What to Do When You Blow It

You thought you’d done everything right…the product had been well-tested in the lab, it was a success in beta trials, your customers were enthusiastic and then the roof fell in. Who could have foreseen that a critical electronic connection would fail after several months of use? Now you have to figure out what to do to rescue your reputation and maintain your once-satisfied customers.

Customer care training experts all agree…it is best to own up to the situation right away and accept the blame.

Here is how to manage the damage:

1. Get as close as you can to each individual customer (email, ad campaign, whatever works) and be honest about what went wrong.
2. Apologize for the failure and their inconvenience.
3. Make it as easy as possible for the customer to get the repair.  For example, Amazon makes returns easy by just placing the returned item on your porch for UPS to pick up at no charge.

In most personal interactions, people are willing to forgive if they receive a sincere apology and a clear commitment to an improved relationship. The same approach works when you need to regain the trust of your customers.