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Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource
  • customer service | entrepreneurship | POV

    Carmines Crown Barber Shop

    BySmall Biz Survival May 3, 2009January 2, 2018

    [Guest author Shashi Bellamkonda has a small business profile to share. It may be from downtown Chicago, but I think we can find some good ideas in it. – Becky ] I was at SOBCon in Chicago and had a problem. I had been traveling for a week and did not get a chance to…

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  • customer service | ideas

    the handwriting on the wall

    ByJNSwanson April 10, 2009August 27, 2014

    Gino’s makes great pizza. They take a long time baking it. We’re not talking 20 minutes long time. We’re talking 45-50 minutes from the time the order is taken until you start to eat. That’s a long time, no matter how good the pizza is. So Gino’s, in Chicago, somehow came up with a great…

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  • customer service | ideas

    Hotter Than Hell Night

    ByBecky McCray April 9, 2009August 27, 2014

    Collect great ideas everywhere you go. At SXSW, Jim Storer told me about a restaurant that does a Hotter Than Hell Night. It’s the East Coast Grill in Cambridge, MA. They do a whole menu of torturous treats, from cocktails through entrees. Read through their creative names, recipes and descriptions. They do offer a bit…

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  • customer service

    Cleaning up coffee

    ByJNSwanson March 26, 2009August 27, 2014

    Jon looked at the spilled coffee, jumped up, fetched paper towels and began cleaning up. Ten minutes before, all seven people in the circle had been talking about store appearance. One person was talking about employees who stand around talking. Another told of being required to carry a rag, so he could front, face, and…

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  • customer service

    How are you treating your reviewers

    ByBecky McCray March 15, 2009August 27, 2014

    There is a whole series of commercials, based on the idea that hotel staff people are going out of their way to be extra nice to travelers who are going to review them online. I’ve got some random thoughts from that. 1. You are getting reviewed online, right now. Whether you know it or not, people…

    Read More How are you treating your reviewersContinue

  • customer service

    Configure your business to serve customers

    ByBecky McCray March 5, 2009August 27, 2014

    “Our job is not to configure customers, it is to configure our business to serve customers.”Liz Strauss New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Get our updates.

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  • customer service | mistakes

    I wanted to give him my card

    ByJNSwanson February 19, 2009August 27, 2014

    You are thinking business card, right? I mean after reading that title?Nope. I’m talking about giving someone my gift card, for coffee. This week I almost ran out of a coffee shop to give a frustrated customer my giftcard for the place because they hadn’t been served well. The store’s mistake and I wanted to…

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  • customer service

    okay coffee, great customer service.

    ByJNSwanson January 22, 2009August 27, 2014

    I drink a lot of coffee. So when we saw the sign that said, “World’s best coffee” at the Coldwater, Michigan exit from I-69, I decided that we had to stop later in the day. Nancy and I were going to her folks to return a computer that I had been working on. It’s a…

    Read More okay coffee, great customer service.Continue

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