The next time you have an angry customer (we usually get them for clients using the line of 'do X or I will contact the media!'), don't offer them any kind of inducement to forget about it. A simple apology minus the financial payment will do the job much better.
This is according to researchers at the Nottingham School of Economics / University of Nottingham (via Science Daily), who worked with a company that makes 10,000 sales a month on eBay. Some customers were offered money (either 2.5 or 5 euros) to withdraw their negative comments, while others received an apology blaming the manufacturer.
The results were clear: 45% withdrew the negative comments when they received an apology while money worked for only a quarter (23%). Interestingly, the original purchase price had no affect on whether the apology was well received or not.
According to one of the report authors Dr Johannes Abeler, "The apology was delivered by a large, anonymous firm and wasn't face-to-face...yet it still yielded much better outcomes than offering cash compensation."
Dr Abeler thinks that the simple act of saying the 's' word is enough to trigger some kind of forgiveness mechanism, "an instinct that's hard to overcome rationally."
I also wonder whether the reverse is true - offering free goods or cash may seem like you are trying to buy the customer off, something that will be perceived both as insincere, as well as perhaps making the customer think that by shouting even louder s/he can get more.
Image - Atomcity
- An education in commercialism (guardian.co.uk)
- The conformity threshold in groups: When between 30-80% of people choose something (socialmediatoday.com)
- Saying sorry really does cost nothing (scienceblog.com)
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