 Preserve
the Loyalty You Deserve
My
video duplication company has been a reliable and responsive
supplier. They should be – I have spent more than
$62,000 with them in the past few years.
I received a complaint from a customer about one of
my video programs that ‘skipped’ during
playback. I thought it was an oddity and immediately
replaced the disc. But the next month another complaint
arrived about the same situation.
I contacted the duplication company right away. They
ex-plained this problem may have affected a small number
of discs from their supply of blank stock. They apologized
profusely and promised immediate replacement. I removed
all remaining inventory from my office and warehouse
and sent the discs back – a few hundred pieces
from the most recent duplication.
Then I got a message from the company offering to replace
only ‘verified bad discs’, and not all
the discs I had returned.
What am I supposed to do, watch every disc and look
out for those that ‘skip’? Or wait for my
customers to notice the problem and complain, and then
exchange those discs one at a time? Of course not.
The better course of action is to simply – and
quickly – replace them all. I told them so in
a follow-up message.
To their credit, the duplication company responded to
my second message in an entirely appropriate manner.
They have agreed to replace all the discs promptly and
at no charge.
They also promised to put extraordinary care into my
future duplications to ensure the highest quality standards.
That’s a smart business move. It guarantees another
$62,000.
Key Learning Point
When the service
you provide jeopardizes your customer's relationship with
their customers, you need to respond with twice the speed
and twice the recovery effort. After all, now your upset
customer has upset customers!
Of course there will be costs and consequences and perhaps
some aggravation, but leap to it right away. Be the supplier
who takes immediate action to set the wrong things right.
Action Steps
Who are your customers'
customers? How do your actions as a supplier impact your
customers' customers' satisfaction? If things go wrong,
how will your response and recovery affect theirs?
Meet with your customers to discuss this on a regular
basis. Develop a clear understanding and positive action
plans. Make sure your customers, and your customers' customers,
are well served.
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