Mistakes happen. They happen to people, they happen to businesses (because businesses are run by people and people aren’t perfect). It’s what you or your frontline staff do about it during those first few moments when the customer is standing in front of you in a white hot rage that determines whether you lose a customer or gain a loyal fan forever.
It’s called “Customer Recovery” and big companies have entire departments dedicated to re-engaging with lost customers. And even if yours is a small or micro business, it needs a mechanism for recovering lost customers when things going horribly wrong (and they will…it’s just a matter of time).
Designing a Customer Recovery Strategy:
Assessment — Start by assessing the situation. Was it your fault or is the customer being unreasonable? If it’s the later, you may decide you don’t mind losing the customer; however, keep in mind that regardless of whether or not you value the lost business, that angry customer will talk so it’s worth smoothing over.
Empowerment — Give your frontline staff the power to please the moment something goes wrong. Give them rough guidelines of what is acceptable as compensation and train them on appropriate responses to angry customers. Remember to also empower them to protect themselves from an overly abusive or beligerent customer.
Monitoring — Tune into the social sphere to find those customers who complain loudly about you, but not to you. Those are the angry customers who are ready to walk, but haven’t bothered to tell you about it. Engage with them directly (in the same social channel) to earn back both their business and their respect. Never, I repeat, never attempt to ignore or even worse, silence an angry customer who is vetting on social media.
Reporting — Create a system that allows you to track and follow-up with customer complaints. For solopreneurs and micro businesses, the system can be quite simple as long as it prevents customer mishaps from getting lost in the day-to-day shuffle. For small businesses, the reporting system is another opportunity to refine training and get important feedback.
Follow-Up — Be quick to touch base with your disappointed customer personally. A handwritten note from you, a prompt telephone call or even an apolegetic email will go further than silence. A good rule of thumb is to mirror the mode by which the complaint was voiced so call the customer who left the angry voicemail, write back to the customer who sent a complaint letter and so on.
Re-Engagement — Design an incentive program to recover the lost customer. Be prepared to invest money in winning the business back. If you do the math (and you should so you know what to invest), it’s cheaper to buy back a past customer than it is to market to and acquire a new one who may or may not turn into a loyal, longtime customer.
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