Those were the days when the owner of the business was pleased to see you.

Instead of cold impersonal shelves full of merchandise, the shop owner would often greet you personally and welcome you into his shop.

He would find out exactly what you wanted, and then do his best to supply it.

No ultra modern, plush interiors, just the basics for his trade.

The great thing was, you felt you were a person not another number.

You were the owner’s reason for his existence, and he knew it.

You were treated like the most important thing in the proprietor’s life because you were.

The shop owner was grateful for you visiting him and would do his utmost to make you feel wanted, and cater to your every comfort to make sure you stayed. Deliver your goods for you.

Quite simply, the customer was his business, not an interruption to it.

Sigh those were the days.

Not a lot different from the recipe for success in the world’s oldest profession.

Customer satisfaction is high on the list of priorities for every call girl, street walker or prostitute, call them what you will.

A happy customer is a satisfied customer, and satisfied customers come back for more, no matter what you’re selling.

Remind you of something?

It should.

Because if you remove the mystique and secrecy spun by the so-called internet guru’s, it is exactly like the internet today.

On the internet, the customer is king, or queen, or in some cases both.

I have said it before and I will say it again, the mystery of the internet is a fallacy put about by those who stand to make money by perpetuating that myth.

Snake oil salesmen I called them, and so they are.

Rather than the wonder of the modern age, the internet is a great lesson in going back to basics.

Where Mr Entrepreneur sitting in his bedroom in front of a computer monitor can compete fairly with the biggest multinational company.

Providing you supply the right goods, of the right quality in the right place at the right time you can compete with the biggest and the best.

That quotation is attributed to Gordon Selfridge, an American, who opened Selfridge’s store in Oxford Street London in 1909 because he was unimpressed with the standards of service offered at that time.

His maxim, “The customer is always right” summed up his attitude to a service industry.

His staff was taught to do everything possible to make the customers visit enjoyable, which would in turn ensure the client stayed to spend money.

This is the blueprint for the internet today. It’s exactly what many of the internet “experts” preach.

There is no secret formula, except supplying your customer with what they want.

Gordon Selfridge had a very basic work ethos, and that attitude towards his customers is summed up in the title of a book he wrote, “The Romance of Commerce” which traced the sales process as far back as Greece and China.

Ancient merchants would travel the trade routes with their donkeys loaded with rugs and spices, tools and clothing to satisfy the needs of their customers.

They studied their market and bought the right goods to satisfy that market.

Trade at its most basic level.

Two thousand years later. Gordon Selfridge was using the same principles to serve his customers in his Department Store. And now, one hundred years on, the internet is using the same basic principles.

Customer satisfaction is the name of the game.

You see, things really haven’t changed.

It’s all about having the confidence in yourself to embrace what is effectively just a new design to the traditional shop.

Whether it be a street barrow, shop, upmarket boutique, or a high-class call-girl, the principles remain the same.

The creation and satisfaction of customers.

Mike Samuels

Writer, Editor, Journalist.

email: hmsesp@gmail.com

The internet is no secret place with magic keys to unlock golden doors.

The same basic principles apply that have been in existence for thousands of years.

Satisfy your customer.

That’s it. Nothing else.

All the rest is packaging.

Natural Born Selling

Marketing for the internet.

Time-tested marketing techniques that work.

Write Selling Blog

http://write-selling.blogspot.com

And me?

Fellow: Inst. Sales & Marketing Management (1989)- UK

Fellow:Inst. of Directors (1989)- UK

Clients include:

Sky Satellite TV News – UK

Daily Mail – UK

GMTV – UK

[http://www.write-selling.com]

[http://www.med-liv.com]

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Samuels

“The customer is always right.”

“The customer is always right.”

When I first heard those lines, it sounded disturbing to me. At the age of 16, I got my first job experience working behind the cashier’s counter of a famous fast food joint (read: McDonald’s).

I remembered sometimes getting ridiculous requests, customers mentioning the wrong name of the meals when they actually wanted something else. And somehow, somehow… the customer was always right. And somehow, anyhow… it was my fault. It was my fault because I punched in the order that they didn’t want (hey I just take orders), there was salt in the fries and because McDonald’s doesn’t serve the same chicken as KFC’s.

At the rash young age of 16, it was natural of me to snap back at those ridiculous customers – something you don’t always see at McDonald’s – only to be lectured by my floor manager in the staff quarters.

“You’re a good employee Edmund, but the customer is always right.”

This scenario didn’t change much when I took on my next full time job in a chemical manufacturing company. My former boss chose his customers above his work force, even when a small slew of his customers were obviously “bad apples”.

You see, if you keep bad employees then you’ll drive away the good customers. And if you keep the bad customers – not only will you drive away the good customers, your good employees will be gone in no time too.

Now are things any different in the shoes of an Internet Entrepreneur? I may be working for myself now but bluntly speaking, not quite.

Have Any Of These Ever Happened To You?
# Getting ridiculous refund requests from customers (and you know it IS ridiculous).
# For anyone selling products on ClickBank: you have people getting refunds for no disclosed reason. They got their money back AND your product.
# Get unpleasant emails from customers who are making unreasonable requests from your product or service that you render.
# Have customers who are quick to label you as a con-man before you could move a finger and are threatening to defame or sue you.
# Non-paying customers asking you a lot of questions via helpdesk or email.
# People buying your product with the intention of forcing you to do a Joint Venture with them, and on their terms, because they are already your customers therefore it seems obligatory.

If you answered YES to any of the above – high five, we’re on the same boat. NO? You’re either super lucky… or you’re not making any solid money yet. While this is expected to be parts and parcel of business of any kind, I personally found it that some recurring situations and scenarios are unique to the Internet Marketing arena.

For one common example, we have people using the tire-worn excuse “I didn’t have the chance to use the product therefore I want to ask for a refund”. There’s a ghostly chance of that happening in the off-line world, and usually what constitutes a valid reason in asking for a refund is if the merchant fails to deliver what he promises or that the product is not good/damaged.

Also, most people who are entering the world of E-Commerce as individuals are usually motivated by desperation. Thus it is also not uncommon to find people asking for their money back because of their bad financial circumstances.

So Is The Customer Always Right?

That depends.

Are human beings perfect? Nope. Are customers human beings too? Yeah, definitely. So, can they always be right? Not always.

I know this is an ironic catch-22 situation because as business owners, we need customers to keep our operations running, pay our bills, and we’re in it for profit, aren’t we?

But after having conversed with several business owners from different fields – and who are obviously more experienced than I am – they all agree one one thing: don’t just get any customer.

We always hear of consumers demanding for their rights, asking for whatever they are entitled to, and go as far as forming consumer bodies within their societies. Which is a perfectly fine thing to do to protect themselves from fraudulent merchants?

But what about the rest of us who are in business? We face the same problems as customers do in one area of effect: bad customers.

The Origin of the Phrase “The Customer Is Always Right”

My research suggests that the phrase was originally coined by Harry Gordon Selfridge, the founder of Selfridge’s department store in London in 1909. The quote was used to convince customers that they will get good service at this company while also convincing employees to give customers good service.

Good Customers, Bad Customers

Just as with people, there are good people and the bad guys, nice people and not-so-nice people. While the good news is that in general, most customers are honest, polite and have well intentions – there is a small fraction with the potential of giving one an unpleasant experience, enough to spoil the day.

The tell-tale signs are usually similar: making unreasonable demands and saying along the lines of “it’s my right” or “I’m entitled to this” (don’t you just hate those words?) and “If you don’t meet my demands then I will publish about your rotten service on HubPages, Squidoo, Twitter… and did I leave anything out?”

What Do I Do When I’ve Encountered A Rotten Customer?

Being offended by nasty remarks from a customer is a natural knee-jerk reaction for many of us Internet Marketers and business owners. The first thing to do is examine if there’s any truth in what he or she is saying, and why possibly could he or she say so.

It might be a genuine fault on your part, who knows?

Maybe you over-promised and under-delivered. Maybe your sales copy is sending a wrong message and perception to your customers (this is quite common actually). Examine all possible angles that it might be an innocent error on your part that is causing discomfort on your customer’s side.

However if the customer is downright rude and making unreasonable demands of your service, remember that even as a paid customer he has no right to hurl abuse at you.

In such event, don’t be afraid to exercise your decision in firing your customer (who says firing is just for employees?). It’s plain simple as said before: if you favor your bad customers over other customers and your staff, your good customers will go first. THEN your employees. And THEN your bad customers after you find out you can never please them.

If someone threatens you or is giving you a hard time, just say along the lines of “sorry but I have to let you go” and in exceptional cases, if refunding their purchase will keep them away do it. It’s not worth keeping a $37 sale and not be able to sleep at night. It may mean losing their business but you get to sleep better and keep your mind in a healthy frame so you can pursue more business with a better class of buyers.

DON’T SCREW THEM BACK: like most of us, I admit that screwing those losers seemed like a perfectly nice thing to do. But more often the problem is that this will just give the bad customers “ammo” to fire back at you. And if it is in writing like email or letter, they will have something to hold against you. Stay polite and keep professional. Not an easy thing to do but remember about your career’s future, your other good customers, and your partners.

Another plus to this is that since you’re polite, they cannot have anything solid against you and would think twice about publishing about your business publicly (because others can clearly see what a nice person you are… and what a jerk he or she is!) And if you’re thinking of the possibility that they can fabricate the story, this is where keeping copies of your email correspondences pay off so that you can defend yourself.

The “It’s My Right” Mentality

You will find that this is a favorite line some of these rotten apples stick to. Firstly, it’s perfectly right for a customer to get what he or she deserves from a product or service. Things like good customer service, get your product delivered on time, getting warranties, etc.

But remember also that he or she is not entitled to taking up your personal time (unless you’re in the coaching business), getting the rest of your stuff for free, abusing your helpdesk and support, and certainly not walking away with your spouse!

So is the customer always right? If you still think they are, then be prepared for sleepless nights!

Tired of guessing in the dark? Go to my website now and discover how YOU can start up to 19 totally different, low-cost, high-profit Internet Business Models that you can copy for your own. Click here now: http://ebizmodelsyoucancopy.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Edmund_Loh

The Wow Willy is Selfridges own version of Dr Eduardo A Gomez De Diego’s Andro Penis traction device which was recently launched and would be made available at their London store shortly. This male enhancement device has already attracted too much of attention lately and soon will be available for £250 at Selfridge’s store in London.

Consumers are recommending Harley fit, the designers of the device due to its lasting results and the ability to produce penile growths on average of 0.6 inches lengthwise.

Wow Willy – What Is It?

Wow Willy is a male enhancement device which encourages penile growth of up to 1.6 inches in length and 0.6 inches in girth. This product can be comfortably worn under your clothing and does not put your penis in any sort of danger.

However, such hopeful results have also been produced by other male enhancement devices apart from Wow Willy.

The SizeGenetics device is a good example of providing wonderful results and enhancing penile growth by 30%. This device has also undergone numerous trials and has been clinically proven to be effective and safe.

Although this device is only available through online, it is well ahead of Wow Willy as far as value for money and clinical trials is concerned.

The SizeGenetics device is CE approved and can be purchased for only £233.91 to increase your penis size by 3 inches.

How Do Such Traction Devices Work?

This device is designed similar to the traction technique that is used in orthopaedic surgery. The Wow Willy applies traction to the copora cavernosa of the penis and causes the cells to break and form duplicates.

This tissue then accumulates inside the penile chambers and allows the penis to retain more blood and results in penis enlargement over a period of time.

These two traction devices, the SizeGenetics device and the Wow Willy, if worn for couple of hours daily, can produce other benefits as well such as:

* correcting penile curvatures by 70%
* improving strength and endurance
* stopping post surgical penile retractions
* Treating peyronies ailments

Robin is a professional in the field of medically proven and safe penile enlargement methods and on general male enhancement methods. For further information on SizeGenetics device, read SizeGenetics Review
If you would like to buy a male enhancement device, please feel free to avail of $50 OFF SizeGenetics e-voucher.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robin_Lozano

The main culprits by far are store cards where interest rates are as high as 30.9% – even though the Bank of England’s base rate stands at just 4.5%. The worst culprits were TJ Hughes and the Faith Card followed by Owen & Owen. You can find them heading the Table of Shame shown below in this article.

The commission has also come down on high penalty charges for missed or late payments and Payment Protection Insurance. Average penalty charges are currently £15 per event – but the Commission is also right to argue that these charges are excessive.

As for Payment Protection Insurance, the Commission has joined the consumer body “Which”, the National Consumer Council and indeed the Financial Services Authority in concluding that whilst this insurance can be a good idea, credit card operators have abused it. The Commission has therefore decreed that Payment Protection Insurance must no longer be sold in a combined package with a credit card; it must always be purchased as a separate stand alone transaction. That’ll be good news for the Internet where many of the cheapest Payment Protection Insurance deals can be found. With premium savings of up to 60% in comparison with credit card and loan packed arrangements, business on the Internet will flourish.

So what do the new rules from the Competition Commission say? The five main changes are:

• If a credit card charges more than 25% interest, it must carry a prominent warning that there are cheaper ways to borrow. This warnings must be displayed on every monthly statement.

• The interest rate and penalty charges must me clearly displayed on the front page of each monthly statement.

• The monthly statement must warn of the consequences in terms of higher interest charges, of just paying the minimum monthly repayment.

• Credit Cards must offer every customer the option of automatically clearing their monthly balance each month by direct debit. These direct debits would avoid any possibility of interest charges and late payment penalties.

• Credit Card operators must not sell Payment Protection Insurance in a combined package with credit cards. The insurance must be sold as a separate and optional transaction that enable purchasers to see the true cost.

These new rules seem destined to shame retailers into slashing their charges – that’s not to say that 25% pa interest is a snip! Main line credit cards issued by banks are currently charging around 14% to 18% and we think that’s too high!

Indeed, between 80% and 90% of store cards held by some 11.5 million customers charge more than 25%. But some retailers have jumped the gun realising that their sky-high charges couldn’t last forever. Three store cards have already taken steps to trim back. Harvey Nichols has cut their interest from 28.5% to 21.9%, River Island has trimmed down from 29.9% to17.9% and Monsoon from 29.9% to 18.9%.

But who are the bad boys? Here is our Table of Shame:

TJ Hughes 30.9%

Faith Card 30.9%

Owen & Owen 30.7%

Burtons 29.9%

Dorothy Perkins 29.9%

East 29.9%

Evans 29.9%

HMV 29.9%

JD Sports 29.9%

Kwik Fit 29.9%

La Senza 29.9%

Laura Ashley 29.9%

Miss Selfridge 29.9%

Russell & Bromley 29.9%

Ted baker 29.9%

Topshop/Topmam 29.9%

Wallis 29.9%

Warehouse 29.9%

House of Frazer 29.3%

Bhs Gold Card 29.0%

Habitat 29.0%

Oasis 29.0%

Harrods 28.9%

Fenwicks 27.9%

Selfridges 27.6%

Bentalls 27.2%

Jaeger 27.1%

B&Q 26.8%

French Connection 26.8%

Argos 25.9%

Homebase 25.9%

New Look 25.9%

Note: Some of these cards do offer lower interest rates for payment by Direct Debits. Source: Competition Commission/Moneyfacts March 2006

These credit cards are operated by a number of large finance companies, the largest being GE Capital the American giant. The profits are shared between the card operator and the retailer who is often incentivised by being awarded a higher share of the profit if they hit certain key debt thresholds. This has encouraged stores to put immense pressure on shoppers to take cards out.

The Chairman of the House of Commons Treasury Committee, John McFall has accused retailers of putting profit before customers saying “If you buy a suit from one of the stores then you would expect the retailer to ensure that it was well made and reasonably priced. These principles do not seem to apply to their store cards”.

Let’s all hope that the action taken by the Competition Committee does the trick!

Michael Challiner writes finance articles exclusively for Brokers Online who offer Life Insurance Cover and many other UK financial services including Credit Cards .

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Challiner