Elizabeth Hilla
By Elizabeth Hilla
Do you remember the last time you or your company made a mistake? Maybe a customer didn’t get exactly what they ordered or you forgot to follow up with a prospect in need of important product information.
Service disappointments occur every day in business. But how you react can mean the difference between losing a customer and demonstrating just how committed you are to maintaining a positive, fruitful relationship. Here are a few tips for turning mistakes into wins and minimizing future missteps:
- Act immediately. Contact your customer as soon as you become aware of a potential problem or error. It may be tempting to spend a few minutes understanding the issue, but that leaves the potential for other distractions to come into play. A quick phone call will buy you time to investigate while showing your utmost concern and respect for the customer. It’s okay to follow up with an email if you reach voicemail, but live discussions always add a more personal touch.
- An apology can go a long way with a disgruntled or upset customer. However, there’s a right and wrong way to say you’re sorry. Regardless of whose fault it is, a problem occurred and that should be your focus when apologizing. Don’t lay blame; it can make the problem worse or make your company look bad. By accepting blame, you’re not admitting to your own personal fault, you’re simply committing yourself to taking care of your customer’s concern.
- Fix the problem. Once you’ve notified and apologized to your customer, you can start on problem-solving. If this requires involving others, avoid passing off the issue and assuming it will be fixed quickly. It’s your responsibility to communicate a problem’s urgency to your colleagues, as well as maintain customer communication throughout its resolution. Make a note or calendar reminder to follow through with your customer as promised, even if it’s a simple status update. Whether or not an issue gets resolved right away, this shows you’re working toward the solution.
- Keep the peace. Small mistakes don’t often require much more than a sincere apology. Bigger problems, however, require larger gestures. Maybe you can waive charges for errant deliveries or offer discounts on a future order. Giving something away for free, no matter how small, is a tangible way to show you care and want to keep your customer’s business. Get creative! Your company may already have specific guidelines or limits for what you can do to make customers happy, but there are plenty of ways to do something nice.
- Correct your processes. By now, you probably realize that mistakes are bound to happen. That’s forgivable, but making the same mistake twice? Not so much. Once you’ve recovered from an initial error, you still need to go one step further and fix the root cause of the issue. This may require extra work or help from your colleagues, but it’ll ensure similar problems are avoided in the future, saving you or someone else from repeating these steps. After correcting an underlying issue, be sure to let your customer know. This is an important step toward rebuilding their confidence in you, plus it’s an opportunity to credit them for fixing a potential problem for future customers.
If you make a mistake, don’t despair. Most people remember the recovery more than the misstep and often appreciate when you go above and beyond to correct a situation. Treat every problem as a customer service opportunity, and you may find yourself with even more loyal customers in the future.