Reilly Newman | Your audience having not-so-great experiences with your business can lead to a very slippery slope for your brand.
These poor experiences change the perception of your business in a very drastic way because, unlike positive or neutral events, negative ones stand out much more to the human brain. This means that as your audience enjoys your brand, a negative experience could tarnish all of those good times.
The simple rule to remember is that negative events are more powerful than neutral or even positive ones. We overvalue negative events because this is how we learn. On a basic survival level, if we get burned by a flame or betrayed by a friend, these events are emphasized in our minds so we learn and survive. This bias is engrained in us. So we naturally apply the same pattern to brand experiences.
A business can’t control all scenarios at all times. Inevitably, some poor experiences and impressions are bound to happen. Fortunately for businesses, there is a remedy to a poor experience. This remedy has been called the “Service Recovery Paradox” (SRP) and is summed up as “The paradox (SRP) occurs when a customer’s post-recovery satisfaction exceeds their satisfaction level before the poor experience.” Essentially, if your brand is able to overdeliver and exceed expectations after the poor experience, then the customer will actually view the brand in a better light than before the incident. This effect hinges on your ability to quickly respond empathetically and effectively to resolve the problem.
So even if a poor experience happens, the brand has a great opportunity to redeem itself and increase its preferability and loyalty in the eyes of the buyer. This is done best when a negative incident happens and the business can quickly swoop in, recover the experience, and exceed the expectations of the impacted customer. Great brands like In-N-Out, Starbucks, Costco, Amazon, and Disney do a fantastic job with this when a bad experience happens. Just as Starbucks and In-N-Out will simply replace your meal or drink if it is incorrect, they quickly remedy the issue at no cost to the customer. I even remember when Starbucks used to hand out an additional “Free Drink” cards as well. Costco and Amazon make returns a snap if the product is unsatisfactory. Disneyland deals with everything from sicknesses, fights, and even bomb threats usually without the majority of guests knowing by properly handling these events quickly – and with grace. This is before they turn into very negative situations. When a poor experience does happen (like when a ride breaks down), Disneyland is quick to work on the ride and give those in line a free pass for a different ride. It recovers the experience plus gives them an additional perk. That over reciprocity exceeded the customers expectations and the brand recovers through the Service Recovery Paradox.
These are all “long term” plays for a brand that do take immediate sacrifice, but lead to a better brand experience. These experiences improve the overall relationship and increase customer loyalty, trust, and retention for the brand. How you handle a negative experience will shape your brand and either grow more loyal customers to it or leave them wanting to repel from it.
