Sometimes we just mess up. Sometimes we mess up big. And sometimes, if we don’t clean up after ourselves, our mess ups get even worse. Add the bad buzz from social networks, and business blunders could spell death for our company.

In fact, customer loyalty has been shown to increase when a company apologizes for its mistakes.  Here are 4 steps from The Internet and Marketing Report that can keep us from losing customers.

1. Grovel: When Amazon messed up, CEO Jeff Bezos posted a humble apology online, prompting more than 700 customers to respond, including one that wrote, “My loyalty keeps growing stronger.”

2. Surprise: Netflix sent out unrequested refunds when it discovered its service didn’t match its promises. Many customers hadn’t even noticed the issue.

3. Anticipate complaints: Southwest Airlines sends out humble letters admitting their fault for customers’ discomfort based on reports from employees at Monday morning meetings. Letters often arrive before passengers even have a chance to write letters of complaint.

4. Explain: As always, the best apologies admit fault, explain what happened, and describe what’s being done to prevent it from happening again.

So go ahead and apologize like you mean it, and before the social media networks get a hold of you. It could save your business.

Friday, March 12th, 2010, 4:10 pm   |   Amazon, NetFlix, Social Media, Southwest Airlines  |  RSS feed |  Respond  |  Trackback