What’s your Second-Chance Customer Process?

Does your business have a formal and systematic second-chance customer process to encourage disappointed customers to provide your business with a “second-chance”?

According to a popular proverb in aviation, “There are two groups of pilots: those who have landed gear-up, and those who will land gear-up.” The lesson, of course, is that if an airplane pilot has not already landed gear-up, he or she eventually will.

Although the accuracy of this aviation axiom is questionable, one thing is certain: All businesses — including ours and yours — have either landed, or will land, “gear-up” by providing mediocre, if not poor, customer service. In many cases, fortunately, our “gear-up” customer service landing causes minimal damage; in other cases, however, our “gear-up” customer service landing sparks so much damage that we risk losing the customer.

And the risk is very real. According to research, 91% of unhappy customers will not willingly do business with a company again. Think about that for a moment: 9 out of 10 disappointed customers won’t be back to your business following a “gear-up” customer service landing, which is why your business needs a formal and systematic second-chance customer process.

What’s a second-chance customer? A second-chance customer is a customer who, although disappointed, is nevertheless willing to return to your business to give it a second-chance. A second-chance customer process, then, is the procedure your business uses to persuade the disappointed customer to return to your business. Notably, the process also encompasses procedures to ensure that the second-chance visit is smooth.

A strong second-chance customer process has five distinct traits that any business, including yours, may use:

• A second-chance customer process is formal and systematic, which means that the process is not only well documented and periodically reviewed for continuous quality improvement, but it is also included in your employee customer service training program. In other words, each employee of your business should know the second-chance customer process in detail.

• A second-chance customer process is empowering, which means that each employee of your business — regardless of job title, job function, or job description — possesses broad discretion to use the process on any disappointed customer. That is, each employee in your business possesses broad authority to provide any disappointed customer with an incentive — such as a gift certificate or discount coupon — to give your business a second chance.

• A second-chance customer process relies on visual signals, which means that your business uses color codes to identify a second-chance customer. For example, if your business designates gold as the color signifying a second-chance customer, the customer’s gift certificate, discount coupon, work order, lunch menu, sales invoice, and so on, will appear in gold. Consequently, once observing the gold color, your employees will know that the customer is a second-chance customer.

• A second-chance customer process invites the customer to return. The disappointed customer is encouraged to return and, even more importantly, is instructed to provide the gift certificate or discount coupon as soon as he or she enters your business. Remember the color codes? This process ensures that the customer is identified as a second-chance customer as soon as possible. For example, if your business is a restaurant, your greeter should be trained to place the color-coded gift certificate or discount coupon on the customer’s table so that everyone else in the restaurant — servers, managers, and bus persons — knows that the customer is a second-chance customer.

• A second chance customer process involves follow through, which means that after the second-chance customer’s return, your business follows through with the customer to ensure that his or her second-chance visit was smooth. If possible, the follow through should occur either in-person or over the phone.

Remember that your goal with respect to a “second-chance” customer is twofold:

• first, to encourage the disappointed customer to return; and

• second, to ensure that once the customer returns, each employee identifies the customer as a second-chance customer and provides the customer with exceptional customer service.

This week, take a moment to review your second-chance customer process. If your business doesn’t have such a process, or if your process is not as formal or systematic as it should be, consider using the strategies in this email to create and implement your process, which will ensure that any future “gear-up” customer service landing causes only minimal damage.

Have a “customerific” week!

Mark