Stop saying sorry

Hello everyone. Now even though this will be published on Thursday, I am actually writing this on a Tuesday evening as I return from a series of very interesting meetings with new and existing clients.

I am pleased to say that March is turning out to be just as crazy as it always is, with companies up and down the country desperate to spend the last pennies of a budget that, only a month ago, they told me that they didn't have!

No, I'm not bitter, but I do wish that more people would just be straight with me in the first place. If you've got budget but you'd rather spend it elsewhere then that's fine - I'm a big boy and I won't be offended. All I ask is for the chance to point out to you JUST HOW WRONG YOU ARE!!!!! But of course, that's an entirely different story.

One of my meetings today was very interesting indeed. The company in question have a lot of very strict guidelines and policies in place and, should one of their users miss certain deadlines or file things incorrectly, they are likely to face certain surcharges.

Now as a result of this, quite a lot of these users don't really have any love for this company. Obviously I can't tell you who they are, but right now you might be wondering why the users in question just don't go somewhere else. Well the simple answer is that they can't, so don't concern yourself with it.

But what does this company do about the complaints that they receive? They send them an apology and will include a gift in the hope of bringing back a nice warm and fuzzy feeling for everyone concerned.

Seems like a nice idea, but I think that they're missing out on something here.

Think about the last time you received a gift by way of compensation for a job done badly. Did it yield a positive reaction? Well it might have done but ultimately you may well have felt that you were essentially being paid to shut up and go away. "We know you're unhappy, now here are some vouchers because we love you......There, are you happy now? Are you? Good.....now leave us alone." Not very nice, but let's face it, that's what a lot of these apology gifts really are.

Well how about we change all of that? "Can we Paul?" I hear you cry, "is such a wonderful thing even possible in this dark and dreary world we call business?" Blimey cheer up mate - it's not all bad news!

Of course we can change it. You see a complaint should not be viewed as a negative thing. Oh sure, you want all of your customers to be happy and to love you at all times and for nothing to ever go wrong ever ever ever, but we both know that that's not going to happen, so put down those rose coloured glasses and let's see what we can do about it.

Your company's process improvement should be never ending. That means that every complaint is an opportunity to do things better the next time around. You may have to shift suppliers, alter policies, whatever it might be - you have a real opportunity to improve your customers' experience of working with you.

So should you apologise when you receive a complaint? NO! You should thank them for bringing the news to your attention. Obviously you want to acknowledge that they're not happy and tell them that you'll do what you can to make things right, but just how nice is it going to be when you offer them something along the lines of.....

"We'll get this sorted out for you right away and I'd really like to thank you for taking the time to let me know about this. I realise that a number of people simply shrug their shoulders when things don't go as expected, so it's genuinely refreshing to speak with someone who feels passionately enough to speak up and do something about it. I'd like to send something to you as a token of our appreciation - would that be OK with you?"

KABOOM! I mean who is not going to be blown away by that? You will have totally taken control of the situation and turned an angry customer into an ally. Just what are the chances that he or she will relay what you've said to a friend or associate? Pretty good I'd say, and that naturally could lead to some new customers too.

Sorry seems to be the hardest word? Not really - it's easy and all too often is offered up without any sincerity or follow through, so just stop using it, and make the best of a less than perfect situation.

Enjoy your week.