The Situation
It was the perfect storm. Anton’s company shipped the wrong parts to a good customer, Jeff. Unfortunately, because of a family emergency that day, Anton couldn’t be reached all morning. Jeff almost had to shut down production. When Jeff finally made contact, Anton was apologetic and quickly got the correct parts to Jeff the next morning. However, this was part of their conversation:
Jeff: | What happened yesterday? I was going crazy! |
Anton: | Really sorry about that, but no harm done, right? |
Jeff: | That’s easy for you to say. I looked like an idiot with my boss. I couldn’t even reach your assistant! |
Anton: | She was on vacation, sorry. One-in-a-million coincidence. It will never happen again. |
Jeff: | My boss was questioning your reliability. |
Anton: | Well, you can relax. You know I’ll take care of you. Look, I’ll give you a nice discount on your next order. |
Jeff: | That’s not the point! You put me in a bad position. How do I know it won’t happen again? |
Anton: | Trust me. |
Why Isn’t That Enough?
Anton was unlucky that several things went wrong at once and made Jeff feel abandoned by his supplier. However, Anton fixed the problem right away and apologized. Yet, Jeff is still upset. What would be a more Q4 engaging and appropriate response to Jeff?