they also don’t know what you go through on a daily basis with your business.

Additionally, talking socially is a great way to network. When you find you have shared interests outside of the business, then you have found a potential friend. Networking, finding new contacts, and growing your circle of influence is all about being social.

Plus, it’s fun. Being social is a great way to have fun and let off some steam. Share funny stories that may have happened to you. Have fun with friends. That’s part of growing and networking, too. Something as fun-oriented as a wine-tasting class or dancing lessons can turn into business opportunities if you talk to people.

So yes, the main pagan packs group is our social and business one. We still do hope you’ll talk about your business and share those tips and tricks. Feel free to ask questions, too. But we also want to know more than what you’re selling. We want to know about YOU, because that’s how true connections are made.

The dreaded “404 Page Not Found” is not fun to have show up for your visitors when they are on your website. This post shares some ideas on how to take advantage of this error and make the 404 error page work for you and not against you (as often happens).  ** The following article is republished with permission by Gypsy ~ Kimberly LoSavio © 2012, Blogging w/ Gypsy @ Gypsy’s Treasures ~ Blogging & WP Designing Mom. All rights reserved. If you are interested in reposting this article to your blog/eZine/site, please visit my FAQ page. **

We all have been there. We click on a link or make a typo in the web address we type and get the dreaded “404 Page Not Found” — OOOPs. It is worse when this happens on our own web/blogsites. Double OOOPPS o.O

Here’s a short video about this very thing — Renny Gleeson “shows us, while he runs through a slideshow of creative and funny 404 pages, every error is really a chance to build a better relationship. (quoted from Ted.com)”

If the video does not show up, please visit the following link: http://www.ted.com/talks/view/lang///id/1444

So how can you get that page to work for you and not against you? Well let me give you some ideas

** Most of the following tips and ideas are under the assumption that you have the basic knowledge of html and you are your own webmaster. **

For WordPress users, the WP Codex has a great page to help with the basics of customizing your 404 page. For those who have a static site, it is just a matter of creating one. For those of us using WP, it’s just a matter of editing the premade page in the WP dashboard’s editor.  ( ** again, assuming you are already familiar. If not, it’s time to learn ** )

Humor is awesome for these pages And, as Renny said, it’s also a great way to show your readers just one more reason why they love you. So, add some flair, have some fun, and use this page to your advantage.

Offer a freebie not available anywhere else on your site — a report, ebook, tip list, coupon code, tutorial, the ideas are endless. Keep the freebie relevant to your brand or niche. If you take advantage the right way, two things will happen here: your reader will get a free gift and you can add one more person to your list I call this a win-win!

Check out Mashable’s Happy 404 Day! Here Are the Web’s Funniest Error Messages [PICS] for more ideas! There are some hilarious and awesome ideas here!!!

What have you done with your 404 Error page? We would love to read your comments.

One of the great joys of social media is that there are so many promotional opportunities available. Within networking groups there are generally several opportunities. There are link exchanges, banner exchanges, filler exchanges, and more! Street teams. Blogging tribes. You name it, there’s a great way for you to share the word about your business.

I’ll confess, I’m a bit disappointed. I know of several free opportunities for people to share their business, and yet, they go underutilized. Why? If someone offers you a free way to shout your business to the world, will you not take it? Why?

I understand about paid opportunities. After all, it’s so tough to determine which marketing streams brought in which customers. But, with free opportunities, there are little to no up front costs. Just a bit of time in sending off the email/link/banner/ad, filling out a form, you name it. Then bingo! Nothing to do but wait for the universe to send customers to you.

Who knows where someone will see your store and decide to stop on by? You never know, which makes me wonder, have you taken advantage of those free opportunities yet?

I recently went through a situation where I had several questions of a service provider. The service provider would answer one question, then act like everything else was fixed. I’d ask the unanswered questions…finally I just got the brush off. Now, I paid a few hundred dollars for this service this year; I expect better customer service. Are you treating your customers like this?

There are customers who will cost you more in support cost than they buy from you. That’s the way it goes. And sometimes these customers are simply testing you. One of the best ways to “test drive” a new-to-you company is to contact their customer service with an obvious question. If they give you a “well duh” kind of answer, then you know they don’t treat their paying customers any better. Or ask something that’s relatively complex. Again, how they treat you is indicative of how they treat paying customers. (Or not, because the company that bends over backwards to get your money and then ignores you is no better.)

Such an experience, where it’s like pulling teeth to get customer service questions answers, will not leave the customer, or potential customer feeling good about your brand. Sure, they might still use your services if they feel they have no other choice, but they’ll be looking around for new service providers very quickly.

So think about this the next time you get one of those “eye rolling” questions. The kind that make you go “can’t you read?” or the customer comes back with yet another question. Because your customer service has a bigger impact than you know.

I’m going to go a bit out on a metaphysical limb here in this edition of the Positive Proprietor. Are you connected to your source?

Okay, let’s try that again. In the Charge of the Goddess, there is the line, “if you cannot find what you seek within, you will never find it without.” What does that mean?

Simply put, we have everything we need to grow our business within ourselves. We don’t need to look outside of ourselves for our abundance, happiness, prosperity, or anything else. This can be a difficult concept for us business owners to understand. After all, we know that customers buy our products and services, so we think that they are the drivers of our income stream. And yes, to some extent they are. But our inner abundance and what we draw to us comes from us, inside ourselves.

Now, if we are struggling, and especially during this time many businesses are struggling, we might think that there is something wrong with us if we can’t create prosperity. There isn’t, and we need to stop thinking that. Obviously those negative thoughts will affect our world view and what we attract. We need to make sure that we are tapped in and tuned into what the universe has to offer. We want to connect with this higher self, the universe, the higher God mind, and find that source within us. That’s what we need to find.

It can be difficult. It’s a journey. And no one is going to be 100% tapped in, tuned in, and ready every single day. But the closer we can move toward that ideal, the more connected we’ll be. And that’s good for our business.

I want to relate two stories this week and hope that they inspire you to think about how you handle inquiries into your business. These stores are presented without identifying names or products.

Story #1 -

I’d had a question I’d been meaning to ask about the compatibility of this product with certain things. I emailed my question since I prefer to do business in email/online chat than call. I received an emailed reply within 24 hours. Their response: “We don’t know. We only test this product with what we send in the kit. If you substitute items we can’t be responsible.” End of email.

Story #2 -

All of a sudden a piece of equipment broke. I’m pretty technically savvy, so I spent a couple of hours working on it to no avail. I used online chat, and though it took about 40 more minutes, they offered to send out the replacement part free of charge. I’ll have it in two days.

One of these companies is a large, multinational company, and I’m pretty sure the customer service person I spoke with was not in the US. The other is a moderately sized company that caters to the WAHM and crafter market. Honestly, from this company I’d expected far better customer service than what I received. Now, I will purchase from both companies again. One willingly; one grudgingly. One company I’ll recommend to everyone. The other I’ll recommend with reservations.

Think about these experiences. Which one would you want to have come from your company?

As small business owners, we all think we’re indispensable. We can’t leave. What if the website breaks down? What if big orders come in? What if people try to get a hold of us? The questions are many and the answer is, “it will have to wait”, if we’re going on vacation. So many business owners don’t go on vacation just for those reasons. Except, that road leads to burnout and emotional turmoil.

So how do you take a vacation? First, you plan.

If someone can watch the phones, the website, and even the email for you, all the better. Otherwise, you plan. Will you have wifi? How much time will you invest in your business? What will you let go? How will you notify customers?

I recommend notifying customers about a week in advance, as well as posting notices on order emails or on your website about any potential delays during the duration of your vacation.

Find ways to check your email if you just can’t get away from it. Or leave your phone number with the “store minder” who will call you at the first sign of trouble.

If you plan and schedule for your vacation, you will be able to take some time away from your business without any worry.

We’re almost through tax time, and many small business owners took out the box of receipts and finally did last year’s paperwork. This year’s receipts go into the box and won’t be looked at until this time next year.

But you might be shortchanging your business if you don’t keep up on the paperwork. After all, by making a concerted effort to put the receipts into your accounting software/ledger on a monthly basis you will be giving your business the best gift of all–information. You will know how much you’re making on a monthly basis. You can track expenses. You will be more attuned to your business’s ups and downs.

Make time on a monthly basis to do your paperwork. The time you spend, whether it’s an hour or four hours, will yield you so much more for your business.