Happy Front-Row Friday! I’m excited to share this week’s video with you, focusing on an essential aspect of our professional and personal lives—human connection. In this episode, I discuss a recent experience that highlights both the challenges and opportunities of making meaningful connections, especially when things go wrong.
The Power of Human Connection
I firmly believe that building strong connections with our prospects, customers, family, and friends is crucial. However, as my recent encounter with FedEx Kinko’s demonstrates, failing to connect properly can lead to missed opportunities and frustration.
A Lesson from FedEx Kinko’s
I had a 118-page manual printed at FedEx Kinko’s, but when I received it, 110 pages were missing. Despite pointing out the error, I never received an apology. The manager’s attempts to connect fell flat, especially when she made assumptions about my husband’s friend who had helped with the pick-up. This experience highlighted several key points about service recovery and the importance of a genuine connection.
Key Takeaways for Better Service Recovery
Apologize Sincerely: When you make a mistake, own it. Apologize on behalf of your organization, even if the error wasn’t directly your fault. And, chances are, when a customer comes to you with a problem, there’s a good chance you are hearing it for the first time. I even wrote about this in my “Front-Row Service” book in a chapter titled, “Don’t blame the bartender”. You represent your organization. You are the face of the brand in that moment. Apologize regardless of who was responsible, even if it was a computer glitch like in today’s example.
Connect with care: Human connection is imperative. Finding the humanity in a situation is awesome. However, in your attempt to connect with your frustrated customer, make sure you come correct. This manager at FedEx Kinko’s gets points for trying to connect but in today’s example, it backfired and made it worse. (Do I really look old enough to have a 59-year-old son?) When in doubt, leave it out.
Ask what you can do to make up for the mistake. Don’t just fix the mistake—ask what you can do to make it up to the customer. I think employees don’t ask because they think the customer will ask for the moon. Not true. Studies have shown that customers appreciate the gesture and usually ask for less than what you would be willing to do to compensate for the mistake. In this example, the manager didn’t even offer! Was trust re-built? Not so much.
It’s called service recovery for a reason.
Interestingly, studies also show that effective service recovery (what an organization rep does to fix the problem on the spot) positively impacts the customer’s perception more than if no mistake had occurred at all. This is a testament to the power of genuine, empathetic service. However, don’t create a mistake and fix it to improve the view the customer has of your company! There are plenty of opportunities for service recovery.
I hope this story inspires you to foster authentic connections and handle service recovery with grace and empathy. Watch the full video to hear more about my experience and learn valuable lessons for your own interactions.
Thank you for being part of our Front-Row community. Let’s continue to strive for excellence in all our connections!
Thanks for watching,
Your Head Usher,
Marilyn
