88 How to Make ’Em Like ✰
You (Even When You’ve Messed Up)
The next day, UPS delivered not only the replacement slacks, but tucked into the package was a handwritten apology and a hefty gift certificate. Would I order from that company again? You bet I would. Would I recommend their clothes to someone else? You bet I would. Top customer service folks welcome mistakes because they know it gives their firm a chance to shine. Whenever you mess up and someone suffers because of it, make sure they come out ahead, way ahead. I call the technique “My Goof, Your Gain.” Visiting an important client’s office, I once tripped on a rug and took a nose dive, making a three-point landing in a vase on her desk. My nose was spared but her vase shattered into smithereens. Two tubes of crazy glue and lots of “Where the heck does this piece go” later, the vase was back on her desk, and we agreed it looked pretty good. Nevertheless, the next day I had a messenger deliver a beautiful vase, ten times the value of the almost-totaled one, with a dozen roses in it. Whenever we speak, my client tells me every time she looks at the new vase, she smiles. (A better “incentive gift” than a pen with your name on it, no?) The next time I visit her office, my client may hide some of her more valuable breakables. But, thanks to My Goof, Your Gain, there will be a next time. 325 Copyright 2003 by Leil Lowndes. Click Here for Terms of Use.