Guidelines for Maintaining and Improving Client Relations

One of the most important roles of a business owner or manager

is to maintain and improve client relations. You must have at some

point experienced harsh and rude treatment from a company, and the

reaction was to get another company that offers customer-friendly services.

The success of every business depends on how well it maintains and builds its customer relationships by reaching out to clients at more personal

levels. Client relationships also entail offering satisfactory customer services

or products to ensure that the needs of clients are not only attained but also

exceeded. You can look into these five ways of enhancing client relationship

so that you not only maintain your current clients but also do well in the industry too.

Be open

Your clients need to trust you as an expert in the specific area you specialize

in if you want to build a lasting client relationship. That explains why businesses

should be open when offering expert opinion and their point of view concerning

specific projects. Your business should express their honest opinions confidently,

while at the same time respecting the company's desire and initiative to succeed.

Positive Attitude

Most managers will tell you that they look for a positive attitude as a top trait

when hiring their employees. The attitude, energy, and spirit used to conduct

businesses have a direct effect on your customer relationships. You need to

stay positive when serving your customers even when you are stressed to

ensure that you please them. Businesses should also refrain from speaking

ill about their competitors or other people because it leaves a bad taste of the

business in the client. After all, your client will wonder if you will speak the same

way about them to another client.

Communication

Just like any other relationship, customer relations should be based on

excellent communication. It is essential to listen to your customers by

creating conversations with them instead of just talking to them. You

need to understand your customers' needs and let them know that you

have a solution to their problems. Additionally, businesses should teach

their employees the importance of effective communication with clients

by fostering effective communication skills during on-boarding of employees.

Also, you need to maintain a policy that requires employees to follow-up on

customers promptly. Effective communication also entails sharing knowledge

with clients. Clients that don't understand about your field of expert feel ignorant

about your procedures; hence, they tend to disconnect from the project. You

need to use that opportunity to share the information about your processes

that will be of help to the client. While doing this, ensure that you explain the

information in a manner that the client understands ensuring that you build

confidence and trust.

Show appreciation

One of the most excellent ways to maintain good customer relations is

by appreciating your loyal customers. You can do this by rewarding your

long-time clients using a loyalty program that tracks customer rewards

or giving them reward cards. Your clients can earn points when you give

them a loyalty app that they can use to purchase goods and services upon

accumulation of points. Additionally, you can offer your clients gifts and

quality branded items, such as cups, notepads, jackets, and mouse pads.

These items are not only a gift but also an effective marketing strategy for

your products and services because your customers will keep the gifts for

a long time.

Exceed expectations

Every customer has expectations, and they always look forward to getting

great products and services. Therefore, you need to strive towards raising

the bar on the quality of services or products that your company offers.

Unfortunately, most businesses under promise, which leaves their clients

disappointed and doesn't meet their customer expectations. You can

be sure that impressed clients keep coming back to the business, and

they maintain a good relationship with the business. You can exceed

customer expectation by delivering services and products earlier than

expected.

Automotive Trends to Watch in 2018

While 2018 is already posing challenges to some industries, others such as automotive industry are beginning to boom. The auto industry closed out 2017 with a sales decline, which is its first sales decline over the past seven years despite the presence of solid and reliable cars like the Nissan Altima. Here are the top trends that will define how carmakers and drivers will respond to changes in the auto industry.

Ride Sharing

The age of taxis will soon be over. Ride-sharing platforms such as Lyft and Uber
have already gained more market share than taxi cabs. Trends in the automotive
industry show that ride-sharing services are decimating taxi cabs. However,
ride-sharing services aren't a significant trend for auto dealerships. After all,
Uber and Lyft compete with taxi cabs directly; therefore, auto dealers aren't
worried about this technological shift.

However, the massive growth of ride-sharing services has skyrocketed expenses
of urban dwellers. It has always been expensive and difficult for young professionals
to own a car in a metropolitan city. Nonetheless, buying a car has become less
justifiable due to the growing expenses of living in the urban areas.

In fact, these demographics may soon start to move to the suburbs. Student
debt and economic uncertainty have delayed this trend. Car dealerships will
have to weather a few years of financial hardship during which ride-sharing services
will disrupt car buying. However, that doesn't mean auto manufacturers should ignore
ride-sharing and hope that it stops to disrupt the automotive industry. It's time for car
dealers to offer incentives and tap into ride-sharing technology. That way, it will be
easier to create long-term relationships with customers whose vehicles will need
upgrade and maintenance.

Electric Vehicles

The rapid growth of electric vehicles will start to disrupt the auto industry. Electric
vehicle sales continued to grow even as overall auto sales declined for the first
time in seven years. Electric cars are expected to increase and probably dominate
the entire auto market. Nearly all car manufacturers including Nissan and Toyota
have already enrolled electric vehicle initiatives in response to this trend. Automakers
are determined to eliminate fuel-burning vehicles with mid-size cars as
environmentalists advocate for green cars. In fact, nations such as France and
Britain are set to ban gas-powered automobiles a few years ahead. Dealerships
will have to prepare to design electric engines to retain market relevance. In fact,
electric cars might soon be the only vehicles on the market.

Autonomous Vehicles

Autonomous cars might take more time to hit the roads, but they are a trend worth
to watch in 2018. They will increase passenger comfort, reduce accidents, and
improve traffic management. After Uber and Google, other automotive companies
will launch their variants of driverless cars in 2018. In fact, driverless cars will be one
of the top concerns of future automakers.

Cloud-Powered Automotive Industry

A string of automakers has already shifted to cloud technology. Cloud computing
has transformed the entire automotive industry ranging from designs to operations
and physical systems servicing. Cloud technology makes it easier to scale different
services and processes. That helps eliminate wastage and reduce production costs.
More and more automakers will launch initiatives to integrate their engineering technology
with the cloud.

Customer-Centric Services

Top e-commerce websites such as Amazon and Tesla are setting records every year
when it comes to enhancing the customer experience. Customers are looking for
convenience and improved shopping experience wherever an opportunity arises.
While this trend has been around for years, it's becoming fundamental to automakers.

Customers around the world are yearning for a better dealership experience. In fact,
61% of Americans feel that car dealers take advantage of them and 87% disregard
buying cars at dealerships.

Most customers believe that car dealers don't meet their customer experience
expectations. However, more customers are willing to visit any car dealership that
has a streamlined buying process. That means car dealerships are missing out on
a lot of opportunities by diverting their attention away from the improved customer
experience.

Why Eating Gluten Free Will Boost Your Happiness

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley, making it a

common product in baked goods. If you feel sick from eating gluten,

then there are other alternatives you can use for flour or starch such as

corn, almond meal, potatoes, and soy. As for oats, it's better to avoid them

due to cross-contamination with other gluten-containing grains. And for the

most part, you don't have to worry about removing fruits, vegetables, meats,

fish, poultry, and legumes from your diet. There are a good number of grain

substitutes to choose from.

Why people choose to go on a gluten-free diet

A gluten-free diet would eliminate most grains from showing up on your

menu. What are some good reasons to go gluten-free? Even if you didn't

have Celiac's disease, you can still benefit from not eating gluten, which is

known for causing diarrhea, stomach aches, skin rashes, and unpredictable

mood disorders. As long as you maintain a balanced diet, you should get all

the essential nutrients you need since gluten isn't digestible anyways.

Ways that a gluten-free diet keeps you healthy

Gluten-based foods are often loaded with sugar and other artificial

flavorings. That's why people who go on a gluten-free diet consume

less refined carbohydrates. It means ditching those soft drinks, packaged

snacks, and sugar-laden desserts. But why would a gluten-free diet

make people happier? Well, eating gluten-free would help you stay

away from processed foods that are unhealthy to begin with. They are

often high in saturated fats and sugar which raises your cholesterol

and blood sugar levels.

What happens is, you end up feeling energized but quickly burn

out since you didn't get any nutrients. Furthermore, it will get rid of

your irritable bowel syndrome if you have gluten sensitivity because

gluten has been shown to break down into fermentable oligosaccharides,

causing abdominal bloating and indigestion. Also, you'll have a more

active metabolism, giving you the energy to stay awake during the day.

It's not surprising that your mental state would improve with fewer health issues.

Introducing IONUTRITION's gluten-free meal plans

To start your gluten-free, performance-based meal plan, you can find

a variety of breakfast and entree options to satisfy your hunger. There

are three different plans to choose from: The Original Plan includes

palpable dinner dishes like the wild salmon with yellow curry or the

Spanish tomato parsley rice with chicken. But if you're looking for something

more protein-rich, then the Protein Plan is your best bet with their Moroccan

eggplant and steak meal or the Mediterranean lentils and ahi tuna.

IONUTRITION's gluten free meal delivery service even accommodates people

with special diet restrictions through their paleo menu.

IONUTRITION uses fresh, organic, nutritious ingredients

If you want to skip the hassle of going grocery shopping, you can just order

gluten-free meals from the comfort of your home. It's not as easy to find

gluten-free foods at your local supermarket, especially when you don't live in

a big city. Large-chain restaurants may have gluten-free options, but you still

have to go through the trouble of reading between the lines in a menu. That's

why IONUTRITION has the answer: Having their meals delivered fresh right

to your doorstep, you can now meet your dietary requirements without going

over your daily calorie intake limit.

From celebrities to professional athletes, many have praised the

gluten-free diet as a healthier option for eating processed whole grains.

A gluten-free diet was cited for contributing to weight loss and improved

digestion, especially for people who have high sensitivity to gluten. Some

people experience bloating, fatigue, migraines, or abdominal pain when

they consume too much gluten. Thus, a gluten-free diet should alleviate

these common symptoms of gluten intolerance.

How to Create a Happy Office Environment

You may spend a lot of time thinking about how well your

business is performing, your sales numbers, and whether

customers are happy. How much energy do you put into

creating a great place for your employees to work, though?

When you put time and effort into creating a happy office

environment, you’ll help boost employee performance while

improving their mood.

Prioritize comfort

Even if you love your office building, there are probably

ways to make it more comfortable. First, all of your employees

should have a desk and chair that’s comfortable (and ergonomically safe)

to work at. Beyond that, though, consider comfy upgrades like living

room areas for meetings or brainstorming; warm lighting instead of harsh

fluorescents; and a break room where people can unwind and feel

rejuvenated.

Pay special attention to lighting

We already mentioned swapping out fluorescent bulbs for more

welcoming lighting, but the topic deserves a little more attention.

Lighting can play a role in how well your workers perform, as well

as their attitude and mood. Whenever possible, natural light is best

– let your employees work outside or open up the shades to let in

sunlight.

If more natural light isn’t an option, consider getting blue light

bulbs, which help to limit fatigue and improve happiness.

Blue-enriched bulbs are best in rooms for working or brainstorming.

In the areas where you want employees to feel at ease, like I meeting

rooms and break areas, use warmer bulbs, like ores that simulate sunlight.

Make sure everything is functioning and supportive

Employees can only do their job well and without stress if the tools

they use are functioning well. On top of making sure technology and

basic equipment is up and running, also spend some time thinking about

the tools that could help them work better. For example, maybe special

furniture design, like large desks for writing or sketching, would be great

in addition to the regular computer desks. If your team members collaborate

a lot, consider an area where they can sit and chat face to face.

Celebrate the holidays

Creating a festive workplace is never easier than during the

holidays. Spend an afternoon decorating with your employees,

play holiday music and bake some yummy snacks. Don’t have

a ton of room in your office for décor? A few hanging stockings,

some well-placed lights and a skinny Christmas tree should do the trick.

Change up the routine

Once in a while, it’s great to make a break from the routine.

If you have some downtime, plan some perks for your employees,

like an impromptu afternoon off, or a sort of fun retreat, like a fancy

lunch out or part of the day at the park. If you can’t spare that much

time out of the office, consider bringing a pro in to offer chair massages

mid-morning or have a special breakfast catered at the beginning of the day.

Consider flex time or remote workplaces

Employees love jobs where they have a lot of flexibility. If your office

can handle the change, consider offering flex time (where workers

pick their hours) or remote work opportunities (where they work from

home). Having employees set their own schedules, so long as they’re

hitting a specific hour mark for the week, can mean that they work when

their energy and focus is highest. Remote work means that there’s less

of a drain on office expenses.

Never neglect your employees – they’re at the forefront of your

business, and their happiness has a direct affect on your success.

If you want a long-lasting, thriving business, make sure you have a

workplace where people are motivated to work.