Customers have choices and they’ll choose more often than not to give their money to product and service providers who respect them, offer a great customer experience and work quickly to resolve issues that arise.

I went to a local, reputable, family-owned windows and doors business to buy and install a new front storm door. Without getting into the details, everything went sideways. The bottom line was this: the door that was installed was not what we wanted. Adding insult to injury, the installer who was in my home for a few hours but didn’t respond to or engage me during the installation; he also left dirt, wood scraps and metal shavings on my carpet and porch.

The owner admitted his role in the door mistake, and I took a portion of the responsibility but I’m the one that had to initiate communications, ask questions and push to resolve the issue. The owner of the business reluctantly offered some relief but when I sought greater clarity, he went dark, failing to communicate and, when he eventually did, placed the entire burden on me, requiring payment in full.

The entire episode, though incredibly frustrating, highlighted for me some best practices when it comes to crisis communications, customer service and customer experience issues:

• When a problem occurs, own it…and quickly
• Communicate early, often, effectively; seek clarity and agreement
• Make clear to the customer what the paths are to resolution
• Work to compromise so that both you and the customer win

So, how did it all end? Well, I took the door off and gave it back to the provider, forfeiting my deposit, telling the owner he was getting no additional money from me. I then engaged another provider…and spent a lot more money…on both a storm door and a new interior door and a completely re-built frame and woodworking. I gladly wrote a bigger check for a far better customer experience and end-product.

Customers have choices.