Customer Service: Email Can Make or Break Your Reputation


by Marilee Veniegas - Date: 2006-12-08 - Word Count: 649 Share This!

Email has been an integral part of the business world for the better part of a decade now. From finalizing business deals to corresponding with customers email can make or break a business's reputation. According to Forrester Research, email customer service is utilized by 54% of consumers to contact organizations for help (1). A bad email comment can take on a life of its own over the internet.

If businesses want to grow, they must take great care in preserving the relationships and trust built over the years. This includes providing courteous, prompt and relevant customer service emails. When customers and prospective clients ask a business questions or offer comments, they expect a high level of courtesy and that their comments will be addressed.

The wedding email forwarded around the world
Engaged couple Steve Hausman and Paula Brosnahan decided to decline the services of the Great Marquee Company, a provider of deluxe outdoor party tents in Auckland, New Zealand. The Groom, Mr. Hausman politely wrote:

"Paula and I went and viewed your marquee setup at Devonport... unfortunately we did not like it... thanks for your assistance and we are sorry that it turned out this way."

An expected response would be an email thanking Steve and Paula for their interest in Great Marquee and sending best wishes on their upcoming nuptials, this is not what the owner's wife Katrina Jorgensen sent to the couple. Instead, Mrs. Jorgensen decided email a scathing personal attack:

"Hi Steve. Thanks for your reply. Your wedding sounded cheap, nasty and tacky anyway, so we only ever considered you time wasters. Our marquees are for upper class clients which unfortunately you are not. Why don't you stay within your class levels and buy something from Payless Plastics instead?"

The Auckland, New Zealand based company is now digging itself out of an embarrassing and damaging situation. The couple forwarded the email exchange to a few close friends who then forwarded it on, and so on, starting what is now the latest worldwide example of what not to do when using email (2).

While it must be discouraging to have a client reject your services, office manager, Katrina Jorgensen's letter to the couple was inappropriate. The credibility of providing quality tents for events has now been wiped away with one email. Great Marquee's "cheap, nasty, tacky" email has found its way onto wedding forums, webrings and chat rooms.

Preserving Trust and Reputation
Embarrassing messages like Mrs. Jorgensen's could be averted if people simply took a moment to look over their email or read their messages out loud. What else can you do before hitting the "send" button? Don't email when you're emotional:
Mrs. Jorgensen was obviously flustered by Steve and Paula's rejection of Great Marquee's services. Her emotions negatively colored her reply correspondence. If she would have stepped away from her computer, vented and vented to a coworker the "cheap, nasty and tacky" comments wouldn't have made its way to a plethora of forums, inboxes or chat-rooms. Read emails before responding:
Former FEMA head Michael Brown's lack of acknowledging the emails content caused him much scrutiny during the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe and later the loss of his job.

Good customer service is what each business stakes its reputation on. In today's fast-paced digital landscape, a reputation can be ruined with one click of a mouse. These types of bad customer service emails can go on to plague a business for years, giving you the reputation of what not to do in eCommerce.

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End Notes:
1.) Bruce D. Temkin, "Who Uses Email and Chat for Customer Service?," Forrester Research, http://www.forrester.com, 1. 20 July, 2004.
2.) Mrs. Jorgensen's husband was forced to fire his wife due to the backlash from the "cheap, tacky and nasty" email. Great Marquee also placed an open apology of the event on its website.
3.) Daniel Hoare, ABC Australia, The World Today, "Woman sacked over abusive email to client." 21 November, 2006.


Related Tags: wedding, planning, service, email, customer, message, forwarded, rude. outdoor, tent

Marilee Veniegas is a member of the the Marketing team at Essential Security Software, Inc. the premier provider of email anti-theft software, Essential Taceo(R). She also serves as one of the ESS site editors for "I Want My ESS!" a stolen work and SMB resource site.

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