John Landsberg of Bottom Line Communications writes a monthly marketing column for Small Business Monthly. He is a nationally recognized public relations expert and and frequent business speaker. He also is an adjunct professor of marketing and public relations at three colleges.
CUSTOMERS ARE FORGIVING---TO A POINT By John Landsberg, April 2009 As Americans, we are a very forgiving people. Most of us realize that we all make mistakes and often want to apply the "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" type of folks. On the other hand, when someone or some business makes a mistake but refuses to take responsibility we are not quite so forgiving. The tough part for each of us in business is to admit when we screw up.Yes, we all sometimes have a tendency to over-promise and under-deliver. In fact, it is sometimes difficult when you are going after a big contract not to embellish things a bit. In reality, sometimes products are not delivered on time. Quality issues can arise and billing errors are made. None of us operate a perfect business. When I am involved in crisis communications counseling I advise clients to be upfront and admit they made a mistake. "Take responsibility and apologize for your actions," I say. "You'd be amazed at how forgiving and understanding people can be if you give them a chance." The same theory can be applied to things that do not rise to the crisis level in business situations. Take ownership of mistakes. Explain what happened and how it happened and then let your customer know what steps you are taking to make sure they don't happen again. Far too often a business will make a mistake and then try to blame it on all kinds of things: vendors, shippers, accounting, engineering, etc.Maybe those folks are the reason for the error, but your customer is dealing with YOUR company and not all those other things. The blame game never plays well in business. You diminish yourself and your company by trying to blame others for your company's mistakes. Media watchers today are examining the current crisis communications efforts under way in the sports world.Olympic champion Michael Phelps was photographed smoking marijuana while it was revealed baseball superstar Alex Rodriguez had been taking banned substances. When photos of Phelps smoking a bong appeared in the media he quickly owned up to the photo and apologized for his actions.While the public would normally be forgiving of this stupidity, this incident also reminded them Phelps had picked up a DUI a few years earlier. He had "sincerely" apologized for his actions then. People (customers) are forgiving to a point. In Phelps' case Kellogg's dumped him almost immediately. In the Davie Brown Index that measures a star's brand image, he dropped like a rock in the minds of the public. Rodriguez, on the other hand, lied for years about taking banned substances.However, when it was proven he tested positive for drugs he quickly went on the air with an apology.It is unclear if his damage control will work going forward, but at least he eventually took responsibility for his actions. It's tough to admit you or your company made a mistake.But you can learn a lot from the actions of superstars.Admit when you screw up and then make darn sure it doesn't happen again. Your customers are forgiving up to a point...
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