Thursday
November 10, 2011
Filed under: Tip of the Day
 Whoops. Uh-oh. Sorry. My bad.
Everyone makes mistakes, it’s part of who we are. But it’s how you deal with mistakes that can ultimately leave a lasting impression to a client. This month’s Counselor Blueprint newsletter not only has some great advice on how to ramp up repeat business, but some good tips on how to apologize for an error:
The key to keeping a customer happy and expanding a relationship can sometimes be determined by how your company acts when something goes wrong. Indeed, an apology can even be used as a way to grow your business with current clients.
So, when an error happens, the first thing you want to do is own up to the mistake. “You don’t want to place blame and try to immediately find the root of the problem,” says Kyle Traylor, principal with consulting firm Klay Consulting, in New York City. “Call the client, explain what happened and, most importantly, explain your plan to fix it.”
Traylor says too many distributors try to blame a supplier or the shipping company or the embroiderer, when really what they should be doing is figuring out a plan. “The time for blame is later,” he says. “All your client wants to hear is that the right items are going to arrive in time for their event. The key is to make that happen, and then you’ll look like a star.”
Clients end up remembering the vendors who always act on their behalf. If a mistake is made, it’s your time to show them the lengths you’ll go to make it right. “Once the error was made, you can’t go back and change it,” Traylor says. “What you can do is apologize and explain how the situation is going to be made right – immediately. Timeliness counts. A vendor needs to repair a bad situation very quickly or the client will only remember the error.”
|
