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Internet Startups: Just tell us when you stuff up

by Saul Fleischman on April 14, 2012

Just be honest.
(We’re sick of cover-ups)

Taken from a recent Megan Berry Interview, just after her exodus from the foundering Klout:

Customers: They are the lifeline of any business. No matter what kind of business you are running, keeping your customers happy is key.

How can brands, big or small, do just that? Megan Berry, founder of LiftFive and former Senior Marketing Manager at Klout, explains to genConnect how to create a conversation with your customers and how not to piss people off:

“The first thing is to start a conversation with [customers],”Berry told genConnect. “Don’t make assumptions about what they want or what they care about. You can’t talk to everyone but you can find the key people who are the influencers in that community and find out what matters to them and what they care about as a transition happens.

So what happens when you slip up? Companies aren’t perfect so come clean to your customers; they will appreciate you even more.

“Recognizing your mistakes, stepping up and saying ‘We did X wrong and here’s how we are going to remedy it’ is great,” Berry said. “Companies are so reluctant to say when they make a mistake that consumers are just overjoyed when it happens.”

Just tell us when you stuff things up.

We notice. We will forgive you. But not when you piss on us and tell us its raining.

About Saul Fleischman

Founder of emerging social media tool sites. Bootstrapping innovation with lean startup development teams. I do project management, user experience, PR, marketing and community development.

su.pr size it! http://su.pr/1qJ7wu

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  • Zoe Alexander

    I couldn’t agree more. We offer a no-quibbles approach with our business as we know how stressful it can be dealing with a company and a personal contact through customer service not a call centre in who knows where! It is key to a successful business to follow up on every sale. We even give tracking references for all deliveries so that customers know exactly where their purchase is! One unhappy customer can cause alot of damage to a business and it is always better to come clean if a mistake or delay happens. Accurate honest info is appreciated!

    • Saul Fleischman

      Thanks for the thoughts on this, relative to call centre customer service.

  • Janet Callaway

    “Just tell us when you stuff things up.
    We notice. We will forgive you. But not when you piss on us and tell us its raining.”
    Amen. Thanks, Saul.

    • Saul Fleischman

      Thanks, @janetcallaway – lately, my patience is wearing thin with net services I have come to rely on that tend to “fudge” or pretend that there’s no problem, when there surely is.

      • Janet Callaway

        Right you are, Saul. Even a non-techie like me can tell!

  • Sandor Benko

    Yes I agree people are so sick of corporate crap. Just come clean if you’ve f’d up. ;)

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