Announcements and Opportunities

Small Biz Grants from Intuit. Love a local business? Love YOUR small business? Vote online for the most deserving small business you know – and it might win a $35,000 Love a Local Business grant from Intuit. Prize package includes cash, advertising, and Intuit products. Deadline is February 28, 2010 – vote here now.

Thinking About B-School? If business school might be in your future, meet admissions directors from the world’s top schools for in-depth, one-on-one sessions to fast track your application with QS Top MBA Connect 1-2-1. Event promoter Lizz Fitt encourages women to attend. “There are usually way more guys than gals at these things and we’d love to help boost the number of female MBAs and really drive positive change from within.” Locations and times: San Francisco (evening of 18th February), Washington DC (evening of 24th February) and New York (afternoon of 27th February), Apply now – places are by invitation only and strictly limited.

Call for Speakers. Diversity Best Practices, a division of Working Mother Media (parent company of NAFE), is looking for "a few good men/women" who are diversity professionals, network and affinity group leaders, human resources executives, diversity and HR trainers, and experienced facilitators to lead, inspire, and instruct attendees at our 2010 Network & Affinity Leadership Congress, May 11-12 in New York City. It’s the ONLY conference in America that brings network and affinity groups from all industry sectors together to share best practices and help their companies remain competitive. Please download speaker nomination forms here.

NAFE Awards Luncheon. On March 25th, NAFE will honor 2010’s Top Companies for Executive Women at a Gala Awards Luncheon. The event will be held at Cipriani in New York City. The luncheon is open to everyone. A Roundtable (by invitation only) for senior-level women from the winning companies will be held in the morning, preceding the awards event. Click here for more details.

Award Program for NAFE Members. Interested in nominating an incredible NAFE woman for recognition? Click here for more information on the 2010 Women of Excellence program. And be inspired by the 2009 winners here.

NAFE Discount on Whirlpool Products. Through a special arrangement, NAFE members can reap big savings on Whirlpool appliances, accessories and other items. You and your family can purchase up to 12 products a year under the VIPLINK program. . Sign up for the discount program – just click on the Whirlpool banner at the top of nafe.com. GROUP CODE:  AFE1A2051

Want to promote your business? A square display ad (120x120 pixels) in one issue of NAFE News & Notes is just $75.00. Larger skyscraper ads (600x120 pix) are a bargain at $175. Contact newsletter editor Paula Damiano to place your ad.

Network News

Women on the GO Network, Inc., a NAFE local network in Macon, GA, donated 150 pairs of socks to the residents of Cherry Blossom Nursing Healthcare as part of the Socks for Seniors project. Pictured left to right: Patricia Duncan RN, BSN -Director of Women on the GO; Priya Ramaiya- Partner of WOTG; Cheryl Sturdivant- Activity Director of Cherry Blossom Healthcare; Mary F. Wilson LPN -Charge Nurse of Cherry Blossom Healthcare; Marsha Woodling- Volunteer of WOTG. For more information on this local NAFE group, please call 478-731-8761 or email wonderland3780@yahoo.com.

5 Tips… for Better Customer Service
by Paula Damiano, Editor – NAFE News & Notes and nafe.com

Whether you’re the sole proprietor of a small business, or the employee of a multinational corporation, you can’t afford to lose customers right now. Lower prices and special events may bring in some business. But keeping an existing client is always more cost effective than gaining a new one -- and customer service is the way to keep that client happy.

Here are a few tips on better customer service from SCORE, the “Counselors of America’s Small Business Owners.”

1. Admit it: There IS a problem. Don’t immediately go into defensive mode and deny that anything’s wrong. If a customer complains, there is definitely an issue that requires attention.

2. Let the customer talk. It may be an old complaint to you, but it’s new to the client. Let her tell her story in her own way. The attitude you want to convey is calm and caring.

3. Provide honest information. Know your company’s policies. Outline all the options available to the customer. If you’re unsure about anything the customer asks, take his name and number and promise to call back – at a definite time. “I’ll have an answer for you within 10 minutes” OR “Tomorrow, when our bookkeeper returns from vacation, I’ll get that information and call you back.” How well you keep this promise may be the difference between a retained customer and a lost one.

4. Make it a learning opportunity. Whether it’s a new issue or an ongoing situation, a complaint tells you that your company hasn’t resolved the problem yet. Use the complaint to instigate a discussion, meeting, policy review, etc. to correct it.

5. Don’t Take Criticism Personally. According to SCORE, “Many discourteous customers act that way because they made a mistake and want to blame someone else.” Don’t lose your cool. Instead, provide a realistic list of the remedies you can actually provide (refund, service call, exchange of merchandise) and get them to pick one. They feel they have no power in this relationship – so put them back at the wheel. After all, their business drives YOUR business!

[Source: 60-Second Guide to Managing Upset Customers, http://www.score.org/60_guide_managing_customers.html]

Learn all about your fellow business women on nafe.com under Member Profiles. Janice Gallick of CareCircle is currently featured, as well as Vikki Pryor, Robbie Motter and Teriilee Harrison. Click here.

Know another outstanding NAFE member you’d like to see profiled on nafe.com? Send details to NAFE News & Notes editor Paula Damiano.

• Go to nafe.com to view our ever-expanding Calendar of Events for opportunities around the country. The new Search function makes the Calendar even more useful and accessible.
• Use the Event Submission Form online to let us know about events in your area. Events submitted for the website will also be considered for the NAFE News & Notes– twice the exposure for one listing!

Check the NAFE Calendar of Events for network meetings, workshops and other happenings around the country.

WORDS TO WORK BY

“If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these together ought to be able to turn it back and get it right side up again.”

-Sojourner Truth – abolitionist and feminist (from her “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech, Women’s Rights Convention, Akron, OH 1851)