A-C-T-I-O-N. Action action we want action.
While making lemons out of lemonade is an easy, universally understood way to describe the end result of handling a customer complaint well, that is not what an angry, dissatisfied customer would say he wants.
No – if we are even lucky enough for an angry customer to contact us (more often than not, they just silently leave us), he is not hoping to turn lemons into lemonade. He wants something done. NOW!
He wants action.
To find out what kind of action, we must first listen. Just listen. And the more we listen, the better able we will be to take the appropriate action.
The first of which is an apology.
Not an excuse. Not an explanation. But a sincere, genuine apology that demonstrates acceptance of responsibility (even if it’s only partial) for the situation.
Sometimes that’s enough to make the customer happy. But usually, additional action is needed. And recommended. “Err on the side of action” , that’s what Kay, a former manager of mine used to say.
Action shows concern. Action shows we care. Action shows that we appreciate this customer, sincerely regret disappointing him and want him to continue doing business with us. It shows we are committed to avoiding the mistake in the future, but that if we do make a mistake in the future…we will fix it.
Here’s a great example from my days at University Directories.
Unlike all of our competitors, we had never missed a deadline. Our university clients knew that they could count on us to be not just on time – but early with our deliveries.
After 20 years of this record – things went astray. One of our sub-contractors, located in Dallas, seemed off schedule. When we would ask (over the telephone) about various delivery schedules, they were non-committal. It was time to “err on the side of action”and visit the printer in Dallas. And it’s a good thing we did because it would have taken weeks to discover by phone what we discovered by being there in person. They were behind on the printing because they had no paper. And they couldn’t buy paper because —- they were bankrupt!
We called all the other printers we knew. Everyone was full. No one could take on the work. So the only choice was to order and pay for the paper ourselves, have it shipped to this printer in Dallas and stay there until every last directory was printed.
Despite these efforts – all 7 of these universities received their directories late by between 4 to 9 days. Up to this point, there had been no penalty clauses in our contracts. They were unnecessary. Everyone knew our record. But now – our perfect delivery record, a very important selling point, had been ruined.
We wanted to be certain that our clients knew that we took this very seriously and that it wouldn’t become a new, relaxed standard. So for each of the seven universities: we drafted an addendum to their contract, stating per diem late fees; made them retroactive to include the current year; and then delivered the addendum plus a check to cover that year’s penalty.
We took much stronger action than most people would have done. It was definitely worth it. When each school heard the story, received the addendum and check – they became even more loyal than before. Not a single school cancelled. And to my knowledge, each one is still a University Directories client.
This was a big problem with big dollars at stake. I suggest that strong action is a good idea even when the problems are smaller and fewer dollars are at risk.
Remember Sally in Are There Holes in Your Bucket? Sally says that even at the end of her saga with the internet provider, she would have stayed with them, if only someone had gotten on the telephone, or even an e-mail and expressed concern and apologies. She would have been pleased with any reaction at all!
Tommy at Tillman Heating & Air Conditioning demonstrated a better way. Tillman provides maintenance on our heating and cooling systems. One day, we had an appointment for service and they were to arrive some time between 8am and 12noon. At noon, when they still hadn’t arrived, I called to ask what happened. After a few seconds of silence, Tommy, the young man who answered the phone said, “Ms. Bolick! You are going to kill me! I am the one who scheduled this and I put it in the computer on the wrong day. I am so sorry! I will get him there whenever you want him there. You name the day. You name the time. I will fix this!”
And he did. Their representative was at our door the next morning at 8:00. Tommy understood that I had needlessly taken a morning away from the office. He showed me that he and his company really cared and that they were really sorry.
That sent a strong message that they were willing to admit mistakes, take responsibility and take corrective action. And it left no opening whatsover for negative thoughts in my head like “hmmm…maybe we need to find somebody else to help us with this.”
As professionals, we can always hope that our products and services are perfect. Our clients will hope for that as well.
When that doesn’t happen, and things go wrong, a good process for success is:
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listen to the problem
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apologize
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take responsibility (even if it wasn’t your fault)
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take strong corrective action
Then if we haven’t already done so in order to determine corrective action…back at the office, with our staff, we need to review the situation, figure out what happened and what needs to be done to avoid re-occurence. Not in a punitive way. But in an exploratory way. In a way that leads to discovery.
When we operate this way, our customers love us for it, our customers will remain our customers and they usually send us more. Which gives us much to celebrate.
Do you have any examples of action oriented mistake management? Please share in comments section below.
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Copyright 2010 – Business Class Inc
Jan,
Great story about the University Directories. This post really ties into my quote of the day about action and vision.
Also, I always liked the philosophy of “err on the side of customer service.”
Terrific post as always.
Your blogging friend,
Mark
Hi Mark,
Glad you like the story.
I’ll bet you have some great ones to tell!
Will you send us a story from the west?
Jan
PS Love your quote of the day too. Here’s a link for anyone who wants it as a a helpful reminder to post.