Researchers at IMED Business School in Brazil, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven find that an apology for the service failure and a promise it won’t happen again are both effective in recovering trust after a double deviation. But the timing of each influences the effectiveness. An apology, which is seen by the victim as demonstrating integrity, best comes promptly. A promise, seen as a sign of competence, best comes a few weeks after the incident. Perhaps this is because a credible promise requires gathering information about what occurred and what will work to correct the problem. The researchers found that issuing a promise a day or two after the double deviation has worse effects on customer good will than does not issuing a promise at all.
Keep your promises, but this might require modifying those promises. When there are changes in what you can deliver, tell the customer. In any case, notify the complaining customer of what you’ve done. You’ve only one chance to make a good first impression, but you can avoid the damage from a bad first impression.
Issuing a promise after some time has passed probably requires you to reach out to a customer you’ve not seen for a while. If the customer had decided to stop doing business with you because of the double deviation, your reaching out demonstrates your interest in winning them back. Is this personalized touch worth it? Yes, say researchers at Georgia State University, at least for customers who, prior to the double deviation, had expressed high satisfaction with you or had recommended you to others. Prioritize those defectors.
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