Devoted to small businesses and those who run them

You own a boutique clothing store. A good customer has asked you to order a dress for her. It's for a special occasion.

She phones the week before, and you assure her all is on track and it will be there in plenty of time for collection.

You even check with the supplier who confirms the shipment has been despatched.

All is well until the box arrives and is opened. They have sent the wrong size. It's time to go into customer service recovery mode.

Customer Service Recovery - What Do You Do Next? 

1. Contact the supplier immediately. See if you can have the correct item couriered up at the supplier's (or your) expense for same day or next day delivery to the customer's home

2. Or see if they can arrange to have the item couriered from a neighboring store which has the item in stock

3. Contact the customer

4. Apologize and explain what has happened and what you have arranged. It's always best to discuss a possible solution upfront.

5. Take responsibility if you want to (depends on circumstances)

6. If it's not possible to get the item in on time,  offer the customer something of value which will still solve the problem or go part way to doing so. If you ran a hotel, you would possibly give a room upgrade. What can you offer in this situation?

7. Would the customer consider choosing another dress of similar or greater value? Perhaps you could also give her a gift voucher for a future visit as a sweetener. 

Customer Service Recovery Considerations
You are running a business, so you need to be realistic about how much the customer service recovery approach costs. But you don't want to lose your customer. Think of the value of that customer long term.

Worse still, you don't want that customer spreading a bad news story about your business.

Do you have a customer service recovery policy? 

How would you turn this customer service situation around? 

© Customer Service Image courtesy of Yvonne Russell at Grow Your Writing Business.com