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May 2nd, 2012

Everyone has the right to privacy and most are willing to go to great lengths to keep their information private. When it comes to the Internet however, many of us seem to be freer with our private details. Companies have been taking advantage of this and have been using the Internet to research applicants who apply for jobs. A few companies have gone a step too far, much to the indignation of job seekers.

News agencies have been carrying stories about companies that have been asking job applicants for their Facebook logins and passwords before or during an interview. This is a slightly unsettling trend when observed from the job interviewee viewpoint.

It’s become a common practice of employers to look at the social profiles of potential employees to get to know the job seeker on a more personal level. Users have responded by ensuring that their profiles are private, much to the chagrin of would-be snoopers. So what have companies done? Some have started asking potential employees for access to their social media usernames and passwords. This new practice has the masses wondering, “Is this legal and am I protected?”

Currently there are no laws (in the US) that state that it’s illegal for employers to ask employees, potential or otherwise, for their social network usernames and passwords. There are however lawmakers in California, Maryland and Illinois who have introduced legislation that will bar companies from asking for account information. But this is by no means law yet.

Facebook has weighed in on this as well, “This practice [asking for passwords] undermines the privacy expectations and the security of both the user and the user’s friends. It also potentially exposes the employer who seeks this access to unanticipated legal liability.”

What Facebook means by this is that if a company does check into a potential employee, sees they are part of a protected group e.g., LGBT, and does not hire a person on those grounds the company could face claims of discrimination. Beyond that, Facebook also pointed out that giving out or soliciting passwords to your or another user’s account is a breach of Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.

According to most articles, this is a fiasco. But if you look at it from an HR point of view, you want to know that the person sitting across from you really is who they say they are. You are protecting your interests as much as the interviewee is protecting their privacy. Short of asking people for their passwords there are five legal actions you can take to find out more about an interviewee.

  • Basic Internet search: Your results may return hits for other people with the same name. To get around this, narrow the search by adding an email address, phone number or address.
  • Facebook: It’s perfectly fine to use Facebook to search for a job seeker’s profile and do a little social snooping. Don’t forget, there are other social media sites out there, LinkedIn is a particularly good source for discovering a person’s work history. A big boon of Linkedin is that users tend to be free with their work related information on this site.
  • Conduct background checks: It’s a good idea to conduct checks, especially if you work with money or other high value items. If you don’t have time to conduct checks, there are companies that will conduct checks for you. It’s important to be aware of the law regarding background checks in your region.
  • Ask for, and check references: Companies just don’t do this anymore. It only takes a few minutes to call or email each reference provided. If you call the referrers and ask the right questions, you could learn a lot more about the applicant this way.
  • Prepare ahead of time: We are all busy, but it’s important that you look over a resume before the interview. Pay close attention to employment history and take note of gaps in employment or short stints (less than one year) at companies.
You will be able to find just as much information about a person by using legal means to research as compared with asking for their social media accounts. If you would like to learn more about Facebook or other social media sites let us know.
Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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April 30th, 2012

Hannah Robert of Bright Lights who is now a two-time winner

Hannah won a $20 gift card for Primo Hoagies.

Last month’s answer

What rocker had a top ten hit in 1983 with “Pink Houses”?

c) John Mellencamp

This month’s question is:

The original name of Lancaster, PA was?

a) Hickory Town
b) Lancashire
c) Wrights Town
d) Lanchester

E-mail Kathy Tuno ktuno@productivetech.net with the correct answer by 5 PM today to get your name “in the hat” and you can win a $20 gift certificate to Wawa Food Market or Primo Hoagies!

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April 12th, 2012

One issue that’s gaining steam, especially with SMEs, is business continuity planning. Many companies are starting to develop plans so that they can continue to operate through both problems large and small. If you’re one such company, and are stuck at the point where you need to choose between software and templates, we have some advice for you.

The decision between templates and software can be a tough one to make, as whichever one you choose, you’ll be using and relying on for a long time. To help you we’ve covered some pros and cons on both choices:

Using Software If you choose to go with a software program, you will be walked through the whole process allowing you to develop a useable plan. Another benefit of using software is that you’ll be able to develop reports if needs be.

The drawbacks of using software include cost, inflexibility and learning time. For the most part, business continuity planning software is not cheap, and at times can be inflexible due to limits within the program. If you have a niche need, the software may not cover it. In addition, as with mastering any program, the learning curve can be quite steep.

In general, using software would be advantageous for companies that have a bigger budget for the development of a continuity plan. Software is also a good bet if you don’t have staff who are experts in continuity planning, or if you operate in an industry where a continuity plan is necessary, e.g., companies working with healthcare insurance, or manufacturing companies that have introduced ISO 9000.

Using Templates If you feel that your company is not ready for software you can use templates to help you develop your plan. These solutions are mostly written plans that you adapt to meet your business needs. They’re useful if you’re just starting to do continuity planning, as they provide a normally solid foundation, and are generally a lot cheaper than software.

A limitation to using templates is that they can be a little too basic at times, and may not meet your needs. Granted, most plans will follow a basic structure and your developer will need to adapt some steps for your relevant region and industry.

As each industry is different, it’s hard to make a recommendation on what type of planning style companies should take. We recommend you take your time, do your due diligence and weigh out what’s best for your business. No matter which method you choose to go ahead with, ensure that it’s easy to implement, and that you’ll be able to teach your staff how to run the plan.

If you feel really lost or are not sure what to do, talking to professional consultants could go a long way in helping you develop a plan. If you’d like to learn more about business continuity planning please contact us - we are happy to help.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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April 11th, 2012

Does your company use cloud storage services or peer-to-peer (P2P) networks for the storage and sharing of data? Many businesses are now using both these services in an effort to make work less complicated. But did you know that there are potential issues in relation to recoverability and security of data?

With the seizure of a number of cloud storage and sharing websites, including Megaupload, and the seemingly omnipresent malware in P2P files and the shaky security in relation to P2P networks, businesses have had their hands full staying secure. Do you know what your options are when it comes to data security?

Cloud Services Knowhow The recent seizure of Megaupload’s files and servers by the US Government caught many people and businesses unprepared. While Megaupload’s main purpose was file sharing, it was found that a large number of organizations were using their services to store files. If you had files stored on Megaupload, the chances of getting the files back are non-existent.

It needs to be pointed out that many cloud services don’t guarantee that files stored on the service will be recoverable in the event of a crash, or disruption in service, e.g., a government seizing servers. If you read the user agreements of a number of major cloud services, they all have clauses stating that if data stored on their service is lost for any reason, it’s gone forever, and the hosts can’t be held liable for losses.

Risks of P2P With high speed Internet widely available at low prices, P2P file sharing has become incredibly popular, it’s almost uncommon to find someone who has never used a P2P service. If you or your employees use P2P at your office, there are a number of potential security threats you should be aware of:

  • The unknown share: If you put a file in a folder that is shared on a P2P network, it’ll be shared with all other people connected to that folder and almost anyone can access it. This is normally done by mistake, i.e., not looking where the file will be saved when you save it. There’s also malware out there that will move files into a shared folder which the developer of the malware can find and upload with ease and without the user knowing it is happening.
  • Open network: Typically P2P works on open networks: users give and share. What this means is that when using P2P on a poorly configured network, the whole network could be unsecure, allowing for access to other computers connected to the network.
  • Untracked data: If you share a document with another person, and they then share it with others, there is potentially, an unlimited amount of people that can get the data. If you want to take it back, it can be impossible to do so, even if the original document is deleted.
  • Storage hijacking: There’s news of malware that has been developed with the purpose of downloading illegal material onto your hard drive. This could pose a problem if the data is found, as you will be liable.
What Should I do? With regards to cloud services, as with anything that comes with a contract, the first thing you should do is gain an understanding of it by utilizing reading material such as blogs, news articles and Wikis. It’s a pain in the neck, but it’ll help you understand the boundaries of the program and your responsibilities. Remember that if you go to court to get files back from a company, and it becomes known that you didn’t read the agreement, you’ll probably end up losing that case.

Second, it’s not recommended to keep single copies of data on one cloud service. Chances are high that in your business, you store your data and backups in a place separate from the computer. This makes sense with the cloud as well - keep your data with a number of different cloud services. If it’s important enough, have physical backups of what you put in the cloud.

For P2P networks there are also a number of steps you can take to protect the data on your network:

  • The most obvious one is to ban employees from using any file sharing services outside of your network.
  • If you do allow file sharing, it’s a good idea to establish and strictly enforce a protocol for this. You should also set which users are allowed to share files, and what files are appropriate to share. Be sure that all staff are aware of your policy and the measures that will be taken in the event of any deviations.
  • Develop a system to classify documents by whether or not they can be shared, and who they can be shared with.
  • If you work in an office where you need to share files, but don’t want to use a P2P network or the cloud, and are unsure of other solutions out there, don’t worry. There are companies that specialize in document sharing solutions that should be able to provide you with assistance.
The most important thing is that whatever the situation is, you take action to try to solve the problem while frequently revisiting the actions to ensure that they are working. If you’d like to learn more about document sharing over the cloud, or via P2P networks, give us a buzz. We’re more than happy to help.
Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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April 11th, 2012

Over the past 10 years, Apple has become one of the biggest companies in the world, and as such many businesses have started to use Mac OS X - much to the chagrin of PC users. But it doesn’t have to be so bad: there are some very useful features of Mac OS X that can help improve productivity and make your job easier. These include keyboard shortcuts.

When you first switch to OS X it can take a while to figure out the shortcuts, or to even find out if there is a shortcut for what you need, not to mention the confusing symbols used to indicate key strokes. Here’s a list of the most common shortcuts.

Symbols If you’ve looked online for shortcuts, you have undoubtedly seen a number of potentially confusing symbols before the letter or number - these are actually keys to press. The most commonly used symbols are:

  • ⌘ Command. It’s found beside the spacebar on most Mac keyboards. If you’re using a keyboard that isn’t supplied by Apple, the Windows button should also work.
  • ∧ Control.
  • ⌥ Option. On Windows based keyboards, Alt will do the same thing.
  • ⇧ Shift.
  • FN Function. It’s found under F13 on most desktop keyboards, or in the bottom left of most laptop keyboards.
Finder Shortcuts The Finder is Mac OS X’s file system. It includes your desktop and all the folders on it. If you’re unsure whether you’re on the Finder or not, look at the top left of your screen beside the Apple icon. It will say Finder if you’re on it.
  • ⌘+A Selects all files. To deselect simply left-click on empty space that’s not highlighted. To deselect one item simply hold ⌘ and click on the folder/file you don’t want to be selected.
  • ⌘+I Retrieves information on a folder or file including name, size, creation date, etc.
  • ⇧+⌘+N Creates a new folder in the window currently open. If you’re on the desktop, a new file will be created there.
  • ⇧+⌘+Q Logs out. If you want to log out without waiting press ⌥+⇧+⌘+Q.
  • ⌘+Delete If you press this after you’ve selected something, your selection will be moved to the trash. To empty the trash hit ⇧+⌘+Delete.
  • ⇧+⌘+A Opens the Applications folder
Shortcuts for Applications and General These shortcuts will work in most applications, and will generally work on all other non-applications, including the Finder.
  • ⌘+C Copies your selection.
  • ⌘+Z Cuts your selection.
  • ⌘+V Pastes what you’ve just copied or cut.
  • ⌘+Z Undoes your last action.
  • ⌘+H Hides the program you currently have open. The program won’t close, it’ll just be hidden, and can be opened again by clicking on its icon in the dock.
  • ⌘+M Minimizes the window currently open.
  • ⌘+TAB You will cycle to the other applications you have open. If you hold down ⌘, while pressing TAB, you’ll see the icons for open programs.
  • ⇧+⌘+4 Selects a screenshot. When you press these keys, you’ll be able to drag and select a screenshot. You’ll hear a camera lens click when you let go indicating the picture has been taken, and the file will be on your desktop.
  • ⇧+⌘+3 Takes a screenshot of the whole screen.
  • ⌘+S Saves the document you have open.
  • ⌘+F Searches within the window currently open.
  • ⌥+⌘+ESCAPE Force quit. This is the same thing as Control + Alt + Delete on Windows.
These are the most useful keyboard shortcuts, but there are many more out there. If you would like to know more shortcuts, or more about the Mac OS X, please let us know - we’re happy to help.
Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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April 10th, 2012

Maps have been integrated with great success into many businesses as a way to provide directions to customers. But what happens when a customer is looking at a map, and would like to know more about the businesses in the area? Before, they would have to close the map, open a new window and search. Now, there’s a new solution.

CityMaps is a novel new online map. At first look it appears similar to any other online map: streets, check; transport routes, check; geographic features, check. So, what sets it apart? Well, when you zoom in on a neighbourhood you don’t get a fancy street view, or outlines of buildings, you get a map populated with businesses.

What is CityMaps? Think of those city maps that we’ve all used while on vacation, the ones with restaurants, shops and tourist attractions, and that’s the basic idea of CityMaps. When you zoom in on an area, you will see icons and logos of businesses. Click on one and a popup window will open with the business name, contact information, pictures, related tweets, reviews, and more.

Essentially, it’s a tool to help you plan your next adventure in the city. If you’re out with your friends and looking for a place to go for dinner, you can search for nearby restaurants, look at reviews and deals, and finally: make a reservation, all from the app.

How will this help my business? With social integration, a business like yours can post a special offer on one of the many deal websites, and it will show up in CityMaps as an unobtrusive blinking green dollar sign. If someone tweets about your business, the tweet will show up on the map as well.

This program is a great example of good integration across social media and business. If a review is posted online, it’ll show up on the map. This can also be beneficial to your business as you will get near real-time feedback. CityMaps also encourages businesses to develop and maintain an Internet presence, while giving them a practically free way to literally put their name on the map.

Currently, the map is only available for New York, San Francisco and Austin. There’ll be more cities soon, but it’ll be a few years before every city in the US is on the map. So keep your eye on this program if you’re not in the three cities, as you’ll soon be able to take advantage of it.

If you would like to learn more about CityMaps, or other Web trends, please let us know, we are happy to help.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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April 9th, 2012

In many businesses, including yours, a good presentation can be the difference between success and failure. The majority of your employees have a degree of competence and comfort while creating presentations. The key questions are: do they reach the target audience, and are they effective? Unfortunately, the majority of the time the answer is no.

It’s important that you, that as a manager, you ensure that your employees are creating PowerPoint presentations that are effective. Here are a few tips you can give to your employees to help them improve their presentations.

Simplify and minimize The best presentations are simple and minimal, often shifting focus from the presentation to the presenter. Minimal presentations follow the 6-6-6 rule. There should be no more than: 6 bullet points per slide, 6 words per bullet and 6 slides full of words in a row. Being visual creatures, you should encourage your employees to create slides with engaging and related visuals. A caveat: be sure that you have the rights to use the images.

A great rule taught in business schools across the country is: KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid). Refrain from using confusing words, jargon, uncommon acronyms and irrelevant information. Keep it short, sweet, and to the point. Following these rules will help engage the audience and hold their attention for a longer period of time.

Be consistent “Consistency is key” - a saying often used but rarely followed in the creation of PowerPoint presentations. You should ensure that grammar and spelling are all consistent, and errors are minimal, if existent at all. Have another employee or manager review it for errors and inconsistencies.

For the slides, use the same background and font throughout. The easiest way to ensure this is by using a template. A word of warning: don’t use templates that are heavily animated because they can cause significant distractions, and don’t choose backgrounds that are similar in color to your font. The best slides have a light color for a background with a darker font for your text.

Summarize The goal of most presentations is to build interest and inform or update the audience. In fact, the majority of audiences just want a short summary so they can develop their own questions to ask after the presentation, or at a later meeting.

When creating the presentation, be sure to keep the audience in mind. If a presentation is being made to IT managers, chances are it does not need to have advanced financial spreadsheets. If you are presenting on a topic that has lots of graphs, extra information, or appendices, put the most important information in the presentation and the rest in a handout. This will keep the audience’s attention on the presenter, not the slides.

Practice, preview, review Practice makes perfect. In an ideal world there would be hours and hours to practice and tweak a presentation. Normally, that’s not true. Schedule at least a comparable amount of time the day before a presentation for a dry run. Always review the presentation with your team and ask them for feedback. This will help encourage employees to keep improving and developing themselves.

For more tips and tricks on giving presentations using Microsoft PowerPoint and other Microsoft products, please contact us.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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April 2nd, 2012

When we hear the word “Windows” many of us don’t think of the pieces of glass separating us from the outside world, we think of the Operating System. Windows has become the main OS for people and business alike, with many adopting or upgrading to Windows 7. As with all programs, there are times when it decides to take a short holiday and stops working, what do you do then?

It can be extremely frustrating when you are working on an important document, Windows 7 stops working and you’re forced to reboot. Before you restart your computer, here are three useful things to try.

Using the Resource Manager If your computer starts to act sluggish or slow, and is taking a long time to open a program or respond, it may be because it’s taking up a large amount of processing power, forcing other programs you have open or running to use less - this is commonly known as a “bottleneck”. To figure out where the bottlenecks are when your computer is slow is relatively easy:

  • Click Start and type: RESMON and select RESMON.exe. A window with all running programs and processes, graphs and tabs will pop up. This is called the Resource Manager.
  • Under the Overview tab, you will see a list of programs. Click Status and the programs will be ordered by their status, an easy way to quickly figure out what is working and what isn’t.
  • Once you have identified the bottlenecks, you can look for solutions using the Internet or contact the people responsible for your IT. It will make their job easier if you can tell them exactly what’s wrong.
If you want to find more information on why a program isn’t working, click the CPU tab, beside Overview. You will be presented with a dialog box similar to the task manager from XP. Select a program which isn’t responding, right-click on it and select Analyze Process. Windows will run an analysis and try to tell you why that program isn’t working. This goes a long way in figuring out what is happening, and also gives you more information if you have to call your IT team.

If you have a program that has completely stopped working:

  • Open the Resource Monitor; click start and type RESMON.
  • Click the CPU tab, and the program should be highlighted in red.
  • Right-click and press Analyze Wait Chain.
  • If there are more than two processes, the lowest one on the bottom is the process that isn’t working.
  • Click the box beside it and select End process. The program should re-open.
A word of warning on the Resource Monitor: don’t go stopping programs or processes just because they take up what looks like a lot of processing power. They could be essential to the operation of Windows, and if stopped you could make the problem worse. If in doubt, make a note of the program, search the Internet for more information, or ask your IT department for help.

Open Program in New Process If you are working on an important project and would prefer not to have it crash when another program does, you could start the program in a new process. This essentially creates another window in the same environment. If one crashes, it won’t affect the other. To open in another process, hold down Shift and right click on the program, and select Open in a new window. The downside to this is that it will consume more system resources, so your computer will run slower.

Record Your Steps One neat and underutilized feature is the Problem Steps Recorder. When activated it will record mouse movements and clicks, key presses, folders opened and even take screenshots. When the problem is solved, it will put them all the recordings into a file and email them to you. This is extremely useful if a problem keeps happening, and you have your IT team come in to help. To turn on the recorder:

  • Press Start and type in PSR, select PSR.exe
  • Press record.
If all else fails, and you can’t fix the problem, then you can try restarting the computer or calling IT. As ever, don’t forget to save your work often, and ensure your data is backed up regularly. If you would like to learn more about Windows 7, or other Microsoft products, please contact us.
Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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March 29th, 2012

Most businesses have started to take social media seriously. They are spending time and effort developing their profiles and reaching out to customers. It makes sense for a business to have an online presence beyond their website. Are you taking advantage of all the available options the Internet has to offer? If not, it may be time to start.

Social media, once called a fad, has become the norm and is going to be with us for some time. A large number of companies already have an online presence, and are taking advantage of the benefits that social media can bring. Here are a number of things you can do to get your social media adventures underway.

Be Clear on Social Media It’s important that before you start looking into the different forms of social media that are out there, you are clear on what social media is, and what it isn’t. Social media is a way to meet people, and share content and ideas with them. For companies it’s a form of non-traditional marketing - think of it as soft marketing - it’s not meant to be the place where you flog your products, rather a place to develop interest in your company, so people will want to do business with you. By using social media you can show people who your company is, and connect with them on a more personal level. If you are clear on what social media is from the beginning, there’s a higher chance that you’ll be successful when you develop your online presence.

Before You Launch Into Social Media There are a number of things that your company needs to have either already done, or considered, before you jump in:

  • Have a website: It’s a good idea to have a solid website with information about your company, contact information, products and services. Most potential customers will look at your website after looking searching for you online, and before they choose to do business with you, so your website needs to provide the relevant information they are looking for. If you don’t have a website, or feel yours is lacking, it’s easier than ever to get a professional looking site. With a quick search you will be able to find some competent designers.
  • Get educated: It will be beneficial to educate yourself on current trends regarding social media. This can be done by simply going to social media websites, taking the free introduction tours and reading blogs related to the sites. Beyond that you should also research your competitors’ websites and Internet presence. Observe what content they have online, and more importantly: what they don’t have. It will also help to connect with and observe industry experts, see what they post online, and note the style and tone they use. This will help provide you with a sound knowledge base from which you can then create a more effective online presence.
  • Set goals: As with any step in business, you should have a plan with realistic goals. Aim for results that are achievable for your company. If you’re a small, local IT company that focuses on providing support for banks, don’t expect to have the same massive hype that Microsoft and Apple do. Clearly set objectives and review periodically.
  • Develop a focus: In real life, you can’t be all things to all people. The same goes for social media. You need to develop a focus on what type of online content you would like to share. You should aim to create content that your customers will want to share with people.
  • Stake a claim: You should to go to the main social media websites - Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube - and reserve your personal and business usernames. This is important because it will make you look more professional by having the same username across all sites, and users will be able to find you easier.
  • Ask for help if you need it: While some companies make social media sound easy, it can be deceptively hard to master. If you feel lost, or are having a tough time with it, there are knowledgeable consultants out there who are happy to help.
Time to Get Social When you feel you know what direction you will take, it’s time to start developing your online profiles. It can be tough to decide which social media tools to utilize. Unfortunately there is no right answer. Most small businesses follow the crowd, and this means having pages on Facebook and Linkedin. This does not mean that you should join these networks simply because they have the most users. It is recommended that you follow what similar businesses or direct competitors are doing. If they are on one service but not another, do the same to begin with, but be on the lookout for new social media sites, or features being added to existing sites.

One Thing to Not Forget There is one really important thing we can share with businesses thinking of pursuing social media: it isn’t a turnkey operation. You can’t just, “set it and forget it.” To be successful, you need to be active by posting updates, news, and above all interacting with the people who reach out to you. After all, they are your customers. If you do establish your social presence but forget to keep it up to date, you will be the company that’s forgotten.

If you would like help with your social media strategy, please get in touch with us. We’d love to hear from you.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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March 28th, 2012

Many companies are turning to Twitter to increase their online presence. This is a bit of a double-edged sword, as companies can easily reach a large amount of existing and potential clients at the same time. The downside is, if there is a negative tweet about your business, all subscribers can see the complaint. Does your company have a plan to address negative tweets?

Traditionally, the general rule regarding complaints was that a disgruntled customer or client will tell up to 20 people when they are unhappy, versus 5 when they are happy. When a complaint is made on Twitter, chances are very high it will be seen by more than 20 people. Complaints on Twitter should be taken seriously, even one complaint could damage your online reputation. Here are a few tips on dealing with this new breed of online customer service.

Ensure Team Alignment
If you have more than one person looking over your social media accounts, or someone other than you looking over it, you need to be sure that they are experts on your products and services. This is important because it is them who will be responding to questions and complaints. If you don’t have an FAQ section set up, it is a good idea to establish answers to the most commonly asked questions, as well as answers or responses to any frequent complaints. This will provide you and your employees with a way to quickly handle displeased customers.

Prompt Response is Key
Oftentimes, a quick response will go a long way in dampening the complaint. As people, we like to be acknowledged and when it is done promptly, we are more likely to be open. Many complaints are made when people are mad, and as such, the complaints tend not to show the whole picture. If you quickly respond, ask for more information or suggestions on what you can do to help, the complainer will often give you valuable feedback to use. If the complaint is serious, it is a good idea to acknowledge the complaint briefly, and then pursue a private dialogue. The average window to respond is 2-3 hours from the time of the complaint, so try to at least acknowledge the complaint within that time.

Personal Responses go a Long Way
As with any response to complaints, it is a good idea to personally respond. If you use a company account, the response or apology will be read as insincere, and potentially make the problem worse. Many people feel valued when they are contacted from the owner’s or manager’s personal company account. In small businesses like yours, it is a good idea that someone at the very top replies. This will make it look like you care.

Word Limits, We Don’t Need No Word Limits
The 140 character limit is usually not enough to explain yourself, or conduct damage control. So, don’t limit yourself to just the 140 characters. Use the space to acknowledge the complaint, and ask the person who lodged the complaint for their email so you can help them.

Pick Your Battles
Remember one of the most important sayings in business: “You can’t please everyone, all the time.” There will always be people who complain simply because they can. In an ideal world, you would be able to personally address and solve each and every complaint, but chances are high you won’t be able to do that. Use your business sense about the complaints, or have a colleague look at the complaint and debate about what you should do.

With careful responses that are prompt and personal, there is a high chance you will turn the complaint into praise, and not only keep your client, but look good while doing it.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

 

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