Part 2: Managing Upset Customers In The Pipeline

Naturally, complaints from current customers are the most pressing. If handled improperly, you can lose a sale or, worse, promote negative word-of-mouth, as dissatisfied customers are often the loudest. It follows that these situations must be confronted with finesse and without delay. The details of this process will differ depending on the business, the customer, and the product or service, but the core steps remain the same:

1. Apologize
2. Correct
3. Compensate
4. Continue

A few weeks ago, I witnessed this process handled elegantly at a local restaurant. I had ordered a bowl of pasta margherita, and when my meal came, the penne was still hard in the center. My tolerance for this sort of thing is wide, so I normally wouldn't complain, but these noodles were undercooked to the point of being cold.

When I brought the issue to our server, she kindly and swiftly placed a new order for me. When my new bowl of appropriately al dente pasta came out, I was perfectly pleased to continue my dinner as planned and leave a full tip. All the same, once I finished, I was brought a free dish of tiramisu and given a small discount on my bill. The generous and rapid manner in which the restaurant confronted the problem, without making any overt show of apology, left an impression on me. I ended up tipping more than I would have in the case of a typical dining experience, even though I had to wait longer to eat.

A restaurant serving hundreds of guests every night can't make a perfect bowl of pasta every time, and this message can be translated to virtually any industry or product. It's understandable that these things happen. A company that can apologize, correct, compensate, and continue as planned will have a much better outcome than a company that becomes defensive or loses its wits. Being a business plan writer at Ethos 360 is much the same, although we have this method built directly into our business model.

I work with a range of clients daily who all want their visions put on paper. Unsurprisingly, it often takes more than one try to translate someone's ideas into writing satisfactorily. This is why our first drafts are described exactly as such. After receiving their first drafts, clients have an extended period to guide us on revisions as we hone in on the exact document they need.
The "compensate" step is usually unnecessary, as our revisions take care of any first draft concerns, but from time to time, customers become upset. Sometimes we misunderstand the concept, sometimes we place too much emphasis on one idea and not enough on another, and sometimes the often tenuous consumer-provider relationship is simply too strained before the process even begins. Whatever the case, our "compensate" step may take several forms, from extending deadlines to restarting the project timeline to furnishing a ground-up rewrite of the document. I've personally witnessed the transformation from disgruntled to thrilled customer several times, and most of these customers' opinions and outlooks were changed because of our fast, flexible, and understanding approach to problem solving.