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Welcome to SCORE
Greetings!
SCORE, Service Corp Of Retired (and Working) Executives, Counselors to America's Small Business offers free counseling to St. Louis area small businesses. For more information contact us at 314-539-6600 Ext. 242 or www.stlscore.org to learn more about what SCORE offers. Main Office - 200 N. Broadway, Suite 1500, (In St. Louis Place), St. Louis, MO 63102St. Charles EDC office - 636-447-5000
St. Charles Development Center
5988 Mid Rivers Mall Drive
St. Charles, MO 63304
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CUSTOMER SERVICE
Shape up your customer service!
Guidelines and rules must be replaced by the flexibility to
handle problems quickly.
Slogans don't
guarantee good customer service.
Whatever your slogan or motto, as customers we expect extraordinary
customer service. We want to experience
customer service beyond our expectations.
Some organizations have come to the realization that to
differentiate themselves from the competition, extraordinary customer service
must become the norm. That means having
articulate, well-trained employees who are congenial and empowered to make
customer-service decisions.
The goal of customer service should be to "WOW"
customers, not make them feel that they are contestants on "Survivor" or some other televised game
show.
Here are ways your company can improve its customer service:
Empower employees to
handle customer disputes on their own without management intervention. This involves training and a "mind-set" that
acknowledges the importance of converting regular customers into loyal
customers.
Meet daily with
your employees to discuss issues with customers and invite input from the staff
on how each should have been handled. Do
"case studies" as a group to determine how to handle certain situations. Nordstrom's employee handbook states: "Our
No. 1 goal is to provide outstanding customer service. Use good judgment in all
situations." Empowerment and flexibility
are making sure customer's expectations are met and exceeded.
Survey customers to determine their satisfaction with
purchasing and return policies of the company.
Benchmark your
customer service against competition by shopping them.
Use common sense:
Treat customers the way you would want to be treated.
Need help with this process? Our SCORE counselors can help. Come in to our Main office downtown or our Branch office in St. Charles and meet with a counselor for FREE.
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5 Tips To Making the Most of New Media
It is a good idea to create profiles in
online networks like ZoomInfo (http://www.zoominfo.com) and LinkedIn
(http://www.linkedin.com).
Use tools to
promote your business. The most popular new media sites or online communities
are Digg (http://www.digg.com), del.i.cio.us (http://www.delicious.com), and
StumbleUpon (http://www.stumbleupon.com).
Creating
profiles and submitting your business' Web site or blog to the sites listed above
to make contact with like-minded people in the community to increase the visibility of your business.
Create links to the
sites above in your toolbar for easy reference and submission.
Check out free online
personal assistants to stay organized, like I Want Sandy
(http://wwwiwantsandy.com).
Brought
to you by SCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business."
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SMALL BUSINESS
 ADMINISTRATION
Check out our local
St. Louis District SBA
You will find local small business events, information about
the SBA office in downtown St. Louis, information on SBA loan programs (There
are No Grants Available) and much more. You can create an online business
card for your business here - website for helpful and up-to-the-minute information about
your small business needs. http://web.sba.gov/buscard/search/index.cfm
Looking for SCORE, St. Louis, information?
Go To - www.stlscore.org |
Member Meetings
There has been a change in schedule for the upcoming member meetings. The meeting scheduled for September 25th has been cancelled due to the SCORE luncheon being the week after. Instead that Membership meeting will be held Thursday, October 30th. Originally there was no meeting scheduled for October.
and the Next Member Meeting will be
Thursday, August 28, 2008
9:30 a.m
St. Louis County Library on Lindbergh
SAVE THE DATE!!
Event: Annual SCORE Luncheon
Date: October
2, 2008
E-Vite
Invitation with details will follow...
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Improve Your Business!
REGISTER NOW!!
SCORE Seminar
"How to Start and Manage Your Own Business"
August 9, 2008
SCORE has several Entrepreneurial Educational programs to help you learn more about running your business successfully. SCORE programs include:
"How to Start and Manage Your Own Business"
August 9, 2008
St. Louis C.C. @ Flo Valley
Sept. 18, 2008
St. Louis C.C. @ Meramec
SCORE Workshops
"Bookkeeping & Finance"
August 23, 2008
"Relationship Marketing"Sept. 27, 2008
To learn more about these courses and dates, times and how to register-
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SBA Disaster News
Release Date: June 30, 2008
Contact: Richard Jenkins
SBA Stands Ready to Assist Missouri Victims of the Severe Storms and Flooding that began June 1.
Low-interest disaster loans are now available to Missouri residents and businesses as a result of President Bush's Federal disaster declaration.
Disaster loans up to $200,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate. Homeowners and renters are eligible for up to $40,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property.
For small businesses only, SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) to help meet working capital needs. For assistance call FEMA at 800.621.3362. More details can be obtained by calling SBA customer service at 800.659.2955, email - disastercustomerservice@sba.gov, or www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance Application Filing Deadlines Physical Damage - August 27, 2008 Economic Injury - March 30, 2009 
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Free Workshop
A special workshop offered by the St. Charles City-County Library District will be held in August. This workshop is free and open to the public, registration required. Business Opportunities workshop will be held August 13.
Workshop will be held from 6 to 8 pm at the St. Charles City-County Library District Nonprofit Development Center located at 425 Spencer Road in St. Peters. Please call the Spencer Road library to register at 636.441.0794. This is a cooperative effort by the St. Charles Development Center, MO Small Business Development Center, USEAC, SCORE, the SBA, Grace Hill and MoPTAC. |
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Around the SCORE office...
Desk-duty counselors - take a look around the desk before leaving for the day. Please get rid of
stale coffee left in cups--- throw away half used water bottles and soda cans,
etc There is a recycling container in the break room. And please leave the office door open when you leave, this tells the maintenance crew that the office was used that day. Your fellow volunteers will thank you!
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