However, I can think of several companies I will not give my business
to because they failed to apologize for a mistake they made.
An extremely powerful approach is to apologize before your customer
knows something is wrong. Let’s say, for example, you promised deliv-
ery of a product to a customer by a specifi c date. You later learn that
the shipping of the item has been delayed. Instead of waiting for your
customer to contact you after the original delivery date has passed, take
a proactive approach and call your customer to advise her of the change.
Although you did not cause the problem, you should accept responsibil-
ity for it—after all, you are the company, in your customer’s eyes. Many
salespeople are concerned about this strategy because they fear losing
the sale. While this will happen from time to time, in most cases your
customers will appreciate your proactive approach. Plus, they will re-
spect the fact that you accepted responsibility for the situation.
Keep your apology brief. Tell your customer that you are sorry for the
mistake, and state what corrective action you plan to take. Th
en follow
through and make sure you do what you say you will. A common mistake
many people make is to apologize too much. Th
is means explaining ex-
actly what went wrong, what caused the problem, or why the situation
happened. People don’t really care about this—all they want is a solu-
tion. Here is an example:
“Mrs. Smith, I’m very sorry for the delay in getting back to you
and resolving your service issue. I have made arrangements for a
service person to contact you today to arrange a suitable time to
visit your site and correct the problem. He should be contacting
you within the hour. If, for whatever reason he doesn’t call you,
please call me immediately. My direct line is…”
SALES TIP
The next time something happens by mistake with one of your clients, take the
time to apologize, solve the problem, and follow up to make sure it was resolved
properly.
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SECRET #3