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7 Ways Smart Companies Tell Customers “No”
August 26, 2011
A well-crafted rejection letter can deflect a customer’s anger, restore their faith in your company, even encourage them to give you another chance. But as an advocate for customers, I’ve seen rejection letters used to turn down a legitimate problem, and even to inappropriately assign blame to a customer.
That’s just wrong.
Still, I became fascinated with the best way to tell a customer “no.” I’m focusing on the written word (I’ll get to the other ways in a future post) because in an age of email and texting, the word is by far the preferred method of telling a customer you can’t do something.
- Send it soon. Most companies, as a matter of policy, respond to any written inquiry within a week, and sometimes less. (That doesn’t include the autoresponder, which unfortunately, doesn’t count.) It’s not enough. A week is too long in an “always-on” society. . .
- Be polite but firm. The best rejection letters are cordial while leaving no doubt that this is a final answer. . .
- - 7.
Photo: writer Christoper Elliott – @YourService – Bnet.com
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