The Tendo View

“Bad news goes about in clogs, good news in stockinged feet.”
- Welsh proverb

It used to be that angry customers had only a couple options for expressing their dissatisfaction with a company’s products or services. They could call customer service, write a letter or e-mail. However, the proliferation of social media and blogging platforms have provided numerous outlets for customers to voice their displeasure. Worse, with such outlets as Facebook and Twitter, negative opinions spread faster than wildfire.

It’s inevitable—companies make mistakes. They’re staffed with humans, after all. How they respond to those mistakes and how quickly, though, can make all the difference.

I recently received an e-mail from Mount Shasta Resort, where I had once made reservations. (I can’t seem to remove myself from their e-mail list, but that’s another post.) What caught my attention about this e-mail and stopped me from immediately hitting the Delete button was the subject line: “Please Accept Our Apology.” Of course, I was intrigued and read further:

“We enjoy sending out specials to all our on-line members; however, we are still learning to use our new e-club system. Our last special had a pre-filled subject line with language that may have offended some people. The resort would like to apologize for this mistake. Please print out and bring in this coupon and receive 10% off in our Golf Shop, Restaurant or Lounge.”

Two things struck me about this e-mail: The company was quick to respond (I had only just received the “offending” e-mail the day before) and took full responsibility for the mistake, rather than blaming the new system.

Unfortunately, companies don’t always respond this well when they make a mistake. Take Best Buy, for example. Last month, the company offered on its website a 52-inch HDTV that typically sells for $1,600 for just $9.99. Not surprisingly, customers were quick to place orders for this steal of a TV deal.

When Best Buy realized the mistake , the company removed the offer from its website and announced that it wouldn’t honor the purchases. The company placed a recorded message to this effect on its customer service line, as well as posting messages online. Best Buy fell back on a company policy that reserves the right to “revoke offers or correct errors,” even if a credit card has already been charged.

Needless to say, disappointed customers quickly started voicing their displeasure at losing out on the TV deal of the century and at the company’s policy. They Twittered, they blogged, they wrote email.

Best Buy’s biggest mistake wasn’t the pricing error; typos happen. No, the company’s biggest mistake was missing the opportunity to engage with its customers. Instead, Best Buy hid behind company policy.

(To be fair, though, Best Buy is ahead of the curve in empowering employees to use social media for customer support with Twelpforce .)

Does this mean that every time your company makes a mistake you need to give something to your customers as compensation? No, it doesn’t. Does it mean that you have to respond to every customer who pops off with a negative comment about your company, product, or service? No, it doesn’t.

What it does mean is that you should listen to what your customers are saying and determine if you need to take action, even if it’s just acknowledging and apologizing for an error. Communication in the age of social media isn’t just about pushing out your company’s message. It’s about engaging your customers in conversation, and this dialogue affords you a great opportunity to improve your business. After all, your business is your customers.