You want to tie a customer to you forever? Screw up.
Every business makes mistakes, but it’s how they treat their customers when they drop the ball that makes the difference. Make the customer jump thru hoops, crawl thru phone trees, and tell them you can’t do anything but say you’re sorry — and they’re gone. Listen carefully, assure them that you’ll work with them until the problem is resolved AND you’ll compensate them if you’re at fault — and you’ll have a customer for life. And that customer will tell everyone about their experience.
For the second time in a year, my personal bank has screwed up a deposit. It’s aggravating as hell. Today I received not one, but three identical envelopes, each with the same “Correction” notice. They couldn’t find a check I had deposited with them. This time, I watched as my wife put the check in the envelope and I deposited it myself. The notices didn’t have any suggested way to correct the problem, no phone numbers, no personal banker to get in touch with. Just to “adjust your records accordingly.”
I called, and after navigating the phone tree, I got to a representative. She said there was nothing she could do – the check obviously wasn’t in the envelope. She didn’t sound hopeful, but agreed to contact my bank branch while I held. After a few minutes, she came back online and told me they were checking. I gave her specific instructions about how they’d found their error last time. After several moments more, she came back on. Guess what? They found their error, just as I had specified. Was there anything else she could do for me today?
Yes, she could pay me.
If I wrote a check that bounced, they’d charge me a hefty overdraft fee. So why not do the same for me when they’re the ones to screw up? As it is now, I’m shopping for another bank. I have two others asking for my business. I didn’t have a reason to switch. Until today.
I’ve been on the business side of that phone call many times. So I know you can turn a very unhappy customer into an ecstatic promoter of your business. Accept responsibility and pay for your mistake. If it’s not your mistake, promise to work with the customer to help them with their issue. Give them options, even paid ones, to get what they want and need.
I’m going to give my bank one more chance than they deserve – I’m going in tomorrow and speak with a “personal banker” face to face, and ask them if they want to keep me as a customer. If they have nothing to say other than “sorry” then I’ll go down the street to one of the other banks that are begging for my business. And I won’t mention their name until this is resolved one way or the other.
You probably won’t get that second chance with your customers, so make sure to watch for when you screw up, then fix it, and pay for it. That’s when you’ll get mouthy bloggers and tweeters like me singing your praises.
