Your relationships with your customers shouldn’t really be any different to your relationships with your friends and family. All relationships should have a common rule of maintaining respect and building trust.
When your business messes up (which it will do at some point), you should do 3 things.
1. Say sorry. (Only if you mean it)
2. Acknowledge your mistake.
3. If possible, make them smile.
Manufacturing company Mini did just that after their automated marketing system dished out hundreds of emails with the same message to each person in their mailing list. Spam at it’s best. So how did they try to make this right?
1. A sincere apology letter from the Mini team.
2. Acknowledged their mistake by sending a miniature spam can. (This ticks off number 3 in the list)
3. Sent Chocolate Roses, Duct Tape and miniature can of Spam (Chocolate is always a winner…)
I suppose there is another thing you have to do but only if you know for certain that you’ll never do it again. And that is to promise that you’ll never make that mistake again.
What do you think guys? What’s the best way to apologize?
(Images Courtesy of Imgur Albums)