Assume a customer has a very positive and memorable experience with you.  The experience somehow exceeded his expectations, whatever they were.  Perhaps the waiter was more attentive than expected, or the price was better than expected, or he received an immediate return phone call with a resolution to his problem. 

How many people will he tell about that experience?  Given the fact that service that exceeds expectations is quite rare, I would suggest that he will tell everyone he knows.  Positive word-of-mouth referrals will exceed the success of your marketing program every time.  Satisfied customers will provide a limitless number of referrals for an organization.  But just remember, the opposite of this is also true. 

Think about a time when a company exceeded or failed to meet your expectations.  How many people did you tell?

With any organization, there will be times when their service level leaves the customer feeling dissatisfied.  We all expect that their will be some problems, the true test of the company is how they respond to those problems. 

Step 1 - The Apology
Let the customer know that you are very sorry that the product didn't meet their expectations, wasn't delivered on time, fell apart, or was missing parts.  It is not the customer’s problem, it’s yours.  Simply apologize sincerely for not meeting their needs, and offer to do what it takes to make it right for their complete satisfaction.

Step 2 - Make it Right
Probe and explore with the customer what "making it right" means for them.  At this point in the service recovery process most customers will have appreciated your interest in their satisfaction and will come to terms with what they require to 'make it right.'  Getting to this point may in itself be a 'wow' factor for many people... but there is more..

Step 3 - The Wow Factor!
This is a mandatory step in service recovery.  You have apologized, taken full accountability for your problem, explored and agreed with the customer on how to make it right to their complete satisfaction.  It's about whatever it takes, in this situation, to demonstrate to the customer that you are accountable for their complete satisfaction, you value them as your customer, you have pride in the products and services you provide, you regret the inconvenience you have caused them and ... you care.

Tomorrow I will tell you about a great customer service experience I recently had.