Mistakes happen, people understand. The evolution is that human error, faulty technology and acts of god have progressed beyond common parlance and are no longer trusted explanations. The focus is on how you identify and resolve customer dissatisfaction and adapt your processes to address these occurrences so that they match customer expectation levels and result in recommendations and repeat business.
The commercial reality is that whilst companies of all sizes invest in brand awareness in the pursuit of organic referrals and to win the badge of 'deliver right, first time service' it is just as important to know what happens when the process flow is interrupted and understanding how tolerant your customer base really is. To offer some proactive advice I will highlight the two key customer splits that I experience on a daily basis:
Customers with contracts: They have predefined expectations, in some cases would have undertaken extensive due diligence based on their own research but most importantly are willing to recommend based on only a 'good' service. Typically they will experience at least one issue over the length of their contract so using customer feedback to analyse the impact of known issues will help you focus and prioritise repeat known faults and how the resolution impacted their Likelihood to Recommend. An ideal example is an ISP with an offshore technical support call centre.
High value one time customers: If you have sold a superior service that is exactly what your customers will expect, leaving you just one shot at delivering it. They will typically only recommend based on an 'excellent' experience and any real time feedback and the resultant insight and analysis must be implemented as a priority to avoid additional dissatisfaction. An example would be an estate agent presiding over the purchase of a property, the individual agent is given a lot of scope but it is the badge that he is working for that will be impacted by a bumpy journey. The outcome may be satisfactory to the business, in this case a sold property, but any chance of achieving referrals is reduced remarkably.
The stark reality is that the better you are at containing and dealing with issues and is something that you are recognised for, the more tolerant your customers will naturally become. If you assume that you only have one strike then it will help you strive for excellence however, having the data and insight to tell you the size of the ball and the person pitching it cannot be underestimated.
Liz Turrell
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