A Simple Apology Can Spare You a Lawsuit
By Debra Schmidt
Customer retention involves more than delivering great
service, it impacts the bottom line. According to an article in
MedServ Medical News,a new coalition of patients, attorneys,
doctors and hospital administrators across the nation have come up
with an idea to keep liability costs and medical errors down at the
same time. The idea is working so well that it is reducing the
number of lawsuits. What’s their great idea? It is simply an
apology.
The group is called the Sorry Works! Coalition. Its members
describe the idea like this:
-Hospitals and physicians review every adverse incident.
-Hospital administrators and physicians sit down with patients
and families to explain what happened.
-The hospital and doctor apologize if a mistake was made and
offer the patient or family fair compensation if the investigation
finds that there was a medical error. They also explain how the
problem will be corrected.
When it comes to medical errors, patients consider some
circumstances more forgivable than others. According to a survey in
the January issue of The American Journal of Managed Care, here is
what 958 people had to say about how likely they were to forgive a
physician under these circumstances:
Physician was tired or distracted:
- 6% Would forgive
- 27% Might forgive
- 68% Would not forgive
Physician wasn’t thorough in the examination or in
talking with the patient:
- 3% Would forgive
- 22% Might forgive
- 76% Would not forgive
Apologizing to customers for mistakes is important and
necessary, but apologies are not free passes for providing bad
service. A business needs to recognize when it does deliver poor
customer service and be able to correct problems when they occur.
Apologizing is part of this recovery process. However, in order to
retain customers, a company has to prove it can provide good
service on a regular basis, with mistakes being the exception
rather than the standard operating procedure. Having to apologize
too much is an indication that there are larger problems that need
correcting.
You can actually increase customer loyalty even with angry
customers. Here’s what to do when a customer complains:
• Make no excuses while you are listening to a customer
complaint. Hear them out and accept that their perception of the
event is very real.
• Address each and every issue and concern raised by
your customers. Don’t ignore a complaint because you
don’t think it’s important or you think the customer is
wrong.
• Don’t make amends by just providing the original
product or service. Exceed customer expectations by offering them
more. Starbucks has a policy that if a customer is dissatisfied
with their coffee or has to wait too long, they get a certificate
for a free drink on their next visit.
• If your email or voicemail says you will get back to
your customer within 24 hours, do it, or change your message. When
you make a promise—keep it.
• Don’t try to save money by arguing with a
customer. You’ll save the company considerably more by
focusing on keeping existing customers and building positive,
long-term relationships with them.
Customers are fragile. Let one drop and you break a profitable
relationship. Great customer service starts with you. Don’t
preach it to others—live it. Do what it takes to get your
customers to want to continue doing business with your company.
Apologies are easy when you recognize their lasting value to your
customer, your company and your job stability.
