Page 67 - 100 Great Marketing Ideas (100 Great Ideas)

in: they are not really angry with the company, and certainly not
with the “save” rep. The next stage is to work out what the actual
problem is—where the service has gone wrong, in other words. For
example, a customer whose calls keep being disconnected probably
has a problem with the telephone rather than with the network, so
reps are empowered to send out a new telephone to see if that will
fix the problem.
The next step is to follow up a few days later. This is essential—if
the problem still persists, the almost-defected customer will in fact
defect permanently, rather than call back again. It is easy to assume
that the problem is now fixed simply because the customer doesn’t
call back, but it is often the case that the customer has fixed the
problem themselves by going to one of your competitors!

In practice

• Let the customer vent their feelings—and don’t take

it personally.

• Find out calmly what the root of the problem is, and offer

a solution.

• Follow up afterward to check that the problem has been solved—

don’t assume it’s all OK just because the customer didn’t come
back to complain again.

• Try to ensure that the same problem doesn’t happen again for

another customer.

58 • 100 GREAT MARKETING IDEAS