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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Updated: Thursday, April 30, 2020
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As we near the holidays, we know you candy makers will be getting even busier so we will do our best to keep these tips short and sweet.
This week we have a new online tool to help shorten the time spent on shipping all of those holiday orders. Endicia is a low-cost and efficient tool that simplifies the process of shipping with USPS.
Among its many features, the software imports addresses from your address book so you can avoid retyping addresses. Plus, you can manage your shipment, including viewing your postage statements and transactions, or charting your expenses. You can even assign cost codes and send email delivery notifications for each package and even add your company logo before printing.
To get started, just visit dymoendicia.com and select the software solution that best fits your business’s needs. They have a few different solutions available so take a moment to view the different options and pricing structures. For example, Endicia Standard is just $9.95/month and you can try it free for 30 days before signing up.
We hope this tip saves you both time and money this holiday season. At our recent Canadian Chocolate Tour, one member said that this tool has been a huge help in speeding up shipping processes, especially in the holiday season. If you have other tips for shipping during the holidays, please share it in the comments below!
Tags:
Customer Service
Holidays
Packaging
Productivity
Seasonal
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Updated: Monday, May 4, 2020
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It is officially summer now and many chocolate and candy stores choose not to ship their products in warm weather. Whether it’s because the cost of shipping in heat is prohibitive for their customers or because they don’t want to risk their products melting in transit, it’s completely understandable. However, we also know that many stores continue to ship in warm weather. If you are considering shipping your product, here are a few tips we’ve learned from our members that may help protect the quality of your products:
- Choose a packing box large enough to surround the product with ice packs and bubble wrap.
- Consider using styrofoam insulated boxes.
- Place the ice packs at the bottom of the box, not on top.
- If you aren’t using non-sweating ice packs, wrap the ice packs in newspaper to absorb the moisture.
- Wrap the product package in bubble wrap to protect it.
Do you have additional tips and tricks for shipping in warm weather? Please leave a comment to share below.
Tags:
Customer Service
Merchandising
Organizing
Packaging
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Updated: Monday, May 4, 2020
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RCI members and staff were recently in Florida for the RCI Spring Regional Institute event as well as a Mastering Caramels educational course. While networking, education and behind-the-scenes tours were key reasons for attending the event and course, we couldn’t help but notice that the attendees were also having fun while networking and learning.
Attendees want to walk away knowing they learned something new and maybe met new people or reconnected with other fellow candy makers, but when they can also say they had fun, they walk away with an added level of value from the event. Do your employees walk away from work with a sense of enjoyment and fun? Some studies have even suggested that having fun at work increases loyalty, productivity and job satisfaction.
We have gathered a few ideas to incorporate fun into your company’s workday:
- Celebrate employee birthdays – If you have too many employees to have a party for each individual birthday, you could have a monthly or even quarterly celebration. Get some balloons, provide some of your candies (of course!), and maybe even play a game (pin the stick on the apple, anyone?).
- Create a ‘fun committee’ – Charge the committee with coming up with a fun activity for the team or company once a month. Allow them the freedom and creativity to come up with something outside the box. And be sure you participate to show everyone you do know how to have fun.
- Company-wide competition – Why not intertwine fun and charity? For example, create a competition between departments or stores to see who can raise the most money for a charitable cause and reward the winning team with a fun outing or bring lunch or breakfast into the office for them to enjoy together.
If you have more fun ideas to share, please leave us a comment!
Check out ‘fun’ photos from Florida on the RCI Facebook page. Plus watch the RCI YouTube page for video recaps!
Tags:
Customer Service
Employee Management
Productivity
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Posted By RCI,
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Updated: Monday, May 4, 2020
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Today’s tip is to take the time to train your employees in the realm of customer service. Reminding your employees of the adage, ‘Treat others the way you would like to be treated,’ is not enough. Take the time to remind them that it is more than just common courtesy. For example, don’t just greet customers – greet them with a smile. Don’t just say thank you to the customer - thank them for their business and invite them to come back again. Encourage your storefront employees to be proactive and go to the customer in the store to offer assistance – don’t let them wait for customers to come to them with a problem.
Phone etiquette is another area of customer service you should be training your employees. Teach them how you would like the phone answered. (Tip: Use the business name and employee name in the greeting to personalize it.) Additionally, if they have to place a customer on hold, teach your employees to ask "May I put you on hold?”. Your customers are busy people, too, and they may choose to call back at another time rather than sit on hold.
If you take the time to train your employees on what customer service really means, your customers will take notice and come back. They may even spread the word that your store is one of the few places that provides exceptional customer service.
Tags:
Customer Service
Marketing
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