customer retention

How to Give a Five-Star Response to a One-Star Review

Online review boards and social media channels have taken the place of the complaint lines of the past. You may think you can ignore negative reviews posted on your site—particularly if there are only a few and the good ones far outweigh the bad. The fact is, you can’t. About 88 percent of customers trust... Read More

Back to the Basics with CRM and Reputation Management

No matter where you are in the business world—just starting, just catching your stride or a long-time veteran—you won’t get any further without loyal customers who trust you. To build up that foundation of trust and to improve on it you need feedback from your customers, old and new. You need a viable Customer Relationship... Read More

Keep Customers Coming Back with a Birthday Club

Bring Customers Back Year After Year with a Birthday Club Everyone loves to be celebrated on their special day. The PISTn birthday club feature, included with your PISTn website system, makes it easy to show your customers how much you value them. The best part is, while you are treating your customers to a small... Read More

Getting the Most from Your PISTn Website System: Birthday Club & Register to Win Features

Getting the Most from Your PISTn Website System: Birthday Club & Register to Win Features Are you getting the most out of your Pistn website system? One of the most powerful tools included in your PISTn Website System is the monthly email marketing that automatically goes out to your customers. There is just one catch... Read More

Borrow Ideas From Other Industries To Help Your Auto Service Shop

In the automotive service sector, for example, it’s not always easy to come up with a different kind of marketing idea that will bring new customers into your business and keep others loyal. Fortunately, automotive businesses aren’t the only type out there, and you can draw your inspiration from other businesses and industries. Many service-oriented... Read More

Why Building Loyalty with Your Customers Through Marketing Matters So Much

Why Building Loyalty with Your Customers Through Marketing Matters So Much If you made a list of the most important assets that any business has, its customers would undoubtedly be right at the top. Your customer base, as it continues to grow and expand, will allow your business to do the same. These are more... Read More

A Big Thank You and A Few Words on Geofencing, Service Reminders and Smart CRM/OEM

A BIG THANK YOU All of us here at PISTn want to send out a big thank you to all the Tuffy dealers that attended our Breakout sessions at the Tuffy Conference in Florida this year. We enjoyed visiting with everyone who stopped by our Trade Show booth as well. Our first breakout was standing... Read More

HOW ROBUST IS YOUR EMAIL MARKETING?

HOW ROBUST IS YOUR EMAIL MARKETING? In early 2020, as the Coronavirus swept through the country, small businesses discovered that the ability to inform customers of sudden changes to operations is a vital — and often overlooked — part of a marketing plan. During that time, clients started calling PISTN for help with emails to... Read More

“Your News” Articles: Are You Making the Most of Your Website?

Are You Making the Most of Your Website? Sharing short news updates about your business on your website is a great way to keep customers engaged and thinking about you. Your website is the only real estate on the internet where you have total control. You can use that space to promote your business with... Read More

Why Reputation Management Matters for Small Businesses

Why Reputation Management Matters for Small Businesses Traditionally, small businesses only needed to establish a good local reputation to succeed. Maintaining a reputation typically involves attracting locals and developing good relationships with them. Then, people would patronize a shop based on the recommendations of friends and neighbors. Nowadays, those endorsements are widely made online. All... Read More

Responding to Reviews 101

RESPONDING TO REVIEWS 101 No matter what industry you’re in, online reviews can directly impact your business. Positive customer reviews can amplify your marketing efforts; but all of the marketing dollars in the world may not be enough to overcome a negative online presence. The only space on the internet where you can maintain 100%... Read More

Quick Tip for Growing Your Facebook Audience [FREE]

A Quick Tip for Getting More Likes on Your Facebook Business Page One way to keep your customers engaged with your business is to post photos and updates on Facebook. But, if you want your customers to see your posts they have to “Like” your page (or you have to pay for advertising.) In the... Read More

CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE: 6 Recommendations for Small Businesses Deemed “Essential”

(4 Minute Read) In this unprecedented time of “Stay at Home” and “Shelter In Place” orders across the country in response to the Coronavirus and Covid-19, our small business clients have been contacting us asking how they can best respond. This blog post will address our 6 best recommendations for small businesses that have been... Read More

How to master Messenger

As the digital age picks up speed, so has the expectations of your customers. Most people expect fast communications and nearly instant service, whether they’re asking a question or voicing a complaint and it’s up to you to provide it to them. More and more often, that means some form of messenger. As many as... Read More

How to get reviews (without bribing your customers)

Customer reviews are vital to the success of your small business. The more you have, the better you’ll look, both in terms of the quality of service you provide and the loyalty of your customer base. Not only that, but they will lead to new customers and, hopefully, increased reviews. Consider that 90 percent of... Read More

How to stay ahead of your competitors on social media

Social media is just like your business: you have to get ahead to stay ahead. With so many people taking advantage of social media in 2018, you have to be smarter and faster than your competition in order to stand out, lure in new customers and keep your current audience engaged. Fortunately, that’s not all... Read More

How to give your website a spring tune up

The ice, snow, sleet, hail, frost and other assorted winter ills are grudgingly giving way and soon the world will be born anew. As you’re taking stock of the changes that are going on in the world and thinking of attracting new customers just now emerging from the long hibernation of winter, it’s a good... Read More

How KFC used humor to respond to a PR crisis–and won the day

For business owners, there’s nothing worse that running out of the one thing your customers are seeking from you. An oil change shop running out of oil, a tire shop running out of tires (all of them) or a chicken restaurant running out of chicken. That’s exactly what happened recently, when a change in suppliers... Read More

Commonly misused business terms

We’ve often said that if your customers don’t trust you with the little things, they won’t trust you with the big things—like giving you their business. Proper word choice is one of those “little things.” If you’re positioning yourself as an expert in a field of service, your task will be more difficult if you... Read More

Use your social media feeds to improve customer service

Your social media channels are not just another way to reach out to new customers and engage with the ones you have. They’re also very effective at dealing customer complaints and improving customer service. More than 42 percent of mobile patrons use social media to direct their anger or general dissatisfaction at businesses—or to ask... Read More