“Make It Right” When You’ve Made a Mistake
No matter how hard we try to avoid making them, mistakes will eventually find a path to our doorstep, often times sneaking in through the back door to try and steal away the reputation that we have worked so hard to build with our customers. Mistakes will happen. We are all human. Yet, how we handle our mistakes can make all the difference in the world in what our customers think of us and whether they will want to do business with us again.
We can all point to bad experiences we have had with customer service of one kind or another: slow fast-food, curt hotel staff, late shipments, bad products . . . And I’m sure we’ve all tried to regain some sense of justice from the situation by gossiping about it to our family, friends and co-workers. Service strategy expert Peter Gurney, in his December 17, 2009 blog post “Bad Service Makes a Good Story” (theciceronegroup.com/2009/12/17/bad-service-makes-a-good-story) reiterates the widely accepted statistic that customers will tell 10 times more people about a negative experience than a positive one. He goes on to say that the stories of bad service are also shared in more detail and with more drama than stories of good service. Ouch! So, as providers of products and services, how should we handle our missed expectations and mistakes when we make them?
A simple, real-life experience I had years ago provided a model for our firm’s approach to customer service. I was on the receiving end of a mistake one night when my wife and I had gone out to eat. I had ordered a steak cooked medium-well and it came back very undercooked. I mentioned this to the waitress and she agreed, apologized and promptly took it back to make it right. A short moment later she came out, accompanied by the restaurant manager, with my steak cooked just right. Once the manager confirmed I was satisfied, he also apologized and offered us a discount on our bill for the inconvenience. He thanked us for coming that night and expressed his hope that we would come back again. On the way out to our car after our meal, my wife and I both commented on how well we were treated and that we would surely come back again.
Because our firm depends on good customer service, I was convicted to tell my story to our team at work. So, at our next staff meeting that week, I shared my positive experience and the impact it had on me as a customer. What came out of that meeting was a new approach for how we now handle our mistakes. We call it our “Make It Right” policy. It consists of three simple actions modeled after the restaurant’s response to my undercooked steak:
1) Apologize in person for your mistake.
2) Fix the issue at no extra cost to the customer.
3) Offer up a reason to come back.
The basis behind each of these is simple and compelling.
The first step, apologizing in person, is the responsible thing to do. It is also most critical for setting the stage for how your customer will respond to you. In Robert Fulghum’s book Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, you’ll find this pertinent advice: “Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody”. Apologizing in person is not easy and it’s unfortunately rare in the business world. However, it can be tremendously powerful if done right. It must be truly sincere and there must not be any excuses or shifting of blame tied to it. The restaurant manager could have slid blame to a “new cook in the kitchen” or passed it off as a “busy night” but he didn’t. Had he, it would have cheapened his apology. Also, a sincere apology disarms everyone in the meeting and gets the conversation focused on fixing the issue and moving your project forward.
When it comes to fixing the mistake or issue, no customer will want to pay for the extra effort or time involved. Don’t even think about it. Fix it right and as quickly as possible.
The final step of offering up a reason to come back is important to show your customer you value their business and want it in the future. Depending on the size of your mistake, you probably caused some inconvenience or grief with your customer. Offering up an appropriate discount on the current project or a future one is a good way to help bring them back again. Explaining how your firm has made changes to prevent the mistake from happening again should also be included in this final step. Repeat customers are the crown jewel of doing business. Giving your customer a great experience on your current project is a great sales opportunity. By offering up a reason for them to work with your team again, you will solidify in their mind your integrity and commitment to serving them well.
Of course, getting it right the first time is your ultimate goal. However, when you do make a mistake, follow the three steps to Make it Right and create the most positive outcome possible with your customer. It will serve them (and you) well!
