MAKING IT RIGHT
Service recovery is how you make a customer happy after making a mistake. Being good at service recovery means even when you mess up, you will keep customers, and possibly gain a few. But for a company to be good at service recovery, certain rules of service recovery etiquette must be followed:
Listen to what the dissatisfied customer has to say and ask questions
Don’t argue. Don’t jump to conclusions or fly off the handle before you understand exactly what the customer is unhappy about. Ask them how they would like to see you resolve the situation or what they think is fair. You might be surprised at how little it takes to win back their confidence.
Don’t make excuses
Nobody cares if three of your employees called in sick or you are late because you had to fix a flat tire. If you didn’t deliver what you promised, when you promised and how you promised … there is no excuse. Admit mistakes.
Apologize
You’d be surprised how far a heartfelt apology will go in repairing your company’s relationship with a dissatisfied customer. And don’t say, “We’re sorry, but …” Remember, no excuses. A sincere apology might go something like this: “We’re sorry we arrived a half hour late and did not finish the job by the time promised.” Or: “We’re sorry we did not clean up the work site to meet your expectations.” Note how there are no “buts” or excuses.
Offer compensation
Be prepared to lower the bill, give a discount coupon for future service, send a gift certificate to a nice restaurant or just hand the unhappy customers a dozen pens with the company logo on them. The size and scope of the compensation will depend on the seriousness of the mistake and how upset the customer is, but often a small gesture is enough to generate goodwill and resolve the complaint. Just give something that will let the customer know you are sorry for any inconvenience your company might have caused.
