Online car servicing market in UK

Its not just car insurance and road tax that motorists buy online nowadays, but car service too because of ease and savings that comes with it.

Many are happy online car servicing fits around their lifestyle and they dont have to make multiple trips to different garages and main dealers to get the best price for their car service. Motorists also dont have to drop their car off to get their car to it serviced itself. Free collection and delivery of the vehicle is offered on the day of the car service, giving customers huge convenience. Indeed motorists in the UK are gradually starting to book their car service online.

Evolution:
The “Block Exemption” Law which came in to force in 2003 had a big impact on the Automobile Aftermarket Industry. Ever since, car owners have been able to have their vehicles serviced and repaired by independent garages without affecting the cars warranty. When servicing a vehicle, the cars warranty isnt affected providing the parts used match the original manufactures specification and the manufacturer’s service schedule is followed. Companies like Servicing Stop, having over 1000 independent garages on their network have benefited from new rules following the Block Exemption. Now, car manufacturers are required to provide technical information to independent garages as they do for their franchise dealers already. Companies like Servicing Stop use advance internet technology to deliver top class customer service. Customers can easily book their car service though user friendly websites. Quotes specific to each model will be shown beforehand.

Significance:
Many consumers were discouraged by the considerable costs of having a car service through a franchised dealer. Customers did this without knowing that reputable independent serving centres can deliver the same or a better service at a fraction of the cost. UK motorists are already using sophisticated online booking systems to book their car service online.

Types:
There are many different types of online car servicing networks. Some may give the details of the local garage which then requires the customer to take their car to the respective garage. The parts needed for car servicing are delivered to the garage directly. The other type of service is that of companies providing free delivery and collection from either the customers home or office. All contact and issues would go through the car servicing company. Many would find the second type most convenient and hassle free.

Considerations:
Cars are complex machines both mechanically and electronically, therefore specific manufactures documentation is needed a lot of the times. Settings that apply to particular models wont necessarily apply to other models. The garages in the network must be able to easily obtain model specific technical information in order to complete all the jobs correctly. Under the current regulations car manufacturers are not permitted to restrict access to information necessary to allow independent garages to repair the vehicle.

Inventory replenishment for better customer service

The key to the success of any business is the availability of the product when the customer desires for it. Once the business plan is made and the marketing takes off the next most important step is inventory forecast based on the market reaction and eventually inventory replenishment.

Inventory management was initially done manually that involved whole lot of manual calculation. The retail buyers too were experts in maximizing their sales while maintaining an inventory that was in line. There were many however, who struggled to maintain sales and inventory in line. These retail buyers turned their inventories at a very slow rate trapping in a lot of cash that would mean less profits and a whole lot of overstock every season. There were still others who sold at a certain rate without maintaining inventories. These retailers were unable to keep up the pace of sales due to less stocks loosing out in a long run.

The innumerable soft wares available today solve the problem of manual calculation. The availability of retail information system caters to the needs and the requirements of the retailer for inventories. Retailers in all the segments have utilized the advances made in retail information technology to maximize profits.

As the applications become more refined with exact details of demand forecast and inventory management models, it still depends a lot on the skill of the business person to interpret the data available in the right manner. The applications after all will not be able to do thinking for you. The thinking and interpretation needs to be done day in and out for profits. The applications will only facilitate the individual to take right decisions and make the inventory management work in the retailers favor. Sales planning and inventory replenishment modules too are usually incorporated in the sophisticated inventory planning packages.

ERP is an effective inventory management tool specifically aimed at the small retailers. These packages are however, not utilized to the fullest by the small retailers due to the limitations of the demand prediction and inventory management functions normally included in these soft wares. These tools capture the data provided and address the reporting in an amazing number of combinations. These soft wares have short comings that should be taken into account and not followed blindly. Demand forecasting should inventory management functions are just not sufficient to efficiently manage their stock.

The basic rules of inventory management and retailing remain unchanged. A successful business person has to understand the end customer well. Their needs, requirements and future expectation need to be taken into consideration. All this along with the data from past and the present day trend will help to formulate a basic successful inventory plan. The plan needs to be updated on a daily basis as the season progresses and specific trends have to be worked upon on urgent manner. Use the latest technology effectively for positive end results but do not solely depend on it.

Improve Call Center Performance By Adopting A New Attitude

Modern businesses have come to realize that the key to a healthy profit margin is not just cutting expenses. It also involves finding new sources of revenue. A customer service or technical support department has contact with far more customers than marketing staff, so the most effective call center solutions include ways to turn those contacts into revenue opportunities.

The Old Way

Traditional call center solutions were built around the idea of the operation as a burden on the budget. Customer service and technical support departments were seen as expense sinks and the best way to run them was to minimize costs. Call center analytics were used to find the best way to shove customers through the system, often without thinking about how clients would react to the treatment.

Unfortunately this often led to short-sighted decisions such as cutting staff and forcing customers to use automation solutions whether they wanted to or not. Customers objected and a common complaint was that it was impossible to talk to a human being anymore. This new philosophy looked good on paper, but ultimately led to unhappy consumers and lost business.

A New Philosophy

At some point, smart managers realized that every incident of customer contact was a promotional opportunity. Building relationships with callers rather than treating them as problems or annoyances mean a better company image, happier clients and more sales.

Today’s call center solutions put the service back into customer service. They work to solve the customer’s problem quickly, but without making the caller feel rushed or unimportant. They include automated solutions for those who want them, but also offer the option of personal contact for those customers whose problems can’t be handled by phone menus and online applications, or who just feel more comfortable talking to a person than a computer. In addition to direct benefits improving customer satisfaction, these changes allow agents to talk to customers about additional services or plan upgrades, thus increasing company revenue.

Managing The New Operation

Despite the change in philosophy, one aspect of call center solutions remains the same. It is important to keep operating costs low by manage agents efficiently. Matching staffing levels with call traffic is an important element to managing department expenses, employee morale and customer satisfaction.

The latest generation of call center software uses analytics to evaluate and predict traffic patterns so managers can staff accordingly, and agents can change their behavior in response to fluctuating queues. Customers are happier because they spend less time and hold and get the human interaction they want. Agents love the system since they talk to fewer angry callers and feel less pressure to force callers off the line.

Call center solutions are comprehensive plans that include technology and cost cutting measures, but never lose site of the goal of serving customers and improving company profits.

Hi-Dow Massaging in a Different Level

When you’re getting tired of the usual massage methods on malls or advertised on magazines, you need to address it differently. Finding the most convenient massage products may be arduous, especially when you have better things to do. You need to find the most convenient. Because if not, it will waste your time, money and effort and then you only got nothing. But you don’t have to go anywhere else, sit back and relax because Hi-Dow is here to rescue you.

Hi-Dow is a manufacturing and international trading working and operating in China and US. It is a company that can provide the needs of people from different part of the world with the most affordable services and products. This is how Hi-Dow earned its name in the industry. They have retail stores in China, and they are also available online.

Massage gadgets and products are among the specialty of Hi-Dow and those are not just your ordinary massage products. These Hi-Dow products are especially created with advancement to aid the needs of its consumer. China-based manufacturers are importing their materials from the best sources to come up with good quality products. Matched with advanced studies, the inventors always come up with the best and most effective Hi-Dow products, to be used by consumers in their daily life.

The best example of Hi-Dow’s massage product that stands out is the Massage Mouse. This gadget is bombarded with a Chinese type of massage therapy. In China, it is popularly known as “Tui-na” massage techniques. Hi-Dow Massage Mouse, together with Massage XP, embodies a combination of the traditional Chinese Medicine theories on meridian channels, the advanced theories of physiology and pathology, and the technique of modern electronic simulation. This Hi-Dow Massage mouse is hands free, meaning you don’t need to keep your hands on hold while having a massage. All you gotta do is to just apply the massage pads to your body, turn the switch on, and let the Hi-Dow gadget do the rest. And just like the actual massage process on massage spa, you can choose the amount of sensation that you want. Its speed varies from slow to moderate and then to fast. Different people with specific lifestyles will benefit the most on Massage Mouse, from those who are working in the office, athletes, students, travelers and more!

Hi-Dow Massage Mouse and Massage XP are not just for massaging. It also helps in relieving minor muscle pains. The adhesive pads on the other hand can produce kneading and tapping sensation for muscle relaxation. You can also use its mouse ears as document holders.

Hi-Dow also have massage gadgets with built in music players. Now, you don’t just enjoy massaging the way you want, you also get a full level entertainment. This is called the XP4 massage. This gadget is a massager and at the same time, an mp3 player that will push you more into the galaxy of relaxation.

Other cool products of Hi-Dow are Epic Power Bank, the all in one solution in charging, power and travel needs and the Electro Shield Apparel that gives you a protection against electro-radiation produced by household appliances.

A Free Way To Explode Your eBay Business Customer Service

Often people selling at online auction sites like eBay completely forget about the customer service aspect of selling. It is easy as you grow your business and automate many of the daily tasks to develop a sense that you are only dealing with a computer and automated tasks. However it is through customer service that you truly grow your business. So take some time to think about it next time you use software to automatically post feedback or send out an automated email. There is someone on the other end of the deal that has taken a leap of faith in your company and sent you money.

If you think about it, running a profitable ebay business is really not that much different then a bricks and mortar type of store. At least it is not that different in terms of the importance of customer service. So take some time to really think about ways that you can improve your customer service. What are things you can do to build repeat customers, provide great customer service and develop a loyal following for your business? This is the absolute best way to build your business for next to nothing. Below are some ideas that can help in both branding and creating customer loyalty as well as provide outstanding quality customer service.

Start An eZine

Do you sell in a niche area that people would like to learn more about? For example if you were an antique toy collector and sold old toys made from tin you might have a bunch of customers that would like to learn more. The best way to build your business would be to build an ezine and provide them with quality content. This sets you up as the expert and as a friend more then just a faceless dude trying to pawn off the junk in his garage. Also the great thing about an ezine is you can always have a little commercial plug mixed into your content. You have to be carefully and do this only occasionally and subtle however it can really pay off. For example why not start a weekly ezine. You only need to write one quick article a week and then at the bottom you could insert a little line like This week for auction check out and then insert your current auctions. If you provide good quality articles along with the advertising the soft sell approach is much easier for your customers to digest.

Little Touches

Have you ever thought about including little special touches with the items you send out. If you havent you might want to think about it seriously. This can really increase customer loyalty. There is no hard and fast rule here or any one size fits all product that you can include. This is really dependent on the type of products you sell. However including a little thank you card or business card can be something to really build loyal customers. For a while I was including a fun post card with each shipment. I live very close to Los Angeles and the famous California beaches and I would often collect postcards when I was out on the town having fun. Well, the collection got to big and so I started throwing them in with the packages I was sending out. People just love to get something for free even if is a small gift. If you dont think you can afford anything like that then make a thank you card on your computer and send it. It really depends on the items that you sell and what you have available but if you think about it there is something that can be included in every package to easily increase customer loyalty and service.