Every so often I post something that didn’t go quite as planned.
The other day we got a 3-star Google review from a client who wasn’t completely satisfied. Luckily, we have “emergency” protocols in place to handle issues like these quickly.
Here’s how it all went down:
- I receive notifications from Google each time a review is posted, so I was able to reply online within 30 minutes of the review being published.
- Notice in my response above, I gave her my direct email. This is so prospective customers reading our reviews know how seriously we take fixing issues.
- I forwarded the email to our office manager. She promptly called the customer and set a time to review their complaints. The customer was surprised that we were willing to help her fix the problem and how quickly she was contacted.
- Our supervisor inspected the job the next day. And the fix is happening this week.
What’s amazing is how thrilled the client is with us. It’s as if quickly solving her problem made her happier than she would’ve been if everything had gone smoothly.
Online reviews tend to be written by people who care about sharing their experiences with others. In my experience, they are the “connectors” – the ones who run the town Facebook page and who know all their neighbors. In other words, they are a walking billboard for your company.
Or not.
Nobody expects a company to be perfect, but nowadays, people also expect to have to push hard, make dozens of calls, and jump through hoops just to get a problem fixed. As you can see from the review, the client felt might be easier to just fix the problem herself.
Having a protocol in place that allows you and your team to respond quickly to issues is a huge competitive advantage.
So the next time a customer says, “I have a problem.”
A great answer is, “No you don’t.”
P.S. Unprompted, she updated her review to 5 stars with a full description of exactly how we fixed things. Booyah!
Hat tip to Seanna for reminding me to add “the new dinner party” link.
paigenejame.com 