Companies the world over spend countless dollars on print ads, commercials, social media and other promotional endeavors to expand their market-base and ultimately gain new customers. But in all this marketing frenzy, investment in loyalty-building strategies can sometimes fall by the wayside.

Even of those businesses owners who understand the importance of customer retention, many surprisingly never go beyond offering discounts to their repeat customers. Not only may this strategy on its own be ineffective in bringing customers back, but it may cut deeply into profit margins that are already taking a beating from rising costs on everything from gas to health care.

If you are running a small business within a defined niche and are facing limited resources then investing in customer retention could be vital to your business’ health and long-term success. Here are a few points to consider:

Stay in touch with your current customers. When was the last time you attempted to contact your prior customers- whether as a follow-up on a completed sale or to offer future promotions or services? Depending on the kind of product or services you provide, these customers may forget about your business and the next time they are need of that same product or service, they could just as easily look for a different vendor.

I had my house painted almost five years back and now it needs another coating. Though I was very happy with the painter’s job and could have used his services again, he never contacted me since the job was completed. This time around, I got an attractive bid from a different contractor and moved on.

Whether you send newsletters, emails, or promotional coupons, make follow-up phone calls, or maintain an active social media presence, just making an extra effort to stay in touch with your customers can increase retention. But make sure that you don’t cross that fine line where “communications” become spam. Just because a customer “opted in” to receive emails or a newsletter, etc, doesn’t mean that you now have free reign to flood them with “helpful” suggestions, information, or promotions.

Focus on the customer experience. Common business sense dictates that if you consistently strive to offer your customers a great service and deliver value for the money they spend in your business then they will be more likely to return in the future. Sounds good, except these days it’s not enough. Today, the “customer experience” is getting a lot of sound bytes.

Though a customer’s experience may be hard to tangibly measure and define, the thoughts and feelings your customers attach to doing with doing business with your company can affect who returns and who doesn’t.

A friend of mine recently purchased a pair of boots from an online supplier. The company’s customer service staff was courteous and helpful throughout the buying process. Moreover, when my friend received his boots he saw that they were sent along with a whole bunch of “extras” like shoe polish and an additional set of laces. The company also had someone call shortly after the shipment arrived to make sure my friend was satisfied with his purchase. All these little actions created a satisfied customer who will no doubt seek the same address the next time he needs footwear.

Invest in your employees. Your employees are your best marketers, and this goes for the back-end employees as well as those working on the “front lines,” such as sales representatives and technicians. When employees feel valued, when they feel that their input is being properly appreciated and compensated, then they will be more likely to give it their best on the job. Moreover, employee satisfaction can be so infectious that it can lead to satisfied customers as well, and those satisfied customers are the ones who will be more likely to return.

In short, in the drive to improve sales in your business don’t forget those you are already serving. You want to keep your customers coming back for more, not kicking them out the door.

About the Author:

Article Provided by Scott Hersh, business author for http://bcablog.com – the official blog of Business Cash Advance .COM providers of fast working capital financing.

As more and more businesses find themselves fighting against the tide of commoditization, it is becoming increasing difficult, (if not impossible, depending on the product and services) and significantly more expensive, to differentiate from the competition.

I believe the least expensive way to do it is developing true differentiation in customer service. But it has to be truly, exceptionally, noticeably unique and different. How can a company with limited resources and with its products and services continually fighting commoditization differentiate itself with “world class” customer service?

By creating an initiative that among other strategies combines customer service training and employee engagement. But neither in the way companies traditionally try to do those 2 things.

I thought of this approach after being reminded recently about a former client whose company leadership preached to employees about providing “world class” customer service.

Yet, when I asked many of those same employees to define “world class” customer service and how they were expected to deliver it, I received mostly blank stares.

The great thing about employees is that they are also customers. Every single one of them has experiences organizational leaders should be tapping into. Most do not.

Instead of bringing in a “customer service expert” to take employees through a training on customer service, there is an alternate solution.

Imagine if you were holding an internal customer service symposium that would tap into the collective genius and life-long experience of the people in your organization. Doing a program like that would:

1. Allow you to engage your best advocates in solutions to improve your company from the bottom up;
2. Make every one of your employees feel valued because their input was requested and the ideas they provided or contributed to were actually seen to be implemented;
3. Improve motivation and morale;
4. Give employees ownership of the ideas and strategies making it easier to hold themselves and their teammates accountable for the implementation;
5. Improve customer service, customer relationships and customer retention.

Here’s how it would work:

1. Get as many company leaders and employees together in one room as possible.
2. Pair up people at different levels, President-Receptionist, Board Chairman-janitor, etc.
3. Give each group 30-minutes to share one story of the BEST example of customer service experience they’ve ever experienced; a time when someone truly exceeded their expectations.
4. Create a forum/format for capturing the best ideas from each of those experiences.
5. Brainstorm additional ideas that your company can add or build on the ideas captured from the stories.
6. Vote on the 10 best ideas that are a fit for your company that you are not already doing.

Now you have a list of 10 hot ideas for improving your customer relationships, but you are not finished as 2 key steps remain:

1. Identify and list all past, present and future obstacles (excuses) to implementing these ideas
2. Commit to strategies for eliminating those excuses that are the highest priority items so you can begin implementation of the ideas within 30-days.

These final two steps are what a colleague of mine calls “the secret sauce.”

Without attacking those final two steps, the entire effort will not just be wasted, but it will undermine and sabotage morale and motivation moving forward and you can forget about people contributing their ideas again in the future.

One final note is that you don’t have to necessarily be able to eliminate all the obstacles identified to implement a particular strategy, but you do need to give people reasons for why it’s not possible, or not possible at this time. The feedback and loop closing is key so people feel heard and valued.

But if the item is on your top 10 of “Customer Service Strategies we should implement” I’d jump through a fiery hoop to eliminate those obstacles to make it happen and set yourself apart from your competition to create a killer gap between yourself and your competition.

Often, because of emotional connection to the topics and situations, certain relationships in the room and unintended positional intimidation, it is difficult and less than effective to have an internal person facilitate these types of sessions and it can be more effective to have an external facilitator experienced in bringing groups to consensus on ideas such as these.

About the Author
Skip Weisman is The Leadership & Workplace Communication Expert. He’s the author of the white paper report titled, “The 7 Deadliest Sins of Leadership & Workplace Communication: How Leaders and Their Employees Unknowingly Undermine Morale, Motivation and Trust in Work Environments.” The white paper is available as a free download for a limited time at www.HowToImproveLeadershipCommunication.com . If you’d like to learn how you can improve your work environment by improving communication contact him directly with any questions, or for a complimentary Strategy Session at 845-463-3838 or e-mail to Skip@WeismanSuccessResources.com

Article Contributed by Jennifer Couch

Social media has given companies a powerful tool – the ability to see real-time online conversations about their brands. To be successful, companies must remain proactive and constantly search for conversations; though someone may not be talking directly to the company, they may be talking about the company, which is just as important.

Finding the Conversations

First and foremost, companies must search for conversations. Google provides services that allow companies to search for keywords in real time. By utilizing Google’s “Discussions” tab, companies can search for their name and find conversations on forums relating to their company. Customer service representatives can then intervene and work to solve the problem.

Google also offers a search feature called “Realtime” which searches for keywords in micro blogs such as Twitter. This gives customer service representatives an opportunity to see what “Tweets” are being shared about the company.

Blogging is also another way customers express their frustrations online. Blogs also allow people to comment which can be another source of conversation about your brand. Using Google’s “Blog” tool allows companies to search for blogs and comments that include content about their company.

Video and photo sharing sites also need to be monitored as they allow comments that can include information about the company.

Being Accessible Online

Companies must make it possible for customers to find their social network contact information. Information on social networks should be displayed on the company website, company emails, and marketing materials; publicize that customer service representatives are available on all of your social networks.

When a problem arises:

When companies discover a negative conversation or comment, they must not be ignored. Facebook pages should be constantly monitored and comments of negative connotation or concern should be addressed immediately. Quick response time, a personal approach, and follow-up are imperative when handling customer service issues online.
Best practices state that a negative Facebook comment’s reply should say: “We are sorry to hear about your bad experience and would like to speak with you personally to get the problem resolved…”

Charter Communications does an excellent job of reaching out to customers and identifying problems through Twitter. Their customer service representatives monitor Twitter for any sign of conversation about Charter, and if a problem arises, they contact the person directly and work to get the problem resolved as quickly as possible.

Many businesses are becoming successful at using social media for customer service issues because they remain proactive in their search for queries, comments, complaints, and conversations relating to the company. In some cases, this can help diffuse a problem before it arises.

Monitoring conversations online will allow companies to gain useful first-hand knowledge and help to deliver a service that is more satisfying to customers in the future.

About the Author

Jennifer Couch writes for Auctori.com. At Auctori.com learn more about implementing a social media strategy in your company.

Does a leader need to be the smartest person in the company to achieve growth and customer satisfaction? No.

In fact, being the smartest person in the company can actually impede growth. Some leaders just can’t get over “themselves.” Yet unfortunately when you suggest that they could be the problem, it’s often met with one of the following responses:

• Confusion (i.e. you talking to me?)
• Dismissive (i.e. you have no idea what you’re talking about)
• Shock (i.e. how dare you talk to me that way)
• Anger (i.e. you’re out of here)

After all, they are the smartest person in the company. They know the problems, they know what needs to be done, and they will do it.

We have a (perhaps unwelcome) secret to share…

No one is that smart. No one can do it all exceptionally alone (at least for long.) And talented employees want to contribute and show their talent.

The greatest risk in this self-delusional thinking is that your brightest employees will actually be the ones that bring you out of the recession stronger. Limit their chance to do so– dim their opportunity– and your great employees will leave, with the remaining employees just doing just what they are told, and the replacement employees will be less talented.

Whom does this adversely affect outside of the leader and your employees? Your customer.  Who benefits? Your competition!

It is essential for leaders to understand that customer service is the lifeblood of their business. (Yes we are aware that cash is king and without positive cash flow the business ceases to exist. Without satisfied customers, however there is no cash. And without satisfied and engaged employees there are no customers – satisfied or not!) So let’s see take a critical look at what the most successful corporations, organizations

and companies are doing different.

Why Nordstrom, Zappos, Apple and Netflix Ranks High in Customer Satisfaction.

Are the companies listed above perfect? Of course not. Are they serious competitors? Absolutely. How are they differentiating their customer service from others in their industry? They are using an employee-centric approach to heighten their customer service. The premise of “The Service-Profit Chain” (first developed at Harvard University by James L Heskett) speaks to this approach. It’s premise is simple: highly satisfied customers drive growth and profitability, and highly equipped and satisfied employees will better satisfy customers to drive that growth. Otherwise said, employees with the skills and power to really serve their customer have an increased employee satisfaction, productivity and loyalty which in turn leads directly to increased service to the customer, meaning greater customer satisfaction and loyalty, which of course, leads to greater revenue. Most simply stated, satisfied employees are a critical contributor to customer satisfaction!

We see this as an employee driven profit model – and it’s “people centric”, which to us is the heart of your business.

Results Our Clients Are Achieving Using A People-Centric Model

One healthcare software consulting company survived the recession relatively unscathed. Another grew over 38% percent during the heart of the recession. How? By providing personalized and highly focused customer service.

As small businesses re-surface post-recession and look to differentiate themselves and grow, improving customer service through a people-centric approach will be an important strategy to adopt.

So, when leaders start to think about growth- they should start first with their customers and how to provide value, and realize that it’s their employees that are the golden egg. Then the conclusion is inescapable: prepare and support your employees to provide outstanding service and your customers will reward your efforts.

About the Authors:

Sara LaForest and Tony Kubica are management consultants with more than 50+ years of combined experience in helping organizations improve their business performance. They say, failing to adopt a people-centic approach to increase customer satisfaction is just one way to sabotage your business growth. Get their complete “Self-Sabotage in Business White Paper” now at: http://www.kubicalaforestconsulting.com/report.php

Article Contributed By Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter”

Have you ever really considered how price affects your customer with regard to their perceived benefit? Too often, we use a simplistic approach to determining a price – figure the cost to produce a product or service, tack on some arbitrary percentage, and call it good, right?

Price, though, is consequential in ways we may not initially consider. The price a person pays for something goes a long way in determining the perceived benefit they expect to get from it. The perceived benefit cuts two ways. First, the expectation of service goes up the more a person pays for something. Second, the perception of what they’re gaining also goes up with the amount they pay. The two are not opposites; they work in tandem and in nearly all businesses, this tandem relationship can and does work to your advantage.

Many companies, hopefully including yours, are known for delivering incredible service. This quality service may be what your customers comment upon and why they are willing to refer you to other customers. This level of service comes at a price. One of the things you always should be doing is explaining to and showing your customers how your level of service helps them.

The more you share this type of information with your customers, the more comfortable you become in seeing the value of what you offer. Having confidence in your service allows you to increase your “Price Investment Ratio” (PIR). This all has to do with what you expect customers to pay.

For the customer, the PIR is revealed when you help frame their expectations. To help explain this best, let me refer to what I call the “IBM paradox.” This is the belief people have that although you will pay more for anything you buy from IBM, you will never be fired for using IBM. What this means is there are plenty of companies that sell the exact same items and services as IBM, but at a less expensive price. Although other vendors will be less money, there is a level of safety and confidence in using IBM – so much so that it translates to a premium price that customers will pay.

The “Price Investment Ratio” (PIR) is the amount over the minimum amount a person would have to pay for something. They are willing to pay it to feel confident in what they are buying. You might say the PIR should really be the CP – the “Confidence Premium.”

There are no two ways about it – when you have great service but do not reflect it in your PIR, then you are underselling. If you are underselling, you are not making the profits you could be making.

I can hear some of you at this point thinking, “What if we don’t have a solid sense of how good our customer service really is?” In other words, maybe your company receives very few complaints, but at the same time, you are not sure if your service is at a higher caliber than what your competitors bring to the table.

In order to find out your “Price Investment Ratio” (PIR), you must do a deep dive with your existing customers to get them to tell you what your service means to them. Once you do this, you can then match up what existing customers are telling you with what prospective customers are asking you to do. When you grasp this, you begin to understand what the PIR really should be. How much “investment” is the customer willing to make in going with you instead of your competitor?

As I have often said, in the B2B arena, companies don’t buy anything, they only invest. If your customer can’t see the return on investment, they won’t invest – they won’t pay the price you want to get. When they do see the value, though, then you can feel very confident in charging a price above what your competitors charge. Don’t settle for a lower price when doing so is detrimental to your bottom line.

About the Author
Mark Hunter, “The Sales Hunter,” is a sales expert who speaks to thousands each year on how to increase their sales profitability. For more information, to receive a free weekly email sales tip, or to read his Sales Motivation Blog, visit http://www.TheSalesHunter.com. You can also follow him on Twitter, on LinkedIn, and on Facebook

Having worked for several years as a division manager for a busy self-storage facility, it didn’t take me long to realize that the key to success in my business is having a complete understanding of my customers. There are several factors in play that might cause a present or future customer to choose me over one of my competitors. But every person is different and it is up to me to find out what each client considers important.

• Location. They want a place that is close by and they don’t even consider price. Others don’t mind traveling far as long as my price is the lowest.
• Cleanliness
• Security.
• Unit Size
• High-Tech Access. They want keypad control and don’t want to mess with keys and locks.

The point is that everybody is different. And the only way I am going to make my customers happy is to get to know each one of them well enough so that I know what makes him or her tick.

The kind of business that I manage is not defined by set transactions, where the customer comes in, buys something, pays for it, and leaves. Yes I am selling a product (storage unit rentals). But the storage unit is only part of the story. In reality what I am really selling is myself. The type of customer I need to please is someone who is going to stay with my company over a prolonged period of time. Therefore it is vitally important that I build and maintain a strong and lasting relationship with that person. Over many years of striving to make this happen, I have refined what some might call a “sales strategy” even though it seems nothing at all like what most people think of as a typical sales approach. The strategy consists of two basic elements: lots of questions and lots of listening! Let me explain.

My typical workday is not spent behind a desk. Instead I spend most of my time walking the floors, wandering around the storage units where my customers are. And when I see a customer, I never hesitate to seize the opportunity to build and nurture that relationship I talked about. This is also my chance to put my sales strategy to work. It starts with a small-to-medium dose of familiar small talk which soon evolves, almost imperceptibly, into a line of questioning that I try to conduct in a very gentle and unobtrusive way. While trying to make the questions flow as naturally as possible from the drift of the conversation, I am also careful to make sure the type of questions I ask fall into one of three categories:

1. The open-ended question: This is the type of question that induces my customer to answer it by doing a lot of talking. In other words, I make sure to ask questions that can’t be answered by a yes, no, or maybe. Instead, my questions elicit a detailed response; for example, “What kinds of things do you use your storage unit for?”
2. The clarifying question: In response to a statement my customer makes, I will often ask her to clarify by asking a question like, ‘Are you really saying such-and-such?” Sometimes I do this even when I understand perfectly what my customer just said. My goal is to demonstrate that I not only am listening intently to what my client is saying but that I am doing my best to completely understand it.
3. The sympathetic question: This one is easy because all I do is listen to something my customer says and then clarify their point in the form of a question. By re-stating his own thoughts, my customer gets the clear message that I am not only listening but am also sympathetic to his feelings.

Asking questions is one key facet of my sales strategy but the other is doing a LOT of listening. And believe it or not, this is even more important than asking the questions. Keep in mind that getting the customer to do most of the talking accomplishes two goals: (1) it helps me get to know my customer better: what he likes, what he wants, how I can best help him, etc.; and (2) it makes my customer feel important, which only serves to strengthen the bond between us.

My sales strategy has proven to be as successful as it is simple! Why? Because it provides me with a complete understanding of my customers and it cements a bond of trust and loyalty between us. In my business, nothing is more important because customers are the key to my company’s success.

About the Author:

Art Gould is a division manager with Self Storage Company, which operates a group of websites, including a Colorado Springs self-storage locator. Though busy, Art enjoys meeting new people and clients when traveling to sites, like Lakewood or the Denver self storage center.

Every business owner and organization knows if they want to attract and retain more loyal customers, they need to provide high-quality customer service. That’s why organizations today focus heavily on communicating how valuable their customers are to the organization. Now, the question is… How much do they truly value their customers?

Most of you probably had the experience of being a “valued” customer, yet you didn’t feel valued at all! For example, you call a company for either customer service or to order one of their products and you enter into the electronic triage system only to be put on hold. You’re told: please stay on the line, your call is important to us.  Sometimes we dutifully follow the electronic request, and we wait, and even wait longer.  Other times we hang up in pure frustration.

Or, have you been asked to complete a customer satisfaction questionnaire?  Again, you are told that your comments are “very important to us”.  Really?

How maddening it is when you have taken the time to complete such surveys after receiving poor service, spelling out in detail what the issue was and why you were dissatisfied, only to receive no acknowledgement of your issue or concern?

Perception, as we have heard endless times, is reality.  The reality here is that you won’t go back or use them in the future. And likely, you will tell your friends!

We believe that providing excellent customer service should be an obsession.

Here Are Our Growth without Sabotage™ Tips That Will Help Your Organization Differentiate Your Customer Service

¨      Have a real, live person answer all of your calls. If you cannot have someone answer all your calls, subscribe to a voice message service and include a message that you will return all calls within one business day – and do it If  it is late in the day, it can acceptable to wait till the next business morning.  Remember, the message and perception in timing/promptness is, “you count”– you are important and a priority to me.

¨      Return emails within one business day (two days maximum)

¨      Learn to be comfortable introducing yourself by your full name. When meeting in person, look at people directly in the eye, especially when you first meet them and insure you know how to give and reciprocate a firm handshake.

¨      Insure you clearly understand the customer or prospects need and priorities.  Do this by listening sincerely and asking clarifying questions. Listen FIRST and actively listen more than you talk. Ask questions to clarify your understanding of your prospect’s motivation to buy – but do so respectfully and carefully.

¨      Keep agreements you make to the prospect or the customer. When you say you will do something, do it when you said you would do it. Emergencies should be the only exception.

¨      Eliminate negative surprises for the customer. If there is a problem, acknowledge it quickly, apologize if appropriate and do your best to fix the problem to the customer’s satisfaction.

¨      Always have your clients’ and prospects’ best interest in mind. Think of ways you can help them improve their needs to be in the forefront.

¨      Think of the long term sale. That means go slow, don’t push now to sell or attempt to up-sell. Think of the longer-term relationship and resulting opportunities forthcoming.

¨      Warming- Flirting and fawning are forms of overselling (as well as demeaning) yourself. Realize how unprofessional and damaging these behaviors are with your customers and prospects.

¨      Warning – Don’t expect the customer to understand that you are busy or short staffed. They won’t and they shouldn’t have to.

You may be thinking that this is obvious.  Yes, indeed, it is not rocket science. While it may be obvious, the truth is that it is also frequently not practiced.   And because it is not done well or consistently, it represents a key differentiator.

You need to capture the attention of your future customers and keep your current customers. Without consistent excellent customer care, customer loyalty is improbable, especially in this economy where buyers are more cautious.  Now more than ever in business, we need to find ways to differentiate ourselves. We find that customer service is a simple yet powerful differentiating strategy.

About the Authors:

Sara LaForest and Tony Kubica are management consultants with more than 50+ years of combined experience in helping organizations improve their business performance. They say, failing to improve customer service by showing your clients that you value them is just one way to sabotage your business growth. Get their complete “Self-Sabotage in Business White Paper” now at: http://www.kubicalaforestconsulting.com/resources.php

The search for lost customer sales treasure does take work – but the upside of the effort is huge. Lost customers make great future customers. You never know what hidden gems of business you might find in your lost customers.

Once you’ve identified lost customers with the potential of becoming great new customers, ask
yourself a few questions:

1. Are the reasons they stopped being a customer relevant any longer?
2. What value might you provide them today?
3. What experiences have you had since you last spoke that would help them?
4. What information would help them right now?
5. What questions should you ask them?

Once you’ve answered these questions and you’re confident that it’s time to revisit your relationship, make CONTACT!

Here’s a sample re-connection to help get you started: “Hi Gary, it has been a long time. We continue to help companies such as yours increase xyz or decrease abc. When we worked together, we provided you with the product you needed at exceptional cost and deliver time. With all the market changes we’ve still been able to help companies with increasing
xyz. And I didn’t forget about you!”

Then turn the focus to THEM! And be prepared to listen. Maybe there is information you don’t know about why they are no longer a customer. This should be addressed first. Then you can move into a series of open-ended questions that will allow you to see if there is an opportunity to work together again. Some examples:

Looking for lost customers really works. In the past month, we’ve reconnected with former customers and found that some of them have done NOTHING since we worked with them. They haven’t left us for someone else at all, but we haven’t done business with them in a while. Now that we made the effort to re-open the discussion, we are moving through the sales process to see how we can help them this year. And the process is easier because they know us and we know a lot about them.

What’s your best approach to re-engage a lost customer?

About the Author
Sharpenz is dedicated to providing sales managers the resources and tools they need to energize, engage and equip their sales team to sell each week. Our 30-minute power sales booster meetings help companies increase sales by providing the right tools and training – fast. Designed with the busy manager in mind, Sharpenz ready-to-go sales training kits will give
your sales team the opportunity to grow and earn more – all in a half hour of power. To learn more, visit www.sharpenz.com and sign up for your free ready-to-go sales training kit today!

Many small business owners are realizing the important role that customer service plays in their businesses during a recession. Strategy is key, however, and many small businesses are failing to think strategically in analyzing their customer service needs. A recent article in Forbes.com found that 55% of the women-owned small businesses surveyed address customer service on a case-by-case basis and 27% don’t have any strategy at all. Only 18% have a comprehensive plan for addressing the issue.”

During the tough times it is important for a company to focus on building long-lasting relationships with its current customers while also prioritizing the existing customers. Building relationships is also cost effective because the only thing needed is your time.

Here are a few customer service techniques to help establish these relationships:

1. Touch base often – Show you care about their satisfaction through feedback and regular contact. Businesses are also keeping in contact with customers by looking to telephone answering services so that they can focus on their business and take customer calls when they are free.

2. Be proactive – Adopting a proactive strategy to customer service can help an organization reach out to customers and increase sales. Using appointment setting as well as other call center techniques can help achieve this.

3. Always listen – Listen to what your customer is saying. If they talk about an upcoming birthday or something of importance to them jot it down and remember them later. This is a great personal touch for building lasting relationships.

4. Have a communication plan – Once you establish a customer relationship keep in touch by getting their e-mail address and sending them periodic updates, resources and tips.

Customer service is an essential part of your business. But during tough times it is even more important. During a recession it does not matter who your customers are, if you do not service them with excellent customer service your competition will. Building these long-lasting relationships with customers takes time, but in the long run it becomes very invaluable. Take note of these and other customer service techniques so that during down times your customers will keep you in mind.

About the Author
Jessica Gombes is an expert writer on appointment setting and is based in San Diego, California. She writes extensively for an online resource that provides expert advice on purchasing and outsourcing decisions for small business owners and entrepreneurs such as telephone answering services at Resource Nation.