by Iris Dorbian. When the economy nosedived in 2008, Jeff Weiner, president of Uniondale, New York-based HKM Insurance, felt an immediate effect. Because many of his clients were laying off employees, his 30-year-old firm snagged fewer premiums, leading to fewer commissions for his full-time staff of four. As the recession dragged on and customers cut back or left altogether, Weiner’s business experienced two straight years of tough times financially. “Learning how to manage that sinking...

Blogs. Tweets. Posts. It is undeniable that social media is an increasingly important and influential part of our daily personal and professional reality and will only continue to grow with the proliferation of tablet devices and mobile applications. It is estimated that by 2013, 164.2 million Americans (or 67 percent of internet users in the U.S.) will participate in social networks. With nearly 150 million Americans regularly accessing social networks like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook,...

Here are some tips on how to deal with unhappy customers and where to draw the line in resolving their problems By Christopher Freeburn Small business owners understand the necessity of attracting customers to their business. But keeping those customers happy and coming back means more than just offering good products and services at reasonable prices. It means properly dealing with the inevitable complaints from customers who have a problem with your company's products or services, or with...

The latest management theories all support one basic conclusion: Happy customers come back. By Chris Freeburn It's a truism that keeping customers happy keeps customers coming back. But what are the best ways to maintain customer satisfaction, beyond providing the best product or service you can? How can small businesses maximize customer satisfaction and translate that into repeat business and good word of mouth? According to John Tschohl, president of the Service Quality Institute,...