Everyone loves good news, but often it’s bad news that brings insights and growth.
Here is an actual response a small business owner received:
“On Saturday, my 8 yr old daughter and I both came in for a simple trim. We each had a different stylist cut our hair.
My daughter's hair was cut shorter than we requested and one side was cut about an inch shorter than the other side. Her bangs were never trimmed either. Because I was getting my hair cut as the same time, I didn't notice her hair cut until we came home. I brought her back the next day to have it fixed. The girl who cut her hair was off so someone else had to fix the mistake. I felt obligated to tip her.
While styling my hair the next day, I also noticed the uneven layers on my hair. One size is considerably shorter as well. I'm also disappointed because the stylist "chopped" the sides of my hair (ear length). I wanted shoulder length all around with long layers as I had it cut last time. I didn't bother to complain about mine because it's cut too short to do anything about it.
We purposely came here this weekend because my daughter is getting school pictures taken on Friday and I am getting my photo ID for work taken as well. Now we will have a lasting memory of why we won't get another hair cut at XXXXXX. The only thing we have to look forward to is our hair growing back, hopefully quickly!”
To any business owner this is like a punch in the gut. This business owner had two options, let it go or try to fix it. Here is what he did:
He contacted her, apologized, and offered to have her hair fixed. He called the salon to ensure she had absolutely no wait. He called her after her haircut and she was thrilled with her cut and amazed he took time to follow up. She then scheduled an appointment to have her hair colored and sent three referrals.
His actions saved the customer and her future purchases. Her delight led to customer referrals. He also prevented a negative review on Yelp or Google.
Everyone makes mistakes, but good people figure out a way to make up for their mistakes, if they know about them. Unfortunately, on average only 4% of unhappy customers complain and 91% simply leave and never come back.
Here are 3 ways to turn Bad News into Good News:
1 - Listen.
This seems obvious but not many businesses make it easy to communicate with them. Get a system going that is easy and convenient for you and your customers. It should come right to your phone so you can act quickly. Remember if you don't provide a way for them to vent they will do it on another site like Yelp or Google.
2- Act Quickly.
Treat your customer like you would like to be treated. Remember you are not just saving this purchase but many more in the future. Time is of the essence, contact them as soon as possible, a day later is too late.

3- Fix things.
Share your “data” with your team to prevent it from occurring again. You will be surprised how well team members accept actual customer responses. By the way, a majority of customer responses are typically very favorable…don’t forget to share those as well.
This business owner, who initially obtained his feedback system to increase referrals, now has an added priority – saving customers.
“I never would have known this woman was so upset without FeedbackWorks. Think of all the people she would have told her story to. Now she is telling a new story…how great we are!
FeedbackWorks just saved my business thousands of dollars in potential lost revenue!”
With the impact customer reviews on Yelp and Google have on your business it is critical to have your own method of hearing from your customer first so you can turn Bad News into Good News.
