Clarkston Chamber eNews Connection
November 17, 2009
Welcome to the Electronic Newsletter of the Clarkston Area Chamber of Commerce
www.clarkston.org
5856 S. Main St.
Clarkston, MI 48346
248-625-8055
| From the President |
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Chamber President Johnna Struck Changing Places Moving & Services |
| QUICK LINKS |
| Contributors Corner |
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Member Profiles |
EVENTS |
| Online Registration |
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Entertainment Books $20 each on sale at the Chamber office This is a Lions Club fundraiser. These books make GREAT holiday gifts and hostess gifts. |
INTERESTING Blog Articles |
Change before you have to. -- Jack Welch |
| Beware of small expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship. --Benjamin Franklin |
Dew knot trussed yore spell chequer two fined awl yore mistakes. |
Don't anthropomorphize computers -- they hate it. |
| Don't ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up. |
| Nine Scientifically Proven Ways to Get Retweeted on Twitter |
Don't trust anyone over 30 who used to say "Don't trust anyone over 30." |
| Top 10 tips for being a Great Leader |
| Everyone has his day and some days last longer than others. --Winston Churchill |
| Only One in Three Companies Address Social Media Concerns |
| Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler. --Albert Einstein |
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Take5 (Five Fast Facts)
1. GO WOLVES! Our Varsity Football Team is Undefeated 12-0 SEMI-FINALS Clarkston VS Sterling Heights Stevenson at Troy Athens on Saturday November 21, 7:00pm Let's make it to the FINALS at Ford Field! BE A HOMETOWN BOOSTER! Use your marquee sign--orpost signs in your businesses that say "Go Wolves!"
2. Oakland Press coverage of the 2009 EXPO HERE
3. Colors of Clarkston is the THEME for this year's Holiday Lights parade December 12, 2009 6:00 pm on Main Street. Team RUSH is coordinating the parade. REGISTER ONLINE
4. LinkedIn now works with Twitter. Try these new features on for size:
- Make your Twitter account visible on your profile
- Use #in or #li to share posts from Twitter to your LinkedIn status
- Add the Tweets app to share your Twitter activity on your profile
5. Be a Fan of the Chamber Clarkston Area Chamber of Commerce on Facebook
Upcoming Networking events
Chamber BOB Business Over Breakfast November 19, 2009 7:45-9:00 a.m. |
Mattresses & More |
$10 with PREPAID reservations $15 at the door NON-MEMBERS $25 per person |
Chamber and Community CALENDAR Events
Tuesday
November 17
Women's Self Defense Seminar 7-9 pm More info
Wednesday November 18
Early On® Oakland Family Support Series Workshop: PLAY MOVE LEARN More info Thursday
November 19
Hunt the Village
Bag Some Bargains
5-9 pm in historic downtown Clarkston
Thursday
November 19
LaFontaine Automotive Group is hosting a fundraiser for Community Sharing. 4000 W. Highland Rd, Highland, Mi 48357. 5:00pm to 8:00pm and they are requesting that all guests bring either a monetary donation or some non-perishable food. Thursday
November 19
SNG (Sunrise Networking Group) Ladies Fall Event 6-9 P.M.
Fountains Golf & Banquet 6060 Maybee Rd FLYER
Thursday
November 19
Oooh La La "Ladies Night Out" 6pm - 9pm
Clarkston Elementary School
6589 Waldon Road, Clarkston FLYERThursday
November 19
Clarkston Community Women’s Club Annual Holiday Auction
November 19, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. at the Independence Township Library: Homemade crafts Baked goods (pies, fudge, candies, cookies); Gift baskets; Specialty items. Unique gifts for the hard to buy for person
Saturday
December 5
Clarkston Farm & Garden Club's Greens Market 9-4 pm at the Church of the Resurrection
Friday
December 11
Wine & Cheese Reception at Mills Mall
and opening of the Mills Mall Art Show
6-9 pm
Saturday December 12
Breakfast with Santa at First Congregational Church 9-Noon
Mills Mall Art Show 11-8 pm
Candy Cane Santa Fun Run 5K 4 pm in Depot Park
Holiday Lights Parade on Main St. 6 pm REGISTER
Holiday Lights Night in Depot Park following the parade.
Clarkston Community Band Christmas Concer 7pm at Clarkston Junior HS
Sunday
December 13
Mills Mall Art Show Noon-4 pm
K of C Canned Food Drive Sunday,Wednesday and Friday in November MORE INFO
The Oakland Press Becky's Wish Glove & Mitten Drive The Oakland Press will be collecting new adult and child size gloves and mittens now through December 15th for those in need this season. All items will be donated to HAVEN, Care House and Lighthouse of Oakland County. Becky's Wish - Warm Gloves and Warm Hearts is in honor of Rebecca Wright, wife of Scott Wright, President and COO of The Oakland Press' parent company, Journal Register Company. Becky passed away unexpectedly a last year. In the final years of her life, she would purchase and pass out many pairs of gloves and mittens to those less fortunate. Visit the contest page found under Entertainment in the nav bar at www.TheOaklandPress.com for drop off locations.
TESTIMONIALS
Recently I had a conversation with my brother, he runs a printing business in the Troy area. We were talking about the tough economy, how to acquire new customers, etc. Because business has been very good for me, he asked, "Where are you getting your customers from?"
I told him, "ALL my customers came from the Chamber of Commerce and from the referrals those Chamber members provided to me later." He was amazed that the Chamber would be such a lucrative networking and prospecting resource.
I was not amazed. My fellow Chamber members have been great friends and great resources for me. Chamber members have proven to be my most valued customers, as well!
The Clarkston Chamber of Commerce rocks! Thank you for the great work each of you does to build the business community and the Clarkston community!
Ronald DeLorme B.S., M.A.
RESOURCES
- The Internet Amplifies Customer Complaints: Are You Prepared?
Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other Internet communication tools have empowered customers with the ability to express their grievances and complaints like a megaphone to the world. The old adage that a satisfied customer will tell three people and an unsatisfied customer will tell ten has expanded exponentially with advances in technology. Now disgruntled consumers can rant online about their bad experiences dealing with a business to audiences of thousands, or in some cases millions, of people.
Recently, a musician who felt United Airlines damaged his guitar on a flight was so fed up with trying to get reimbursed that he wrote a song, made a video and posted it to YouTube. Titled “United Breaks Guitars,” the video was viewed more than 2.5 million times in less than a week and prompted national media attention. As a result of the video’s popularity, United Airlines contacted the musician and offered to reimburse him for his guitar, but the damage was already done.
In the same way that an online rant can damage a company’s reputation, successfully handling complaints online can showcase a company’s dedication to customer service, setting it apart from the competition. Companies like Comcast and Zappos.com, for example, have received praise for their Twitter accounts that respond to tweets from unhappy customers. Successfully responding to consumer complaints can build customer loyalty and enhance a business’s reputation which can turn an initially negative situation into a positive one for a company. The following are a few tips to assist your company with addressing online complaints and comments regarding your business.
Continually Monitor the Online Conversation. In addition to personally surfing through popular social networking, news, and review Web sites looking out for postings, there are also tools you can use to monitor who is talking about your company online. For example, Backtype.com and Google Alerts will send you e-mail messages when people post comments online or if your company is mentioned in the news. One of the easiest ways to monitor the conversation, however, is to simply do an Internet search of your company’s name every couple days, keeping an eye out for new results.
Pick your battles. Depending on the size of your business, it can be extremely time consuming to address every blog post, comment or tweet. When choosing rants to respond to, look for ones that are less than a few days old, on prominent sites and are about problems that you can solve.
Offer full disclosure. When defending your company online, don’t pretend to be an unbiased consumer. Tech savvy individuals can easily deduce who is behind comments so it’s best to be honest and admit up-front that you represent the company.
Take the conversation offline. Some companies have made the mistake of hashing out disputes online for everyone to see. Instead, respond with brief and polite messages that ask the customer if you can contact them directly by e-mail or phone to discuss the specific details of their complaint.
Don’t say anything privately that you wouldn’t want public. Just because you’ve taken the conversation offline, it doesn’t mean that your e-mails and phone conversations won’t end up on the Internet, so always remain polite and professional.
Follow through. Don’t drop the conversation when resolving a dispute and always follow through on promises. Consider providing a little extra perk, such as coupons, after the issue has been resolved.
Know when to walk away. There’s no satisfying some angry customers and at times a business can only offer a sincere apology and walk away from the conversation.
Tim Burns is the Public Affairs Director for the Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern Michigan. The BBB is a non-profit organization that works to promote trust in the marketplace and prevent fraudulent and unethical business practices. Your local BBB can be reached online at www.bbb.org or www.facebook.com/myBBB.
- Springfield Township Supervisor's Office--November Newsletter
- Celebrate the Holiday Season at the Oakland County Sportsmen’s Club --Party Options
- Book Your Holiday Party With Red Knapp's see flyer for Holiday Specials.
- Improving Business Performance, by Ron DeLorme
This month, we examine Best Practice #6: Look for managers who get results AND who “have a way with employees.” Members of the management team (e.g., supervisors, managers and senior leaders) are the individuals with the most impact on corporate performance. Managers have input and decision-making power over everything that makes the company successful: Products, Pricing, Policies, Procedures, Public Relations, Personnel, Marketing, Customer Service, Sales, etc.
If the employee population is . . . READ MORE
News you may have missed
- Women in Business 2010 Season Preview is now posted. Sponsor a WIB event for $250.
- PHOTOS of the Bulls Eye Small Business Conference and Voices of Detroit PodCast are on the Chamber's Facebook Fan Page.
- It's Deer Season and Clarkston Auto Body & Collision has a Deer Hit Drawing going on. (CLICK to see this way cool flyer!)
- Order your holiday greens from the Clarkston Farm & Garden Club. The Clarkston Farm and Garden Club provides Assorted wreaths and roping made of triple-mixed Michigan greens with your choice of a red or burgundy bow. Fresh counter arrangements made to your specifications To order log on to www.ClarkstonGardenClub.org.
- The 9th Annual Holiday Lights Parade is hosted by Team RUSH December 12, 2009 6 pm start. REGISTER online
- LISTEN to the Chamber PodCasts. (Tammy Ullyart, Four Seasons ChemDry; Tim Flynn, Clarkston Legal; Erich Lines, Clarkston Union and Penny Shanks with Bob Thomas, Michigan Chamber of Commerce.) READ about behind the scenes at the PodCast
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