Menu Foods: Where's the Human Factor?
Recently, Jeb posted a couple reminders on good customer service—which includes keeping your customers informed of changes and owning up to mistakes when they happen. (Check them out here and here.)
The recent Menu Foods debacle is a great example of how not to handle a screw-up. I myself was a little shocked at how difficult it was to find information about the recall—including what brands I should avoid—on their web site.
Marketing Profs posted a great article on the subject today. Contributor Jeanne Bliss points to the Menu Foods saga as a missed opportunity for a number of reasons. Here's the redux:
1. Too little, too late. The recall announcement was made on March 16th—and they waited a full week before contacting customers.
2. No apology. Jeanne's right—I've seen no great public apology or outpouring of support to Menu Foods customers since this happened. Their recall FAQ page is a great illustration of that.
3. Skimping on customer service. Rather than putting enough humans in the call center to deal with their customers, they instruct customers, via the abovementioned FAQ page, on when to call...when call center volume is lowest.
4.-10. A decided lack of emotion. "People want to see a dog and cat food company share the emotional connection and emotional journey that they are going through as a result of this situation," said Bliss. "This is an opportunity to embrace and guide their customers through this tough time with action and humanity. Instead, customers are experiencing an orchestrated set of antiseptic-feeling actions that seem to have gone through the legal review process ad nauseum before being released for public consumption."
I could agree more with that last bit. When screw-ups happen and bad news must be delivered, empathy is key. Treat your customers like your own family. They're helping you feed yours, after all.
