Taking Care of the Customer During Business Growth

I just had a great customer service experience. A company that I have been doing business with for a few years made a mistake in an order they sent me. What they sent and what I ordered were not only different but I ended up on the short end of the stick from a dollar perspective. So I called the company to find out what could be done.

What did the company do? Well, here is what they did:

• They apologized for the error.

• They acknowledged that I was on the short end financially and that I didn’t receive what I ordered.

• They credited my account for the different in price AND they sent out what I actually ordered at no charge.

• Then they apologized again and confessed to having some problems in the packing area due to having added an additional employee.

Now, do I care why they are having the problem? Not really but ... On one hand, I just want my order shipped properly and on time. I really don’t care much about the internal workings of the company. With that said, I can also tell you that having the company tell me that they have been experiencing growing pains and that they were committed to maintaining quality and keeping their customers happy as they grow was good to hear.

Often as companies grow they lose many of the qualities and traits that make them special in the first place. Should the company have taken all of the steps they did to make me “whole”? Yes, of course! Actually, I would have been happy with having them make up the financial difference. So, I was even more satisfied and committed to the company when they said to keep what was sent and that they would ship out what I actually ordered.

What do you do to maintain customer satisfaction and loyalty, particularly when there is an issue? Sometimes all it takes is one mistake and you have lost a customer for life. The cost to make them “happy” is typically much less then the lifelong income generated from that customer, plus the referrals. Sometimes saying “I’m sorry” isn’t enough. Whatever you do, make it easy for the customer and make sure that at the end of the conversation the customer feels good about what you have done to take care of them.

So what are you going to do to improve your customer service, particularly as you grow your business?