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Fortune Small Business
October, 2007
When It Pays to Swallow Your Pride
If you stumble, say you're sorry, and then scramble to make it up to the customer.
by JUSTIN MARTIN
No matter how good you are at customer service, let’s face it: Periodically you are going to screw up. That’s when you face a test – and an opportunity. Handle the incident poorly and you may create a corps of negative customer evangelists, trash-talking your business to anyone who’ll listen. Fix the situation, and you may secure a customer for life.
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An apology is a great first step. Think about the times your temper would have dropped 50 degrees if someone simply fessed up. Nurse Next Door (nursenextdoor.ca), a Vancouver home health-care company…does this in dramatic fashion. When the company stumbles, it delivers customers a “humble pie,” a fresh-baked apple pie accompanied with a note that reads in part, “We are very humbled by our mistake and sincerely apologize for the poor service.” Even if you don’t feel your business is in the wrong, it’s wise to say you’re sorry and ask what you can do to help. The firm has spent $1,300 on pies but reckons it has kept customers worth $90,000 in annual sales from defecting.
