How to Turn Your Whoops into a Win

How to Turn Your Whoops Into a Win
Let's face it. We're human. And we make mistakes. And sometime's those mistakes are published for all of the world to see. Like that time we accidentally posted a link to an article about an R&B artist, instead of the link to purchase my new book, Direct Selling for Dummies (the horrors of forgetting that the last thing you copied and pasted, was certainly not the thing you wanted, in that case, to copy and paste).

Anyways, sometimes we provide our customers with the wrong information, produce a typo in an e-mail or click Publish instead of Preview.

The most important aspect of social media, blogging and e-mail marketing is to create relationships with our customers. Of course, anything we do online is considered marketing and advertising, but in the business realm, our shift has changed from ROI (return on investment – meaning the money we spend on ad dollars for example) to ROR (return on relationships – meaning the time we spend getting to know our customers.)

One of the most common phrases I say in almost all of my trainings and speeches is, “People do business with people they know, like and trust.” Or another variation, “People do business with people they want to be friends with.”

This is inexcusably true. Large corporations spend a lot of money on branding, which is creating a sense of personality around their brand, because they know, that if they befriend you and support you, you'll support them.

The position most of you reading this are in, of course I can only assume, is that you are small business owners or some sort of sales consultant, whether that be direct sales, real estate and so on. And all of you, can get away with spending little to no money on branding, because you don't need to go great lengths to humanize your brand – you're already human (again, an assumption).

The benefit you have over large corporations and household name brands is the fact that you have a personality, a story, a tone of voice and the ability to authentically and personally engage your customers.

Okay – so I think we have the point so far – you're all human with the human capabilities to start conversations. Let's keep moving forward.

Another topic I love to discuss is the service recovery paradox. This is the idea that a company, restaurant, store, whatever – can earn more of your trust and praise when they make a mistake and correct it, more than they ever could if they had never made the mistake at all.

There have been many of times in my life where this has transpired. Whether it was the pizza shop that gave me $20 off my next order just because our cheese was falling off with every bite and wasn't cut, or the restaurant manager who gave us a sample of every appetizer on their menu just because we were seated late. In each of these two instances, and the many others in between, I would have been satisfied with my service or product, if nothing would have went wrong. And mild satisfaction rarely results in me posting a review, tweeting out a song of praise or uploading a photo to Instagram. But because those two circumstances resulted in outstanding customer service, I was quick to publicly recommend them to anyone craving cheesy pizza or a night out with friends.

So how do you turn a whoops into a win?

Here are some tips:

  • Listen. One of the most important business lessons you will ever learn is to listen. Listen to your customers and what they want. Listen to what they are saying. And then not only that, care about it. Most of the time, when customers complain about your service or product, what they're truly looking for is, “Hey Mark. We hear you. We appreciate you. And we value you. So let's resolve this.”  Always to be sure to keep your communication channels strong with your audience (social media, e-mail, phones and so on), in order to keep the conversation going. Remember, that is the goal – to keep them talking.
  • Own up to it. If you made a mistake, own it. Simple as that. This isn't just a business lesson, but a life lesson. Apologize for your mistakes and all will be forgiven. People want to see that you're humble enough to know when you have made a mistake – and going back to our previous point, they want you to care that your product or service wasn't satisfactory to them.
  • Respond – quickly. There is nothing worse than reaching out to a company, consultant, or whatever, only for days to go by without a response. Those days that fly past you without any response, means our customers pull away from us, and look to other channels to voice their opinions. *Cue the Facebook rants and mean tweets* Customer service and care is one of the most important business activities you will put time into. Make sure people are responded to promptly so you can get to resolutions a lot faster – or turning disappointed customers into brand ambassadors faster.
  • Right your wrongs. You can't just apologize. You have to take the next step, also known as the correction. This could be a correction e-mail (where you made a information whoops or a typo), providing the status of a product that is taking it's sweet old time to be delivered to them and so on. But this doesn't mean you need to immediately resolve the situation. Knowing that steps are being taken to right your wrongs, is good enough for your customers.
  • Go the extra mile. You made a mistake, and now its time to make up for it. A little gesture to your customers can go a long way, whether that is a discount, a free product, a free visit to your establishment and so on. These types of offers also work in your favour – because they ensure your customer will deal with your business again (whether ordering a product or selecting your service). Which means you have a second chance to wow them and earn back their trust.
  • Believe in yourself. I left this one until last because it is so important. Remind yourself that you're human. And you're allowed to make mistakes and fall down every once in a while. But it's winners that get back up and keep moving forward. Always believe in yourself and your capabilities, as well as always believe in your product, service or opportunity. Because if you are passionate about what you offer because you believe it truly benefits, enhances or enriches the lives of those around you, then there is nothing in the world stopping you from wowing your customers each and every time – even if the odd time, you make a whoops.

 

Have any stories about how you turned around a customers bad experience? Drop us a comment!