In a down economy, one of the best ways to ensure your success is to create loyalty with your customers. The way to do this is to provide better customer service than your competitors. Provide the best customer service you can, and you will have a successful business.

Don’t Assume

Find out what your customers want. Don’t assume you know what they need. Talk to potential customers and find out what their expectations are. What are they looking for in your type of business? You can start with a small product and ask questions of customers. You can take a survey, or send out emails to get opinions. You may think no one will respond, but customers will give their opinions if they believe they will be heard.

Train Your Employees

Regardless of whether you have two employees or two-hundred, they need to be trained on customer service. You may think they should know how to provide good customer service, but you need to train them to your expectations. You should have standards in place that everyone is expected to follow. These should be concrete and easy to track, so you know which areas are on target and which ones can be improved.

The International Consumer Electronic Show (2012) just wrapped up on January 13, and the four day show gave 153,000 people (an all time attendance record) a sneak peak at what may be on the shelves soon. This show is where we first saw the VCR in 1970, Pong in 1975, the CD player in 1981, and the plasma TV. Since the show is not open to the public, here is a look at what people saw at the CES this year.

LG Winning Best of Show

CNET presented the Best of CES 2012 Awards and awarded LG’s 55EM9600 OLED TV with the top prize. They will be releasing the TV in the third business quarter of this year. The color reproduction is considered superior to what has been seen with TVs previously and at just 4 millimeters thick, it will be the thinnest TV that people have seen to date. You can watch the video of the CNET awards to see the entire ceremony.

Samsung Presenting the Galaxy Note

Samsung presented their new product, the Galaxy Note. This new product is part phone and part tablet. It features a larger screen, utilizes the whole screen, is powerful, and is targeted towards creative people since it is good for free capturing and creation. People who would love to be able to just jot down a quick note will love this product. Samsung says that this new device could be the one device that can replace all the rest, since it allows people to play games, look at pictures, watch videos, browse the web, and send emails.

It is often called the elevator pitch because it is only supposed to last the length of an elevator ride. You pitch your business to a potential customer and get their attention in only sixty seconds. How can you do that? Here are four tips that can help you win over your potential customers in less than a minute.

Relate to Your Customers

People only care about what affects them. At least when it comes to products and services that they pay for, this is true. In order to get their attention you have to let them know how your company or business can benefit them.  

Figure out what you do, and how it can benefit them. What problem will it solve or how will it improve their lives. If you look at your business through the eyes of your customers, you will know what to say to catch their interest.

Be Enthusiastic

If you are passionate about what you do, show it to others and they will get excited too. If you have the best method of doing something, let them know that. Get excited and it will be contagious. However, don’t fake it, or they will see that too. People can tell when you’re being sincere or just acting like a salesperson reciting a memorized speech.

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! Today, we celebrate the courage and vision of one of our nation's greatest leaders. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminds us as Americans that our democracy is a constant work in progress, and that we all have the opportunity and obligation to deliver the American Dream to future generations. 

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day website encourages citizens to make their day off a day of service. You probably know that Martin Luther King, Jr. gave the famous “I Have a Dream” speech, but you may not know these ten little-known facts about the famous civil rights leader.

1. His name was originally recorded as Michael King on his birth certificate. The mistake was discovered by his family in 1934. His name was officially changed to Martin Luther King, Jr.

2. King sang with his church choir in Atlanta at the gala premiere of Gone With the Wind in 1939.

3. He entered Morehouse College at the age of 15. He skipped the 9^th and 12^th grade, which allowed him to enter college early. He went on to earn Bachelor’s degrees in sociology and theology. He also earned a Ph.D. in systematic theology from Boston University in 1955.