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mohifashion · 6 months

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Best Indian Clothing Boutiques in USA

Are you in search of Indian attire that combines tradition with modern style? Look no further! We've curated a list of the top Indian clothing boutiques spread across the United States, each renowned for its unique offerings and exceptional quality. Let's delve into the world of Indian fashion and explore these ten boutiques that stand out for their exceptional craftsmanship, diverse collections, and rich cultural heritage. In the United States, the demand for Indian attire has surged, prompting the establishment of several esteemed Indian clothing stores. These boutiques not only cater to the Indian diaspora but also attract fashion enthusiasts keen on embracing the vibrant colors and intricate designs of Indian fashion.

Nalli Silks

Nalli Silks, originating from Chennai, India, has been specialised in silk sarees since 1928. The US store, established in 1996 by Nagarathna Nalli, proudly continues this tradition. Located at 1603 North Aurora Road, Ste. 105 & 107, Chicago, IL-60563, the store offers a magnificent collection of pure silk sarees, soft silk sarees, sarees in pattu, mysore ilk sarees, silk sarees online, wedding sarees and ethnic wear. Additionally, Nalli Silks has stores in Houston and Dallas, Texas, Fremont in California, and Iselin in New Jersey.

Sakkhi Style

In 2012, Kalyani founded the SakkhiStyle, initially as a home boutique. Her vision was to bring Indian traditional attire to international markets through creativity and imagination. SakkhiStyle offers a diverse range of products, including beautifully designed lehenga choli for women, lehenga for engagement, sarees, kurtis, salwars, kids' attire, jewelry, exclusive SakkhiStyle designs, handloom varieties, accessories, and carefully selected products from market catalogues. The success of SakkhiStyle can be attributed to its high customer satisfaction, largely driven by positive "word of mouth publicity." You can find SakkhiStyle located at 15600 NE 8th St F5, Bellevue, WA 98008, United States.

Sai’s Boutique

Chinmayi founded Sai's Boutique in 1998 to showcase her innate Indian Style and Fashion sense. Regular trips to India enable her to personally curate the inventory, ensuring the latest trends are always available. The boutique offers a wide range of casual and formal wear, lehenga for woman, ghagra choli for women meticulously handpicked to cater to diverse tastes. Located at 8840 Michigan Rd Suite 102, Indianapolis, IN 46268, Sai's Boutique is a premier destination for Indian Fashion, Jewelry, and Accessories.

Fab India

Established in 1960 by John Bissell, Fabindia initially focused on exporting India's diverse craft traditions in home furnishings. Their first retail store opened in Greater Kailash, New Delhi, in 1975. Fabindia is celebrated for blending contemporary designs with traditional Indian craftsmanship. Their offerings span ethnic wear, wedding guest dresses, plus size wedding guest dresses and accessories. Visit them at 456 Maple Avenue, San Francisco, CA, to explore their exquisite collection.

Mohi Fashion

Mohi is a curated multi-designer online marketplace offering bridal lehengas, sarees, designer wear, lehenga for woman and men's groom wear. They source their products from renowned Indian designers like Bhasin Brothers, Label PSB, Harshitha Singhvi, Ikshitha Choudhary, House of Supriya, Vastra, Juhi Choksi, Esha Koul, Sougat Paul and so on providing a focus on reflecting the diversity of South Asian fashion. Mohi Fashion provides a 10% discount on all MRPs year-round and exclusive offers, along with video consultations for brides and customizable outfits in all sizes.

Omnama Fashions

Omnama Fashions, founded by Shweta, aims to provide a budget-friendly shopping experience for Indian clothing in the Denver area and its surroundings. Established as a home-based boutique, Omnama Fashions caters to the Denver metro area by offering a wide range of Ethnic Indian clothing, including party wear suits, sarees, bridesmaid lehenga, lehenga party wear, lehenga saree and anarkalis. Shweta recognized the challenge of finding suitable Indian ethnic attire upon her move to Denver a decade ago, prompting her to collaborate with her designer friend in India and launch Omnama Fashions. Leveraging her friend's expertise in Indian clothing, Shweta ensures that the boutique meets the growing demand of the Indian community while maintaining affordability. Located at 6398 Tremolite Dr, Castle Rock, CO 80108, United States, Omnama Fashions continues to serve its clients with dedication.

Kalaaz Indian Ethnic Wear

In 2023, Kalaaz Indian Ethnic Wear emerged to address the challenge of finding traditional Indian attire in the United States within budget constraints. Boasting a vast inventory of over 1000 products, including exquisite sarees, ghagra choli for ladies, lehenga choli designs, choli with lehenga, kurtis, ghaghra cholis, dazzling lehengas, vibrant salwar suits, anarkali suits, and indo-western gowns, Kalaaz bridges the gap between rich cultural heritage and contemporary tastes. With meticulous attention to quality and craftsmanship, their finest fabrics and handcrafted designs evoke a sense of royalty. Whether for weddings, festivals, or everyday wear, Kalaaz ensures a diverse array of options. Visit them at 1246 US-46 Floor 1, Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ 07054, United States, to explore their magnificent collection.

Jyotika Patel

Jyotika Patel, the visionary behind Jyotika Patel Designs, initially established Fashion Point in 2003 in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania. Recognizing the growing demand for her designs, she expanded her presence to Dallas, Texas. In late 2015, Jyotika Patel Designs formally launched to cater to the burgeoning demand in Dallas and across the United States. Specializing in original, ethnic yet contemporary Indian designs, women lehenga, lehenga designs for women. Jyotika's creations reflect the rich tradition of embroidery, fabric, and color, particularly from her ancestral region of Gujarat. Located at 608 Valley Ranch Pkwy S Suite 126, Irving, TX 75063, United States, Jyotika Patel Designs offers a diverse range of lehenga for wedding, lehenga for reception, chaniya cholis, sarees, and long gowns, each crafted to capture hearts with their elegance and charm.

#indianwedding #lehenga #indian ethnic wear #boutiqueshopping #indians in usa #indianfashion #style boutique

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orbemnews · 3 years

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Two Hollywood Executives, Awash in Awards and Admiration, Step Aside LOS ANGELES — One of corporate Hollywood’s most enduring double acts is calling it quits. Steve Gilula and Nancy Utley, senior executives at Searchlight Pictures for 21 of its 27 years, who shaped global culture with Oscar-winning hits like “12 Years a Slave,” “Black Swan,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and “Slumdog Millionaire,” announced their surprise retirement on Tuesday. They will leave the Disney-owned specialty studio by the end of June, adding to a conspicuous changing of the guard at Walt Disney Company. “You don’t want to be the show that stays on the air two seasons too long,” Ms. Utley said. “Get out while everything is still going well.” She was joking — mostly. Searchlight has long been the gold standard of art film studios, packing its slate with diverse offerings long before Hollywood got the memo, and thriving in a changing marketplace — the DVD collapse, the rise of streaming competitors — even as once-formidable competitors like the Weinstein Company imploded. If the latest Searchlight success, “Nomadland,” wins the Academy Award for best picture on Sunday, as many expect, Mr. Gilula, 70, and Ms. Utley, 65, will have taken the top prize in four of the last eight ceremonies. That is a run unmatched by any specialty studio, even Miramax, which at its height won three best-picture Oscars. Searchlight’s previous best-picture winners have been “The Shape of Water” (2018), “Birdman” (2015) and “12 Years a Slave” (2014). “Slumdog Millionaire” won in 2009. At the same time, however, Sunday could mark a symbolic shift in Hollywood: If Searchlight loses, it will likely be to Netflix, which could win its first Academy Award for best picture for “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” Netflix has been chasing such a victory for years as the ultimate symbol of supremacy in Hollywood. Searchlight has been rising to the challenge of streaming. “Nomadland,” from the Chinese-born filmmaker Chloé Zhao, was released in theaters and on Hulu, a Disney streaming service. But competing with Amazon, Apple and Netflix — and their seemingly bottomless wallets — for talent and material has become harder and harder. That has made the art film market more precarious for traditional studios like Searchlight, which will now be run by David Greenbaum and Matthew Greenfield, the current presidents. “Every time my contract was up, to be candid, I always questioned whether I had the intestinal fortitude to fight through the next set of changes,” Mr. Gilula said. “Ultimately, pride and loyalty kept me going. And there has always been another fantastic film in the pipeline. Well, maybe after ‘Shape of Water,’ maybe after ‘Three Billboards.’ But this is it. With ‘Nomadland,’ which has shown that we haven’t lost our edge at all, adapting quickly to the pandemic, there is a great feeling of fulfillment.” Mr. Gilula and Ms. Utley are leaving amid a broader brain drain at Disney. Robert A. Iger, executive chairman, is departing in December after 26 years at the company. Alan F. Horn, the top creative executive at Walt Disney Studios, has been edging toward retirement, as has Alan N. Braverman, Disney’s top lawyer. Jayne Parker, Disney’s powerful human resources chief, will step down in June after 33 years at the company. “The people you mentioned have contributed mightily — myself excluded; I’m not talking about myself in this regard — to the success of the company, and in doing so have groomed people behind them who will take over the mantle,” Mr. Iger said. “I try to ease people’s concerns as much as possible. It’s certainly way too premature to express concern.” Searchlight was one of the assets that Disney acquired from Rupert Murdoch in 2019. Mr. Iger, who orchestrated the deal, heaped praise on Ms. Utley and Mr. Gilula. “It takes a really deft hand to bring these smaller but extremely high-quality films to market, and they have Ph.D.’s in it,” he said. Does their retirement signal a change in direction for Searchlight? The mini-studio, which has about 100 employees, is beloved by fans of grown-up cinema, especially as Hollywood has leaned harder toward all-audience franchise films. “No, not at all,” Mr. Iger said. “We haven’t been particularly vocal about this, but we intend for Searchlight to play a big part in supplying content, not just for theaters but for our streaming platforms. We are going to invest more and more. Expect more output rather than less.” Searchlight’s coming films include “Summer of Soul,” a documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival from Ahmir Thompson, better known as Questlove; Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch,” a comedy-drama-romance; and Guillermo del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley,” about a manipulative carnival worker. Searchlight also has six television shows on the way with stars and directors that include Keira Knightley, Yorgos Lanthimos (“The Favourite”) and Darren Aronofsky. All have worked with Searchlight before. “When I started in the American film industry in ’93-’96, I heard often the word ‘family’ to describe film studios: ‘We’re a family here’,” Mr. del Toro said. “In my experience, what they must have meant was the Manson family. But not with Searchlight. It is a true family, one that nurtures you.” Mr. del Toro, who wrote and directed “The Shape of Water,” continued: “I remember pitching them the story — it was a huge gamble! not something most studios would make! — and by the end I got weepy, and then they got weepy, and they said, ‘Go make your movie.’” Ms. Zhao said she was impressed that Mr. Gilula and Ms. Utley met with her for an hour every week “for months” as Searchlight worked toward a pandemic-suited distribution and marketing plan for “Nomadland,” which stars Frances McDormand as a grief-stricken van dweller. “I always hear horror stories about how, at some studios, once you finish your film you don’t know where it is going — what is happening with it,” Ms. Zhao said. “Not only was I informed every week at Searchlight, I was allowed to be a huge part of making all of the decisions.” Mr. Gilula and Ms. Utley agreed to a theatrical release, even though it was a money-losing proposition because of the pandemic. “They don’t say, ‘We have a system that works for us so that is how you are going to work,’” Ms. Zhao said. “They really listened to us and trusted us.” Searchlight was founded in 1994 by Thomas E. Rothman, who is now Sony’s movie chief. At the time, specialty films — auteur-minded cinematic trinkets — were raking in money at the box office. “The Full Monty,” released by Searchlight in 1997, cost $3.5 million to make and took in $258 million worldwide (or nearly $430 million in today’s money). Over the years, market conditions changed markedly, particularly in the late 2000s, when an economic downturn dried up production financing. As competitors like Rogue Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Picturehouse and Miramax faded away, Ms. Utley and Mr. Gilula kept Searchlight vibrant. Her specialty has been marketing, scripts and casting. He is a distribution ace who co-founded the Landmark Theaters chain in 1974. “There has never been a spreadsheet that Steve didn’t love,” Ms. Utley said dryly. Aside from exquisite cinematic taste, the two executives, who both hail from the Midwest, are the rarest of species in Hollywood: genuinely nice people. Neither crave the spotlight. They are widely known in the film industry for campaigning for awards with integrity. “Hopefully, we have set an example,” Mr. Gilula said, “showing that you don’t have to be the other kind of person to be successful in this business.” Both insisted that Disney’s takeover of Searchlight (called Fox Searchlight while owned by Mr. Murdoch) played no role in their decision to retire. “We were frustrated at Fox because Fox just didn’t have a streaming strategy and was very slow to react to marketplace changes,” Ms. Utley said, adding. “I think the transition to Disney has gone really smoothly, which is one reason I have all the faith in the world about the future of Searchlight.” Source link Orbem News #Admiration #Awards #Awash #executives #Hollywood #Step

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uzagedu-blog · 7 years

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Top Clubbing Destinations In The Planet

Seriously, who desires to go to Bristol for their stag weekend? According to the new survey that Singapore is the most effective spot or location for these individuals who are party lovers or appreciate going clubs, parties and bars. For numerous, buying is a strain buster as properly as a pastime, If you are 1 of them then come to London but make certain reside closer to marketplace areas like Oxford street. Old Compton Street is the best spot for people today-watching, and you happen to be bound to be caught up in atmosphere as celebration people wind down just after a night of debauchery. Sit back and love a night of music although you and your date get to know a single a different far better in the ambiance that is ideal for romancing. Nonetheless, with Brighton's casual attitude towards nightlife, the non-chain bars and clubs such as Madame Geisha and Casablanca are appreciated amongst the locals. Lots of ladies enjoy arts and crafts and they frequent these places. It has several trendy clubs to party until the early hours. Then step into right now with a trip around the London Eye for some of the greatest city views you are going to get anyplace. The food is great in Turkey, and the men and women are warm and friendly, be cautious if you travel outdoors of Turkey, not every city is as friendly as Istanbul. Stop by as a lot of tourist stops as you can or take the back roads and come across out-of-the-way bed and breakfast hotels. At least as soon as in his or her lifetime, each Muslim is anticipated to undertake this pilgrimage the sacred city of Islam. Keen to get back to basics - the pretty basics - a pop-up restaurant in London is from this Saturday providing diners a naked, no-tech dining encounter. From time to time I stumble across street art in the most unexpected areas. The nightlife soars in the illuminated streets of London, as persons live it up, night soon after night, with dancing and merriment at some of the best nightclubs in the location. Ibiza is a single place which does not sleep at evening and has a permanent party atmosphere. A different wonderful date idea in Chicago that city area single professionals can do is to have a entertaining day at the Maryland Zoo on Druid Hill Park. Most brides these days want to have a celebration just as exciting as the groom's evening out on the town these are some suggestions to make your bachelorette party a terrific time. Located in the heart of charming Notting Hill, this atmospheric and energetic marketplace sells all the things from vintage clothing and sumptuous street meals to antiques. Amy Winehouse was also hosted at this cocktail bar and restaurant, which has been providing nightly reside music, from Jazz and Funk to Soul and R&B, since 1985.

#best place to go in london on friday night

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bestweddingbandsinchicago-blog · 5 years

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Best Wedding Bands in Chicago

It is unlikely that both the groom and also the new bride will certainly enjoy the exact same sort of wedding band. As a result, it is essential to select wedding event rings that will certainly make both of them happy. It is important to choose stylish and special wedding bands, to make sure that they can suit both your character and also design. Top Jewelry Stores Chicago having a huge variety of stylish wedding bands.

Finding The Best Wedding Bands

Selecting the right ring is not a simple job, as a result of the countless selections offered on the marketplace. You need to make a decision whether you favor conventional or timeless wedding celebration rings. Best Jewelers In Chicago offer a huge range of elegant and excellent quality wedding celebration bands

Variety Of Rings

You can find rings prepared from platinum, gold, silver or titanium, but all of them have some qualities as well as bad marks. Furthermore, if you love classic wedding celebration rings after that choose rings prepared from gold, due to the fact that this steel is generally utilized in the preparation of fashion jewelry, and has been for several years.

Titanium is modern, classy as well as long-lasting steel and also, therefore, rings prepared from this metal are costly but distinct and also appealing. These types of rings are ideal for your wedding event. In fact, platinum wedding event rings are likewise stylish and glossy. These rings are durable and also are best for day-to-day wear.

Furthermore, if you are searching for less expensive rings, Jewelry Store In Chicago has the collection of less expensive rings. These rings are durable and you can easily wear them each day. There are ranges of wedding celebration bands readily available on the market such as ordinary bands, classic rings, Celtic design bands as well as antique rings.

Furthermore, you can buy rings that have precious gems studded in them, Chicago Custom Jewelers offered you numerous choices, you can quickly choose the ideal wedding celebration bands that match your budget plan in addition to design. Additionally, make certain that you acquire wedding rings from a reputed jewelry expert, to make sure that you improve high-quality rings. These bands are a sign of belief as well as love as well as hence, selecting the right one is important

#chicago custom jewelers #Jewelry Store In Chicago #Best Jewelers In Chicago #Top Jewelry Store Chicago

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africablooms · 4 years

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unixcommerce · 5 years

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Apply These 10 Customer Service Strategies from Top Brands

Product reliability and quality have become near-commodities in our world. The challenge then, for a business, is to find another way to differentiate yourself. And one of the best ways to truly engage customers is to connect with them via superior customer service.

Today, let’s look at a variety of companies whose have succeeded by doing precisely this. These companies have made their mark in the marketplace with their exceptional customer experience and extraordinary customer service.

Examples of Good Customer Service

1) Nordstrom — Be Willing to Say “Yes!” Every Time

Staying in business for over 100 years is extremely rare. Thriving in business for over 100 years — in a brutally competitive field — is even more so. Seattle-based Nordstrom has managed to pull this off. Year after year.

For example, Nordstrom is so customer-focused that it once refunded a customer for a tire purchase even though the company, of course, has never sold tires. You can always tell that the entire staff is committed to getting you a “yes” to anything you request.

Furthermore, as a retailing icon, Nordstrom has avoided the temptation to rest on its laurels. Instead, it has pursued up-to-the-minute technological improvements in its customer experience.

These are mainly in evidence at its new flagship store in Manhattan. Here virtual reality helps you get the perfect fit and fabric choice. Your new suit order is then sent off to Italy for manufacturing. The store handles returns right at the front door with an instant barcoded process for total customer convenience.

The big idea: Be ready to say “yes” to your customers, regardless of the request. With this approach, not only will you care for your customers, they’ll care for you as well.

2) Drybar — You Can’t Replace a Unique Customer Experience

Drybar is the coast-to-coast “blowout bar” phenomenon that has expanded quickly to nearly 100 locations from co-founder, Alli Webb’s basement. (Not to mention their bestselling line of hair dryers and hair care products carried at Sephora.)

The Drybar concept could quickly become a commodity and give in to knockoff operators. On the contrary, it might be a task to sway their fiercely loyal client base that loves a $40 hair wash and blowout.

Their secret? Fantastic customer experience at every single touchpoint. From the efficient booking process to the dozens of details that define a Drybar location — romantic comedies on flat screens and custom-designed chairs — every aspect of the experience has received special attention.

“The experience is everything,” says Drybar co-founder Michael Landau, who started the business alongside his sister, Alli Webb. “If it weren’t for the experience we create, we would be another place styling women’s hair. What we’re selling at Drybar is an experience. For 45 minutes, you get to relax and be pampered. Drink a mimosa and indulge in the guilty pleasure of the latest chick flick or celebrity magazine while someone washes and brushes your hair.”

The big idea: No matter what you’re selling, you can turn it into more than a commodity. Focus on every single touchpoint in the customer journey.

3) Danny Meyer’s Union Square — Making Your Customers Feel Special Never Gets Old

Danny Meyer is a wildly successful New York restaurateur, whose approach is based heavily on creating a real sense of hospitality. While not a chef himself, his many successful restaurants — including Gramercy Tavern, Union Square Café, and now, globally, Shake Shack — have the distinctive Meyer touch.

He only selects new employees based on what he calls the “hospitality quotient.” This includes six personality attributes — optimistic warmth, intelligence, work ethic, empathy, self-awareness, and integrity.

Another true mark of the Meyer touch includes personal recognition when a guest walks in the door. Meyer calls it ‘‘the number one reason guests cite for wanting to return.” Nothing escapes his attention or the attention of his talented staff!

The big idea: The human aspect of the customer experience is irreplaceable. Make sure your customers feel recognized and, in turn, they’ll give your company the recognition it deserves.

4) Virgin Atlantic Airlines — What Matters Most is How You Treat Your Unhappy Customers

It’s impossible to please every customer every time. But customer service statistics show what you do when a customer is unhappy can make all the difference. Virgin Brands are spectacular at using complaints as opportunities to bond more closely with the customer in question.

“A complaint is a chance to turn a customer into a lifelong friend,” says Richard Branson. “At Virgin, we think that if we address a complaint well, and even involve the customer in the solution, it brings customers closer to our brand.”

In a famous episode, a customer in first class (which Virgin Atlantic adorably calls Upper Class) encountered what sounds like a genuinely dreadful Indian-themed meal on an intercontinental flight. The letter he wrote (accompanied by stomach-turning photos) to Branson was both funny and disturbing.

The passenger described one item on his tray as a “miscellaneous central cuboid of beige matter.” This passenger later explains elsewhere that “the potato masher had obviously broken and so it was decided the next best thing would be to pass the potatoes through the digestive tract of a bird.”

The most significant part of the story isn’t the letter, though, it’s how Branson responded. Branson invited the passenger to help Virgin overhaul its menu, and ultimately to be on the board of the airline’s culinary council.

The big idea: A complaint is indeed a gift. If you can win over your upset customers, your business success will know no bounds.

5) Zappos — Empower Your Employees to Wow Your Customers

Can you imagine a leading e-commerce company whose core principle is “to live and deliver WOW”? Zappos is exactly that company. A fully-owned subsidiary of Amazon, Zappos grew to be a leader in online shoe and apparel sales through an obsessive devotion to the customer.

The company is willing to spend any amount of time on the phone to serve and to bond with a customer. Even up to a world record 10 hours and 29 minutes made famous on late-night TV by Jimmy Fallon! And employees will make every effort — and also spend company money — to do whatever it takes to please and “wow” customers.

Including flying to a customer’s home to return jewelry that had accidentally been shipped to the company, as recounted by Rob Siefker, the senior director of the contact center at Zappos:

Not too long ago, two of our customers — a newly married couple — were packing up their belongings to move to a new home. In the rush of the move, the husband packed his wife’s jewelry inside one of her purses and then kept the purse inside what he thought was a spare Zappos box.

[Once the wife figured out what had happened and why her jewelry was missing], The rep she reached out to at Zappos decided to reroute the box directly to his desk. Fearing for the safety of the valuables in transit, he purchased a plane ticket so he could hand-deliver the package himself. When he and the jewelry arrived, the grateful couple invited him in for dinner. They’re now customers for life, as you can imagine.

The big idea: Strive to wow — to surprise and delight — every customer. And involve and empower your employees in doing this every day.

6) Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers — Invest in Your Customer Service Culture

Freddy’s has grown to over 280 locations across 31 states U.S. while sporting a retro vibe and some delicious burgers. (Yes, steakburgers are hamburgers by another name. They’re good, thanks to a pounded-flat preparation on the grill!)

Also, they have great Chicago-style hot dogs. And, they have a wild assortment of custard-based desserts. But the customer service truly distinguishes Freddy’s as well, with always-cheery employees behind the counter.

Freddy’s invests well beyond industry norm in customer service training and uses innovative methods for this as well. They have a mix of in-person training with brief but effective digital-based training (dubbed “Freducation”).

They also encourage employees to rise through the ranks. Recently, a group of employees who started as cooks and cashiers at an old company-owned location in Wichita worked themselves into management positions. They then went on to be successful operators of not one but two franchises, with more potentially on the way.

The big idea: A culture of customer service can enliven even the fastest-paced of business concepts. Grooming current employees as future leaders gives more opportunity for everyone to shine.

7) Safelite Autoglass — Customer Service is a Team Sport (Technology, Training, and Personnel)

In the face of macro trends that aren’t always ideal for anyone in the auto industry, Safelite Autoglass has grown, quarter after quarter, through a focus on improving the customer experience.

Part of this is through hiring. Nobody is hired to work at Safelite today who don’t make it through a profile. This is developed in-house with the assistance of a profiling company called Predictive Index, showing an affinity for working with customers.

Customer experience improvement has also been accomplished through training, both event-based and daily. The latter being what Safelite calls its “daily huddle” where customer service principles are discussed, once a day, throughout the company.

Third, Safelite has developed a unique approach to review and parse customer feedback received on surveys. Rather than concentrating on scores received, Safelite pays more attention to the nuggets that may be contained in the “verbatims.”

One of the themes discovered here recently was that it’s not just the length of the window that matters in terms of technician arrival. It’s also knowing that they’re on the way and that they’re in the neighborhood.

Now, using an app-based approach akin to Uber, customers can find out exactly that and be ready precisely for the technician’s arrival.

The big idea: Customer experience improvement should be a multi-pronged effort. There are technology, personnel, and training aspects to consider. Work on all of these different angles, and the results can be spectacular.

8) USAA — Treat Your Employees as Your First Customers

USAA, a Fortune 500 company which operates in insurance, banking, and financial services, is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. Its campus there, holding 19,000 of its 34,000 total employees, is nearly the size of Pentagon.

USAA is regularly rated at the top of its various industries for customer satisfaction. One of their secrets is their unique approach to propelling customer-focused innovation.

The culture of innovation here is so strong that a security guard working at USAA managed to author (in addition to his “regular job,”) twenty-five fully realized patents for his company. These patents, each designed to improve a portion of the customer experience are just a few of the 10,000 ideas submitted by employees each year, of which over 900 have received U.S. patents.

The first thing that’s necessary to propel customer service innovation is a mindset. The mindset at USAA is ideal: every USAA employee is also a customer. Employees are encouraged to be on the lookout for how to improve the experience of customers — in other words, themselves.

Beyond this, USAA harvests ideas through its “Always On Ideas Platform,” a portal that’s available to all employees. There are additional ways for employee innovators to participate, including what USAA calls challenges, competitions, and hackathons. USAA also offers various training sessions to encourage and distill innovation, including a particularly ambitious partnership with the University of Texas at Austin.

The big idea: Providing the best customer service and the most polished customer experience depends on customer-focused innovation. To get there requires a mindset of “being the customer,” plus channels/portals to harvest innovation, plus training for innovation.

9) Umpqua Bank — A Crowded, Unglamorous Industry is Your Chance to Stand Out with Customer Service

Primarily located in California and the Pacific Northwest, Umpqua proudly and cheekily refers to itself as “the world’s greatest bank.” Umpqua empowers employees to help customers in any way they can, using their creativity and the resources of the bank.

For example, a new trainee fixed a jam-up at the drive-through line by using her car cables to jumpstart a senior man’s car. She didn’t have to ask permission to do this, and she was celebrated for her action.

Umpqua employees also undergo Ritz-Carlton-led customer service training refreshers on a regular basis.

The big idea: Even if you’re in an unglamorous industry where many of the other players are seen as commodities by customers, there are always efforts you can make in customer service and the customer experience to stand out in the crowd.

10) Starbucks — Don’t Just Smile Hard, Create Strong Customer Service Standards

The mantra, which you’ll repeatedly hear if you spend some time with Starbucks, is “Make It Right.” This means that anything that has gone wrong, in a customer’s eyes, they are willing to fix without dispute. But it also represents a commitment at Starbucks to always be improving the customer experience.

Areas of improvement at Starbucks, for example, include their wildly successful mobile app. Some of these customer service standards can be quite elaborate. When you order a caramel macchiato at Starbucks, it has a precise pattern of caramel sauce: a lattice of seven vertical and horizontal lines with two full circles around it.

This standard provides more than visual consistency; it also ensures a small amount of caramel sauce in almost every sip. It’s true regardless of which Starbucks location you’re in when you take those sugar-laced sips.

And those wooden stir sticks? They source it from a specific variety of birch tree that company testing has shown won’t interact with the flavor of a coffee drink.

The big idea: Great customer service is more than smiling hard. It also depends on having standards that govern portions of the customer experience throughout the customer journey. Get these right, and you’re a long way toward pleasing your customers — not just once but over and over.

So, What do All These Companies Have in Common?

While components of “good” customer service may differ across industries and companies, good customer service has the following key attributes:

Availability of user-friendly FAQs and self-help content.

Prompt response to customer queries, complaints, or requests.

Easy access to customer care/support representatives via an omnichannel approach (online, email, SMS, chat, social media, video call, mobile, etc.).

Personalized solutions based on each customer’s situation or context.

Widespread practice of active listening and empathy in solution design.

Strong sense of accountability, including a full willingness to admit, apologize, and compensate for bad service/product errors.

Smart use of relevant technologies such as CRM, data analytics, AI, and machine learning in support of customer care.

Ability to nurture and grow relationships through sustained multi-channel engagement, feedback, and recommendations.

Seamless alignment with an overall customer experience strategy.

Authentic, motivated, and highly trained customer service professionals.

Every business that plans to stay relevant and competitive in its industry needs to have a strong and effective customer service organization. That’s because the link between customer service and key performance indicators such as customer retention, customer satisfaction, upsell/cross-sell rates, and revenue has long been established.

Lessons from 4 Popular Customer Service Blunders

1) FCK KFC

Due to supply chain issues, hundreds of KFC outlets in the UK were forced to close in early 2018 because they had no chicken to serve patrons. What!? To manage irate customers who then had to get their meals from other food chains, KFC published a public apology across many print media channels.

The apology used the company’s visual branding but tweaked its famous three-letter acronym into “FCK” to reflect the gravity of what just happened. Because it tickled customers’ funny bones, the apology was a hit and patrons eventually forgave the popular food chain.

To do: Creative humor sometimes works. When the customer issue is not overly serious, infusing humor to an official apology can turn things around.

2) Plane of Pain

In April 2017, social media ignited after United Airlines forcibly removed a passenger from his seat. The controversial and violent episode resulted literally in spilled blood — the passenger’s.

Because the public apology from the airline company’s CEO lacked any hint of either remorse or empathy, the backlash was massive, and the public cried for blood. The market concurred: UA’s parent company bled nearly a billion dollars in market value as investors fled for the exit. It took heroic efforts at crisis management to bring this down to just around $250 million.

To do: Demonstrate empathy — especially after a tragic event. Well-informed, well-connected, and well-equipped modern customers control the conversation. Give them the slightest excuse, and they’ll easily ditch your brand for another, all the while broadcasting their experience online.

3) Accounts and Apologies: Faking it at Fargo

Virtually forcing employees to create fake customer accounts is, well, dishonest. What’s more disenchanting is the way Wells Fargo handled the scandal. After creating 3.5 million banking and credit card accounts without customers’ approval over four years, Wells Fargo not only failed to articulate a sincere apology but even appeared to condone the fraud by not holding executives accountable. After a series of missteps, the scandal finally forced the CEO to resign.

To do: You’re not sorry if your actions say otherwise. Just paying lip service to customer care won’t get you very far. When a serious incident happens, you have to demonstrate that you are solving the problem with long-term strategic solutions, and not just temporarily placating your angry customers.

4) Battery Burnout

In 2016, a popular Samsung phone model — Galaxy Note 7 — became an internet meme because its faulty battery tended to burn or explode. The company turned the PR nightmare by holding itself accountable, recalling millions of units to ensure customer safety, and implementing stronger quality control measures from then on.

The brand initially suffered a sales contraction, but its genuine countermeasures eventually paid off — it increased its market valuation and its brand regained the trust and love of millions.

To do: Old school values will remain hot forever. So, be honest and hold yourself accountable when something bad happens in your turf. Show genuine concern for customers even if doing so will cost you dearly. (The Note 7 recall cost Samsung at least $5.3 billion).

Tactical Tips to Upgrade Your Customer Service Strategy

Businesses can — and should — leverage their customer service infrastructure as a competitive advantage. Here are some tactical tips that can help you achieve that.

Help transition your organization towards a customer-centric mindset if it hasn’t done so yet.

Build a clearer and deeper understanding of your customer personas as well as the unique journeys these personas commonly undertake. With markets, technologies, and consumer behavior in constant flux, efforts to understand an audience also need to be fluid and adaptive.

Improve average response and issue resolution times.

Simplify but personalize the delivery of customer service.

Make plans for the long term — because, for smart businesses, every customer is for life.

Think of customer service as the reactive part of the more comprehensive field of customer experience (CX).

Empower customer service staff and the rest of your frontline employees to motivate and enable them to deliver excellent customer service at all times.

Move toward an omnichannel framework to meet customers halfway.

Feedback is your friend. Get it as often and as unobtrusively as you can.

Use technology to orchestrate more meaningful or effective engagements. Phone calls remain relevant, but some customers may demand one-to-one videos, GIFs, and other content formats.

Provide a wide range of options but offer powerful recommendation and filtering engines to help customers decide faster and better.

Keep valued customers in the loop when it comes to new product or service features, even inviting some of them to participate in beta launches.

Set a reasonable customer service budget that can absorb minor expenses (simple birthday gifts, loyalty rewards, etc.) aimed at keeping customer satisfaction and engagement levels high.

Where is Your Customer Service Strategy Headed?

Customer service plays an important role in attracting, retaining, and nurturing customers. It supports revenue generation, loyalty programs, and referral campaigns. Along with product features and overall customer experience, customer service is a primary tool for keeping customers engaged and satisfied.

As numerous pieces of research have suggested, customer service will also be the key area where brands will fiercely compete in the near future.

Republished by permission. Original here.

Image: Depositphotos.com

This article, “Apply These 10 Customer Service Strategies from Top Brands” was first published on Small Business Trends

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The post Apply These 10 Customer Service Strategies from Top Brands appeared first on Unix Commerce.

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pawcarebooking · 5 months

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radlybatescapital-blog · 6 years

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Adam Radly Bob Bates: 6 Secrets for Giving Your New Business the Momentum to Keep Growing

Adam Radly Bob Bates: They have started many businesses-this is an interesting strategic article

6 Secrets for Giving Your New Business the Momentum to Keep Growing

Image credit: Mitchell Funk | Getty Images

Network-effect businesses and how they work

If you're launching a network-effect business -- one for which the network is more valuable as more users or customers join -- it can be especially challenging. If you don't play your cards right, you run the risk of forever rolling the boulder up the hill, never achieving positive momentum. Built and scaled properly, network-effect entrepreneurs are able to crest the hill and achieve the positive momentum of the boulder rolling down the other side: Your target users join of their own volition with little or no impetus from your company. Generally speaking, we're talking about two types of businesses here: one-sided networks, and two- or multi-sided networks. A classic (albeit ancient) single-sided network would be the original, landline telephone. (They're in old movies; they plugged into the wall and had those adorable rotary dials.) Being one of the first owners of a telephone had to have been pretty useless, since you had nobody to call and nobody to call you. At that point, the network had negative inertia and was a difficult boulder to budge. But, once the number of users on the network reached critical mass -- probably city by city -- everyone "needed" to install a phone because it became the standard medium for remote, real-time communication. With the advent of email, we encountered the same phenomenon. Until lots of people in your circle used it, it wasn't a useful medium to send and receive messages, but once email had accumulated a critical mass of business and personal users, it became a "must-have" communication medium. When Nextdoor launched as a hyper-local, private social network for neighborhoods, it couldn't simply launch in, for instance, greater Chicago. Rather, it needed to develop a critical mass of residents in each of dozens of individual neighborhoods, from Lincoln Park to Little Village, Montclair to Mayfair, Pill Hill to Pullman. (And that's just Chicago.) Multi-sided network-effect businesses are very popular today, yet they're equally as challenging to get off the ground. Think of some typical examples. The value of Airbnb was quite limited at first, before there was much "inventory" of properties for rent; vacationers or travelers might log on and fail to find a satisfying amount or quality of listings in their target location. Hailing an Uber in your city of choice wasn't always possible, and there had to be a balance of drivers and passengers; too many of the former would lead to dissatisfied drivers unable to earn a living, while an inadequate supply of drivers could quickly lead to dissatisfied passengers. Similarly, when Apple first launched the iPhone, there were only a relative handful of apps; it only became the pocket supercomputer cum Swiss Army knife it represents today once many tens of thousands of app developers had made their wares available to users on the App Store. EBay needed to have a balance of sellers and buyers in each product category to create a vibrant marketplace.

Secrets for successfully launching your network-effect business

Each of the examples we've touched on so far clearly managed to roll the proverbial boulder over the crest of the hill and achieve the glorious positive inertia that comes with a critical mass of users: More users automatically join the network, and rapid growth just seems to magically happen with dramatically less work, time and expense on the part of the company. So how do we, as entrepreneurs starting our own network-effect businesses, achieve that momentum? Here are some suggestions based on observing hundreds of startups and large businesses through the years: 1. Roll out geographically. Let's say you're launching a vertical marketplace to match owners of pet hamsters with hamster walkers. (Hey, it could happen.) Do you launch nationally at first? The problem there is that a hamster owner in, say, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., may not find a sufficient local supply of hamster walkers, while conversely a plethora of walkers in Kalamazoo, Mich., might struggle to find sufficient pet owners to generate business. If you choose to roll the boulder up the hill nationally (forget globally), you're taking on a gargantuan -- and probably lengthy and costly -- challenge. But, if you break it down by geography, you're tackling a series of much smaller hills. That is, building a critical mass of people on each side of the network, for each locale, becomes a far more manageable task. In this case, instead of needing to recruit tens or hundreds of thousands each of hamster owners and walkers nationally, you might need only a dozen walkers to launch successfully in Poughkeepsie and attract owner-clients. Then, once you've successfully created a local network effect in your chosen launch city, you can expand. 2. Roll out by category. Whether your network-effect startup is geography-dependent such as our hamster example or Nextdoor, you may also want to consider rolling out by category. A site specifically for buying and selling band instruments, for instance, may want to start with woodwinds, or narrow it even further to clarinets, and only expand from there once you've developed a critical mass of buyers and sellers in that focused category. 3. Create a playbook. As you're working to build a two-sided marketplace effect at your selected local launch site, take the view that this is a national (or global) business in which best practices will be captured and replicated. From the outset, develop a playbook for how you're going to roll out in each local area. Do you build up a critical mass of walkers first before "going live" in a new locale and promoting to pet owners? How? Going door-to-door in hamster-friendly neighborhoods? Craigslist ads? Similarly, if you're launching a non-geography-based business -- let's go back to our musical instrument example -- be sure to develop a dynamic playbook so you can apply best practices from clarinets to other woodwinds such as saxophones, flutes and oboes, and how to apply lessons learned from the broader woodwind category to expand into brass instruments when the time is right. 4. Be deliberate, but also opportunistic. While being very intentional about rolling out your network by geography and/or product/service category can reduce launch costs and help ensure success, you can still leave some things open to chance. For instance, in parallel with your deliberate hamster-walking roll-out city-by-city, you may wish to also encourage users to "plant seeds," suggesting or even launching a new area for you. If you're starting your hamster network in Poughkeepsie and a couple of service providers want to offer their hamster-walking services in El Paso, Tex., you may want to be geographically opportunistic. By the same token, you may find unanticipated user demand for new product or service categories such as buying and selling gerbil-walking or snake-grooming services. (Who knew?) While you need to be careful about diluting your focus, listening to your customers as you grow might suggest opportunistic paths you hadn't originally considered. 5. Make it viral. WhatsApp no longer needs to overspend on marketing, since its users do it for them. Expats, international students, travelers, virtually anyone with family and friends in other countries, seems to flock toward the platform as an easy, cheap way to communicate globally. As another viral example, Instagram is the social app du jour for millennials -- in niches ranging from foodies to fitness fanatics, it's established itself as the place to see and be seen. Even for niche network-effect businesses, it's critical to look for characteristics that can make your service viral within its target audience. For instance, can you provide discounts or other financial incentives for users to recruit their friends and family, or even for service/product providers to recruit their erstwhile competitors (e.g., hamster-walkers in adjacent neighborhoods of the same city)? Borrow a page from Yelp and offer incentives for "power reviewers"? Be creative. 6. Don't get out over your skis. Entrepreneurs who get out over their skis lose their balance and face-plant; that can be painful, or even ruinous, to your startup. So, as optimistic as we all tend to be, exercise caution as you expand to new geographic markets or categories, making sure you always offer a critical mass on both sides of your network. Listen to your customers and ensure customer satisfaction. Finally, as you launch and scale your network-effect business, remember that there is no formulaic "correct answer" to many of the variables that will create success. Whether you live in Rochester, N.Y., or Rochester, Minn., or Rochester, Mich., it's OK to consider starting your business where you live and then expanding in a logical way. If you're connecting buyers and sellers of used band instruments and are a passionate trumpeter, you may want to start there. If, alternatively, you've found a great source for used alto saxophones, that may dictate a logical starting point. As important as it is to be thoughtful and considered, don't overthink things looking for a magical right answer. Radly Bates affiliates: S7 Group Radly Bates Index Radly Bates Consulting Radly Bates Capital Radly Bates Associates Radly Bates Digital Radly Bates Valuations Follow us on social: https://issuu.com/radlybatesconsulting https://issuu.com/radlybatescapital https://issuu.com/radlybatesdigital https://issuu.com/radlybatesassociates. https://issuu.com/radlybatesvaluations https://issuu.com/s7loans

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radlybatesvaluations-blog · 6 years

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Adam Radly Bob Bates: 6 Secrets for Giving Your New Business the Momentum to Keep Growing

Adam Radly Bob Bates: They have started many businesses-this is an interesting strategic article

6 Secrets for Giving Your New Business the Momentum to Keep Growing

Image credit: Mitchell Funk | Getty Images

Network-effect businesses and how they work

Secrets for successfully launching your network-effect business

Read the full article

#Radly Bates

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radlybatesconsulting-blog · 6 years

Text

Adam Radly Bob Bates: 6 Secrets for Giving Your New Business the Momentum to Keep Growing

Adam Radly Bob Bates: They have started many businesses-this is an interesting strategic article

6 Secrets for Giving Your New Business the Momentum to Keep Growing

Image credit: Mitchell Funk | Getty Images

Network-effect businesses and how they work

Secrets for successfully launching your network-effect business

Read the full article

#Radly Bates

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s7groupinc-blog · 6 years

Text

Adam Radly Bob Bates: 6 Secrets for Giving Your New Business the Momentum to Keep Growing

Adam Radly Bob Bates: They have started many businesses-this is an interesting strategic article

6 Secrets for Giving Your New Business the Momentum to Keep Growing

Image credit: Mitchell Funk | Getty Images

Network-effect businesses and how they work

Secrets for successfully launching your network-effect business

Read the full article

#Radly Bates

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