Every Interaction Counts

Recently, I received an email prompt from a service provider that my bill was available for payment. In a free moment, I went to the site to pay. Here is what I found (the name has been changed to protect the clueless):

“We are enhancing your online experience, and BigTelecom.com is temporarily unavailable.

If you need immediate assistance, please contact BigTelecom at 555-555-5555.

During this time, hold times may be longer than usual.”

Really? Really?

I come at your invitation to pay you and this is the best you can do?

You don’t let me connect in the middle of the day.

And if I call, I can expect to wait even longer than normal. Swell. I can hardly wait for more enhancements.

How about just saying what’s going on and making it right? Something like:

“We’re sorry. We’re working on making the experience of connecting to BigTelecom even better, but to do that we have to take the system offline for a bit. We should be back by ___________. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.

You can still reach us by phone. We’ve added extra operators to handle your questions, concerns, orders and payments. Even so, you may experience longer wait times than normal.

When we are once again online, please use the promo code OURBAD for a five dollar discount for any purchase.

Again, we apologize for the inconvenience and hope you enjoy the upgrade when it goes live soon.”

In other words, show your customers you care—and that you recognize when you’ve inconvenienced them. Those actions speak louder than words.