CUSTOMER SERVICE
Dear Heloise: I just read your column about poor customer service -- so sad but so true! After 40 years in sales and marketing for a large chemical company, I now teach a class to aspiring entrepreneurs. As you might know, 95% of all new businesses fail within the first five years, and the major reason they fail is poor service. New business owners are all fired up about making their business grow and do many things correctly at first, but then they begin the slow decline, forgetting what made them successful for the first four years. Nobody wants to actually talk to customers anymore!