We’ve all had a bad experience with a company before. And unless you are like my brother’s college roommate (who actually got a free round trip ticket on United because he made such a fuss when his seat was occupied) you probably deal with your terrible experience and harbor bad feelings about it ad infinitum.

The truth is most people who have a bad experience with you won’t complain, but you will lose their business and probably gain some nasty word of mouth. (The average disgruntled customer tells nine other people.)

This statistic just reminded me how important it is for all of us in a service industry to value our current customers and ensure their positive experience. And if something negative occurs, do our best to fix the situation immediately.