Symphony By The Lake at Chetola is July 26 - Blowing Rock ...
Symphony By The Lake at Chetola is July 26 - Blowing Rock ...
Symphony By The Lake at Chetola is July 26 - Blowing Rock ...
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<strong>Blowing</strong> <strong>Rock</strong> Farmer’s Market<br />
Park Avenue<br />
Thursdays thru October 10, 4:00-6:00pm<br />
<strong>Blowing</strong> <strong>Rock</strong> 4th of <strong>July</strong> Festival<br />
Downtown Parade<br />
<strong>July</strong> 6, 2:00pm<br />
Art in the Park<br />
American Legion Grounds<br />
<strong>July</strong> 13, 10:00am-5:00pm<br />
Homes In <strong>The</strong> Village<br />
American Legion Grounds<br />
<strong>July</strong> 13, 12:00-5:00pm<br />
(Houses available to preview)<br />
Concert In <strong>The</strong> Park<br />
Pop Ferguson (Blues)<br />
Memorial Park (American Legion if it rains)<br />
<strong>July</strong> 14, 4:00pm<br />
Help Us Help You - Realtors<br />
Chamber Board Room<br />
<strong>July</strong> 18, Noon<br />
<strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>By</strong> <strong>The</strong> <strong>Lake</strong> <strong>at</strong> <strong>Chetola</strong><br />
<strong>Chetola</strong> <strong>Lake</strong><br />
<strong>July</strong> <strong>26</strong>, G<strong>at</strong>es open <strong>at</strong> 5:30pm<br />
Business Meetings<br />
Resource Development<br />
Chamber Board Room<br />
<strong>July</strong> 8, 4:00pm<br />
Membership Committee<br />
Chamber Board Room<br />
<strong>July</strong> 17, 3:00pm<br />
Executive Committee<br />
Chamber Board Room<br />
Tuesday, <strong>July</strong> 23, 3:00pm<br />
Business Support<br />
Chamber Board Room<br />
Thursday, <strong>July</strong> 25, 9:00am<br />
Board Meeting<br />
Chamber Board Room<br />
Wednesday, August 7, 8:00am<br />
For more info and calendar:<br />
www.blowingrock.com<br />
Customer Service<br />
<strong>The</strong>re, I said it out loud. Make no m<strong>is</strong>take about it.<br />
We all need some reminding from time to time about<br />
the essentials of customer service. <strong>The</strong> Chamber’s<br />
Business Support Committee presented in partnership<br />
with Caldwell Community College’s Small Business<br />
Center, a wonderful interactive customer service<br />
seminar last Thursday. In looking around the room, I<br />
noticed th<strong>at</strong> most of the businesses represented were<br />
the ones th<strong>at</strong> already understand the value of customer<br />
service and are always seeking better performance<br />
for their oper<strong>at</strong>ions. Unfortun<strong>at</strong>ely, many who did<br />
not <strong>at</strong>tend are businesses th<strong>at</strong> need it the most. <strong>The</strong><br />
Chamber will continue to provide opportunities for<br />
its members to <strong>at</strong>tend seminars as well as incentives<br />
for its members’ employees to be recognized for outstanding<br />
service to the v<strong>is</strong>iting public. If you don’t<br />
already know about it, we also offer a Customer Service<br />
Superstar award monthly. If you see someone<br />
delivering totally outrageous customer service, please<br />
click here to download and print a nomin<strong>at</strong>ion form<br />
to send to us to consider.<br />
Now for those who did not <strong>at</strong>tend, I have some interesting<br />
thoughts. Did you know th<strong>at</strong> you get about<br />
1/3 of your customers as repe<strong>at</strong>s, 1/3 from referrals,<br />
and 1/3 from advert<strong>is</strong>ing efforts. Furthermore, you<br />
lose about 20% of your customers annually: 1% die,<br />
3% move away, 5% are influenced by a friend to go<br />
somewhere else, and 9% are lured away by your competitors.<br />
<strong>The</strong> others just don’t come back due to indifference<br />
of the owner or an employee.<br />
So how do you deal with these realities<br />
• First, the only way to make your customers repe<strong>at</strong><br />
customers <strong>is</strong> through outstanding customer service.<br />
Th<strong>is</strong> means th<strong>at</strong> you deliver a quality product in a<br />
clean, <strong>at</strong>tractive environment with eager enthusiastic<br />
employees delivering the essentials of customer service.<br />
(Th<strong>is</strong> <strong>is</strong> wh<strong>at</strong> the seminar was about).<br />
Member and Other News<br />
<strong>Blowing</strong> <strong>Rock</strong> Fourth of <strong>July</strong> Festival<br />
S<strong>at</strong>urday, <strong>July</strong> 6th<br />
Adult Horseshoe Tournament - 9:00am<br />
Park Games - 9:30-11:00am<br />
Climbing Tower - 11:00am-4:30pm<br />
Bounce & Obstacle Course - 11:00am-4:30pm<br />
Country Magic Cloggers - 10:00-11:00am<br />
<strong>The</strong> Vagabonds, P<strong>at</strong>riotic Sing Along - 11:00am-12:00pm<br />
Buckhaggard Band - 12:00-1:30pm<br />
Independence Day Parade - 2:00pm<br />
Cockman Family (Bluegrass Gospel) - 3:00-4:30pm<br />
Fireworks <strong>at</strong> <strong>Blowing</strong> <strong>Rock</strong> Country Club - 9:30pm<br />
Sunday, <strong>July</strong> 7th<br />
Diana & Sarv<strong>is</strong> Ridge (Bluegrass) - <strong>July</strong> 7, 1:00-3:00pm<br />
Sweet T - Park Dance - <strong>July</strong> 7, 3:00-7:00pm<br />
Village Cafe Will Be Open on Monday<br />
Monday, <strong>July</strong> 1, 8:00am-2:30pm<br />
• Secondly, the referrals come from the repe<strong>at</strong> customers.<br />
It stands to reason th<strong>at</strong> you will not get any<br />
referrals if you don’t cre<strong>at</strong>e repe<strong>at</strong> customers. (See<br />
above). Th<strong>is</strong> portion of your customer base <strong>is</strong> growing<br />
exponentially with the popularity of social media.<br />
<strong>The</strong> old paradigm was: when a customer had a good<br />
experience, they would tell 2-3 of their friends (referrals)<br />
and when they had a bad experience, they would<br />
tell about 10. Now, when someone has a bad experience<br />
they tell the whole world with a few strokes on<br />
their smart phone often in in real time. If you don’t<br />
believe me, ask your restaurant friends about Yelp or<br />
your hotel friends about Trip Adv<strong>is</strong>or or service businesses<br />
about Angie’s L<strong>is</strong>t. One ir<strong>at</strong>e customer with<br />
access to and interest in social media can ruin all your<br />
advert<strong>is</strong>ing and much of the rel<strong>at</strong>ionship building<br />
th<strong>at</strong> you have worked so hard to develop. Th<strong>is</strong> <strong>is</strong> even<br />
more reason to focus on the essentials of outstanding<br />
customer service.<br />
•Lastly, the advert<strong>is</strong>ing and marketing of your business<br />
<strong>is</strong> essential. <strong>The</strong>re are so many opportunities to<br />
spend money on th<strong>is</strong> as you know. <strong>The</strong> question here<br />
<strong>is</strong> how much can you afford to spend to constantly<br />
replace customers th<strong>at</strong> you once had but lost due to<br />
poor customer service or indifference of an employee<br />
<strong>The</strong>re will always be plenty of marketing opportunities,<br />
but gre<strong>at</strong> customer service <strong>is</strong> much less expensive<br />
and yields far gre<strong>at</strong>er returns!<br />
<strong>The</strong> Chamber’s Business Support Committee will<br />
be offering another workshop in September on advanced<br />
website marketing and social media. Details<br />
will be forthcoming, but if you don’t make continuing<br />
educ<strong>at</strong>ion a priority for your business, you are<br />
really m<strong>is</strong>sing the bo<strong>at</strong>.<br />
<strong>Blowing</strong> <strong>Rock</strong> Ale House <strong>is</strong> Now Open<br />
<strong>Blowing</strong> <strong>Rock</strong>’s first micro-brewery <strong>is</strong> now open! <strong>The</strong><br />
restaurant <strong>is</strong> open everyday except Wednesday. All day<br />
dining and fifteen tap beers are sure to delight.<br />
Bolick & Traditions Pottery<br />
22nd Annual Heritage Day and Wood Kiln<br />
Opening th<strong>is</strong> S<strong>at</strong>urday, June 29th, 10am-4pm.<br />
Doodlebug Club<br />
<strong>Blowing</strong> <strong>Rock</strong> Art & H<strong>is</strong>tory Museum<br />
June 29, 10:30-11:30 am<br />
Art class for your preschool-aged “doodlebug!”<br />
$5/child. 828-295-9099 ext. 3004<br />
S<strong>at</strong>urday Art Club<br />
<strong>Blowing</strong> <strong>Rock</strong> Art & H<strong>is</strong>tory Museum<br />
June 29, 1:00-2:00pm<br />
Art projects for children in K-3rd grades. $5/child,<br />
all supplies included. 828-295-9099 ext. 3004
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