We’d all like a little more truth in our lives, and our customers are no different. When things go wrong or mistakes are made, what customers really want to know is that someone is going to take ownership and not pass the buck. And they want to get this information in a way that is timely.
Which means most times all you have to do to restore a customer experience that’s going badly is to stop, apologize and tell the truth. It takes a few seconds and it’s often all that’s required to diffuse distracting anger and get customers focused in a solutions-driven conversation.
Here are two modes of apologizing we teach at Leadership IQ. And it’s critical here that your delivery is both timely and sincere.
When you don’t know if you’re at fault: “I’m so sorry you experienced this. Here’s what we’re doing______.”
When you know you’re at fault: “I’m so sorry. I made a mistake, it was my fault. Here’s what happened______ and here’s how it’s being fixed_____.”
It’s that simple. And it’s an easy script that leaders can teach employees to start using right now.
Attend our webinar to learn more secrets of great customer service.
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Mark Murphy, CEO of Leadership IQ
An expert in aligning goals and people to create thriving organizations, Mark leads one of the world’s largest studies on leadership and employee engagement.
Mark’s award-winning work has been featured numerous times in publications including The Wall St. Journal, Fortune, Forbes, Bloomberg BusinessWeek and the Washington Post. His media appearances include CBS News Sunday Morning, ABC’s 20/20, Fox Business News and NPR. Mark has lectured at Harvard Business School, Yale University, University of Rochester and University of Florida. Mark is the author of five books including the McGraw-Hill international bestsellers, Hundred Percenters: Challenge Your People to Give It Their All and They’ll Give You Even More and Hard Goals. Mark’s most recent book, Hiring for Attitude, reflects the team’s latest research and insight into how hiring decisions can align with engagement goals and culture characteristics.
Leadership IQ’s turnaround, culture change, and performance enhancement through employee engagement work has been recognized in a diverse set of industries including healthcare, financial services, energy, manufacturing, logistics, and hospitality. From his roots as a turnaround specialist, Mark created Leadership IQ to address problems in performance before they hit the bottom line.
