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JULY 12, 2012
Taking a proactive approach rather than a reactive approach when your customers need to know something is usually the best way to make sure they stay satisfied. Although no one wants to be the bearer of bad news, most customers would rather be alerted prior to the problem rather than find out for themselves and not be sure of what to do.
Recently, a close friend had a cabin reserved for a weekend getaway. Upon arrival, the management company informed this friend that the reserved cabin’s power had gone out the night before due to strong storms. While the management company knew this for about twelve hours, they had neglected to let their patrons know. Instead of being alerted ahead of time and have the option for a refund, this friend spent four hours driving to the cabin, and then had to find alternate accommodations during a holiday weekend (not an easy task). Had the management company been proactive, they may have kept the business; a reschedule is better than losing the business entirely!
This is just one example of a company that did not take the time to alert their clientele of possible problems. Even if something like an outage or limited availability is possible, it is still often a better idea to share this information whenever possible. Not only will it show customers that the company cares about them, but it also takes a large burden off of the support staff who is usually inundated with calls when something goes wrong. There are many ways to alert customers to problems that may affect them; here are just a few ideas:
Newsletters: If you have enough notice of an outage, including it in a periodic newsletter to your customers is a great way to communicate. This way, they are informed of the problem while learning more about upcoming events at your company. This is something that is easy for customers to print out as a reminder if they prefer.
Email: This is a good option if you do not have as much advanced notice of the problem. You can send emails out quickly to multiple users and use an attention-grabbing subject line to make sure they read it. You can also include alternate options for them if possible during the outage or problem.
Telephone: If an outage will only affect a few customers, or if you have a small client base, use a more personal touch by calling these contacts individually. This way, you can address any questions they have and offer sincere apologies for the inconvenience.
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