Growing Companies Gain Traction Leveraging Five Client Service Techniques
May 30, 2006 (Des Moines, Iowa) — For small- to medium-sized businesses to grow in today's increasingly competitive landscape, they must compete not only to acquire, but also to retain their clients. Formal client-service processes generally do not exist in the small business world, presenting opportunities and challenge.
As a dedicated partner to women owners of growing businesses, the Principal Financial Group® will offer the complementary teleclass Feeling the Love: Five Best Client Service Techniques on Tuesday, June 27 at noon CST. During this class, women business owners will get an edge by learning how to implement simple client service tips to strengthen their relationships with clients to ensure their foundation - their customer base - is on solid ground.
"In every competitive market, the expectation to exceed client expectations is indicative of retaining and growing your current client base," said Michelle Swanda, corporate marketing manager of The Principal®. "This is especially true for small- to medium-sized business owners looking to establish a competitive advantage from their larger corporate competitors. This class will provide five simple client-service techniques that permit these companies to compete beyond client acquisition to client retention."
Meet the Speaker
Paul Levesque is a renowned customer-service expert. Recognized several times in MSNBC.com's Small Business section and on Entrepreneur.com, Levesque has written several books and articles about the importance of elevating customer service for growing businesses. Most recently, he wrote Customer Service from the Inside Out Made Easy.
Levesque is currently a senior consultant with Boston-based Novations Inc., a global professional services firm committed to building talent, and CEO of Customer Focus Breakthroughs Inc., a customer service-focused organization. Previously, Levesque served as an executive consultant for more than 10 years with Achieve Global, the world leader in helping organizations translate business strategies into results. As lead instructor at Achieve's Service Quality Academy, Levesque helped more than 350 leading corporations plan and implement customer-focus initiatives.
"Customer service is the issue everyone in business agrees needs fixing, yet is the issue virtually nobody has a formal process in place for fixing," Levesque said. "One important misconception to address with business owners is that poor customer service is a symptom of an organizational culture that needs fixing, not employees that need fixing."
Also a speaker and workshop leader, Levesque has more than two decades of experience consulting businesses around the globe and has shared his client-service expertise on television and radio stations throughout North America.
For more information about Levesque's company, articles and recently published books, please visit www.customerfocusbreakthroughs.com.
All programs are conducted as meaningful, one-on-one discussions with speakers to provide practical and valuable insight to women.
How to Get Involved
Pre-register for classes at www.principal.com/women. Space is limited. All classes are held at noon CST (1 p.m. EST, 11 a.m. MST and 10 a.m. PST) on the dates scheduled. In-depth information about the 2006 classes, topics and speakers, as well as previously-conducted teleclasses via streaming audio, is available at www.principal.com/women.
About The Principal Financial Group
The Principal Financial Group®
(The Principal®)1
is a leader in offering businesses, individuals and institutional clients a wide range of financial products and services, including retirement and investment services, life and health insurance and banking through its diverse family of financial services companies and national network of financial professionals. A member of the Fortune 500, the Principal Financial Group has $205.3 billion in assets under management2 and serves some 16 million customers worldwide from offices in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and the United States. Principal Financial Group, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PFG. For more information, visit www.principal.com.
1) "The Principal Financial Group" and "The Principal" are registered service marks of Principal Financial Services, Inc., a member of the Principal Financial Group.
2) As of March 31, 2006.
