What do your salespeople know to do when something goes wrong?   As a manager, is it your “policy” to get involved in every act of service recovery with a client, or do you allow your people to think on their own? 

I had a situation on one of my Webinars this week where two people had very bad experiences — technical stuff that was totally out of my control. Both were brand new clients, and I made an awful first impression.  They were both angry at first, each sending me not-so-nicely-worded E-mails about how much trouble they went through to get their staffs together, etc.   It was NOT a pretty picture.

Since I’m in charge, I had the authority to make good on the situation.  I immediately contacted each of them, told them they’d be getting their money back, AND that I’d be doing the very same program for them 1-on-1 via conference call at no charge, at a time that suited THEM best. 
 
Both were very grateful, commented about the speed to which I addressed the problem (within the hour!), and were willing to overlook the issues that happened. They’re both rescheduled now for individual times, and are looking forward to it.

Yes, I’m going to be out some additional time on my part, and for something that was completely out of my control.  I’m willing to sacrifice that for the sake of a client relationship.  Without the ability to react immediately, I would have lost that window of opportunity to actually “Wow” someone with my response.  

If your salespeople have to run back to get your approval before they can offer restitution, it may be too late to make the very best impression.   When your people make mistakes — which they will! – give them the authority to make it right, to whatever limits are appropriate.  You hired them for their ability to represent you well; make sure they’re trained to represent you correctly when things aren’t so well. 

  – Bill Guertin is CEO (Chief Enthusiasm Officer) of The 800-Pound Gorilla, a sales performance improvement company based in suburban Chicago, IL whose list of clients includes professional sports teams in the NBA, NFL, NHL, Major League Baseball, and Major League Soccer.  Learn more about Bill at www.The800PoundGorilla.com, or follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/800poundgorilla.

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