What to Do When You Offer Bad Customer Service

No one's prefect, that for sure.

If you run or work in a business, or if you have a pulse, chances are you've screwed up. If you've been doing it long enough, chances are you screwed up royally.

So what do you do when it's on you? Elain Fogel has a helpful article over at MarketingProfs called Three Ways to Keep Your Customer Happy When You Screw Up.

Step one is to communicate. Fogel states:

Don't go into long-winded explanations or excuses. There's a good rule that I use in customer-service training workshops: "Don't burden the customer."

Step two is to make amends. As she says, "Don't assume what will make your customers happy—ask them."

Step three might be most important: don't repeat mistakes. It's my option that mistakes aren't bad things; they're the quickest route to learning something new. However, I do get frustrated when people (vendors, employees, MYSELF) repeat mistakes, thus removing any positives from the mistake.

If you struggle with what to do when you or your company screws up, be sure to check out Three Ways to Keep Your Customer Happy When You Screw Up.

Rich Brooks
Yes, I Know I Wrote Prefect