How to Apologize
MarkR
Registered Users Posts: 2,099 Major grins
Dear Heroes and Andy:
It has come to my attention that "y'all", while being a friendly bunch who really, really, want to provide excellent service, don't know the proper way to apologize to a customer.
It goes like this: "I'm sorry." FULL STOP. Do not add "but," or "if." And don't try to bring your customer's feelings into this. I'm sorry FULL STOP. Then state what you understand the problem to be and what you are doing to rectify it.
Let me repeat: don't bring the customer's perceived feelings into it. "I'm sorry you don't like it" is not an apology-- it's a weird passive-aggressive non-apology that doesn't resolve anything and is only going to make people angrier.
Imagine you are a waiter in a fancy restaurant and a customer comes up to you with a bowl of soup. In the soup is a fly floating face down.
"Waiter," the customer says to you, "there's a fly in my soup, and I'm very upset by this."
How do you respond?
A. I'm sorry you're so upset by a fly in your soup.
B. I'm sorry, but you should know that only a tiny fraction of our customers have flies in their soup.
C. I'm sorry. You shouldn't have a fly in the soup. I'll talk to the chef.
It has come to my attention that "y'all", while being a friendly bunch who really, really, want to provide excellent service, don't know the proper way to apologize to a customer.
It goes like this: "I'm sorry." FULL STOP. Do not add "but," or "if." And don't try to bring your customer's feelings into this. I'm sorry FULL STOP. Then state what you understand the problem to be and what you are doing to rectify it.
Let me repeat: don't bring the customer's perceived feelings into it. "I'm sorry you don't like it" is not an apology-- it's a weird passive-aggressive non-apology that doesn't resolve anything and is only going to make people angrier.
Imagine you are a waiter in a fancy restaurant and a customer comes up to you with a bowl of soup. In the soup is a fly floating face down.
"Waiter," the customer says to you, "there's a fly in my soup, and I'm very upset by this."
How do you respond?
A. I'm sorry you're so upset by a fly in your soup.
B. I'm sorry, but you should know that only a tiny fraction of our customers have flies in their soup.
C. I'm sorry. You shouldn't have a fly in the soup. I'll talk to the chef.
0
Comments
Hi Mark, I don't work for SmugMug anymore, haven't for months.
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Yes. I know. But you still seem to reply to threads in here in some sort of official role.
Hi Mark, I'm very sorry. I have no official role at SmugMug.
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Ha! You must be loving the freedom to say what you really want these days. I can't believe we haven't seen a 10-page rant about stupid questions yet. Don't know how you did that job for so long. But I am still "staying tuned" for a lot of old promises.
Dave
No need to apologize, Andy. In fact, I'm not even sure what you are apologizing for. I'm beginning to suspect that you use "I'm sorry" as a substitute for "hello."
(Although instead of making every other post about how you have no official role at Smugmug, maybe you could just put it in your signature, or something.)
Regardless, the information in the first post of this thread is valuable to anyone in the service industry, whether you are waiting tables, selling cars, working on a help desk, or administrating a forum.
I agree!
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"Admin Emeritus"
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We're a community here and when someone is trolling, any one of us, active or "emeritus" can take action.
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So you're a moderator who doesn't moderate unless you decide to be moderating?
Just curious, since I don't venture into most of the other sections besides this one and the "Pro Support"... How many Dgrin mods are NOT SM employees?
Nearly all of Dgrin is run, and moderated, by volunteers who are NOT SmugMug Employees. There are plenty of SmugMug Employees who monitor and also participate in the SM Support Forums. And a few of those have moderator powers as well.
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Mark, I'm not going to get into a debate with you on this. I thanked you for your great post, you brought up a wonderful topic and offered great advice, which I acknowledged and strongly agree with. Thanks again!
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^^^ This!
:curtsey
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Moderator of: Location, Location, Location , Mind Your Own Business & Other Cool Shots
Wasn't trying to get into a debate, just looking for role clarity. Thanks.