RIMtailing: Apologize to Customers for Retailing Errors

Monday, August 24, 2009

Apologize to Customers for Retailing Errors

An item you intend to sell for $1,699.99 has some digits missing from the internet price. It's being offered for $9.99. That's what happened to electronics retailer Best Buy. What happened next is a case study about apologizing for sour lemonade mistakes.

Orders flooded in over the internet. Store shoppers lined up, many clutching a printout of the online ad.
Best Buy promptly shut down order-taking for the item, posting a statement saying, "We sincerely apologize for this error and make every effort to ensure issues like this do not happen…. While we are truly embarrassed that this occurred, Best Buy will not be able to honor the $9.99 price."
Some of the purchasers who'd already gotten their order confirmations now turned their flood from sweet to sour, filling online forums with bitter complaints and threatening legal action.
Then the sweetness came from a different source. Posts appeared on those forums reading, for example, "Yeah, someone screwed up, but Best Buy carries a lot of customer good will going into this. They usually have the best prices and treat customers well." Even a fellow who started a website to protest Best Buy's withdrawal of the $9.99 offer ended up writing, "… they have received a HUGE amount of publicity over this matter. Now, they seem to be the only ones walking around with a smile on there [sic] face knowing that they have received completely FREE advertising."

Consistent with research at Stanford University, Best Buy came out of this looking so good because the stores have what is labeled as an "exciting" more than a "sincere" brand personality. What is the personality of your retail business, and what are the best ways for you to turn sour lemons into sweet lemonade when the inevitable mistakes happen?

No comments:

Post a Comment

Bruce D. Sanders, PhD

I’m a consumer behavior researcher who helps organizations and individuals improve the results of their influence initiatives. The key is putting to use what we’ve discovered about the ways in which our customers, clients, donors, patients, voters, employees and prospects find value in what we offer. I've worked with hundreds of organizations and thousands of individuals to maximize their successes and the joy in persuasion. For more information about me, please click here. To contact me, please email rimtailing@gmail.com. Welcome, and thank you for your interest in the RIMtailing blog.

Disclosure & Disclaimer

In my blog posts and tweets, I'll sometimes mention, or even recommend you consider, a specific supplier or product. I do not receive any payment from the supplier for doing this or for inquiries you make based on what I've written on this blog. However, there are cases in which I've been paid to consult with a supplier about the development or marketing of their offering. One of the reasons I think a product or service is so good is that my suggestions were implemented. This does create a potential conflict of interest, subconsciously distorting my objectivity, so be sure to check things out for yourself with that in mind.

Along with this, what I present in my blog postings does not constitute psychological, medical, legal, or business consulting services. Those of you who are my clients recognize that when I'm working directly with you, I customize my advice to your particular circumstances, often including new persuasion techniques I've not yet described on this blog and explaining what may seem to be inconsistencies among the posts. For those of you who are not my clients, please realize it is your responsibility to obtain qualified counsel when necessary to determine how the general research-based advice here applies to your situation.