PIASC Offers Advice to Fix 'Mess-ups'
A recent newsletter from the Printing Industries Association of Southern California offered some useful advice: The opportunities for mess-ups in printing are immense, ranging from “we’ll deliver a day late” to “we mailed the job with the wrong codes.”
When we discover it’s happened, job one is to tell the customer the facts immediately—in person or on the telephone not in an email. Before you pick up the phone, think about the client and the relationship so that you’ll be better prepared to respond to their questions. When the conversation begins, remember that it’s an apology not an excuse or an opportunity to blame someone else. A sincere apology up front defuses most angry responses.
You should also have a plan of correction to present: credit, rerun, etc. You may also have to deal with the possibility that the error has damaged the client’s business.