Good as the weakest link
We see giving customers and prospects a great experience is integral to great business.
The trouble is we are constantly busy juggling the demands of the job - it’s easy to forget the customers.
Why is that a problem?
Because very often, we don’t stand back and look at what the experience is like to work with us. So, when a customer takes the time to give you feedback, even though we don’t want to hear we’ve got it wrong, we need to take it on board.
As part of a project I needed to replace some of ceiling tiles.
Oh, boy, you would not believe how complicated that stuff is! But the good news is we tracked down a company online who asked us to send a photo of our tiles.
Straight away they knew what tile it was, had called with pricing options, and so on. It was a great experience and needless to say it was a no brainer that we became a customer.
We’ll come back to that bit another time…
We had a text to say the tiles were on their way. It was all going swimmingly.
Until…
Yup, you guessed – it went pear shaped.
Why? Because delivery was their weakest link
Outside of their local area they used couriers to deliver for them. And the delivery guy was clearly not in a great mood. He didn’t want to carry the tiles into the office, and didn’t put them in the right place. He threw them down and kicked other stuff he felt was in the way. He couldn’t get out fast enough. Not good, and even worse, not good for the supplier.
When we called to tell the company about the experience, they said they were sorry to hear that, and would follow up with the courier. Yep, good first step.
But that was it. The only step.
So, what could they have done?
If they were super keen to help – they could have persuaded the courier company to call and apologise, and even to offer to come and move the tiles
Follow up their apology with an email apologising
Offered a discount if we wanted to buy more tiles – like free delivery – to prove they could get it right
For us, whenever we give a company feedback, it is not about what we are going to get back. It is about helping them get it right. And part of getting it right is knowing how to handle it when it goes wrong.
So, take some time to talk to your customers. And fix your weakest link!
