NWC News Desk

Worland workshops highlight business strategies

Posted March 30, 2007
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P O W E L L, W y o. - Outstanding customer service and niche marketing are tools small businesses can use when competing with the big box stores. Both will be covered in two Thursday evening workshops coming to Worland in April.

The first, "Customer Service: Stand-Out, Stand-Up Service" meets from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, April 12. Workshop leader Danel LaRose said, "Customer Service has become a phrase so commonly used that most people no longer think about its true meaning."

She will review the true meaning and help business owners examine the ways they currently conduct operations to determine their real focus. She'll discuss what they can learn about their customers and how to apply this information with the goal of making great customer service a way to stand out from competitors.

Cost is $25 per person.

"Playing with the 'Big Boys' - Marketing," also taught by LaRose, meets two weeks later, from 6-9 p.m. Thursday, April 26. Designed expressly for small businesses, the workshop looks at the nationwide phenomenon where businesses become comfortable believing they have the niche in their demographic area until a "big box" store moves to town. She'll review the hard punches of marketing and help participants figure out what their business has that the "big boys" don't. She'll also help them evaluate their business and write a plan of action designed to make them more competitive and less intimidated by the new competition.

Cost is $35.

LaRose worked three years in the hospitality industry before becoming an employee development administrator for the world's largest hotel representation service. She's developed and taught more than 20 different employee and management classes and is CEO of LaRose, LLC and LaRose Business Works.

For more information about opportunities available through the Northwest College Center for Training and Development or to register, e-mail Gina Hunt at the NWC Worland Center for Training and Development or call (307) 347-8541.