It’s Not My Problem

In the entry “3 Sorrys” I explained our household rule of the 3 Sorrys: feel sorry, say sorry, and make it better. I then suggested that Customer Service organizations could do well to adopt this same practice. What I neglected to say was Customer Service organizations need to, “Make it better for me (the current customer) now.”

For example, while recently attending an event at a large retailer my children and I were told we were too late to receive the free promotional item being offered despite the fact that the two-hour event had only been taking place for an hour. The manager apologized then went on to explain that on the next conference call he was going to give “Corporate” a piece of his mind - he blamed their lack of planning for the shortage. As the customer, I’m not interested in the internal in-fighting, and you’re putting “Corporate” in their place does nothing to address the current situation. To be quite frank, I don’t care; it’s not my problem.

In this particular situation I wasn’t even looking for any type of compensation – the promotion for the event clearly stated “or until supplies last.” A simple apology would have been appreciated. However, I found it unprofessional and even offensive to have the manager vent to me about “Corporate’s” mistake.

People are most often going to analyze a situation first and foremost by how it affects them. While this may be fine for your customer, you’ve got to avoid the natural pre-disposition to assess and respond to a situation in a self-centered manor. Otherwise you run the risk of further alienating your customer. There will always be time for root-cause analysis and process improvement, but it should not take place while in the middle of a customer service recovery effort. Make it better for the customer (me) in a timely manner (now), then behind the scenes you can work to make it better for next time.