We do alot of vendor relationship/project management and negotiation on behalf of our clients, and we also advise on PR matters from time to time as it relates to technology.
One of the most tried and true principals in PR, reputation management, and negotiation is that in almost every case where a mistake is made (I am not referring to malicious acts, gross negligence etc.), it is best to:
- Acknowledge and Apologize
- Take corrective action and disclose why/how the actions will prevent a recurrence
- To the extent possible, offer some compensation/consideration in light of the mistake and (here comes the important part (do it even if your agreements don't require it). An apology and a gesture are not signs of weakness in the client/service provider relationship.
GoDaddy's reputation has been volatile over time. Some folks like their hosting, others hate it. Some folks like their Domain Regisration and DNS services, others not so much. We don't have many clients with accounts with them, and those that did are not mission-critical.
I just returned to my desk to see an Email from GoDaddy that contained
- An Apology for it's recent outage - A+
- An acceptance of responsibility and admission that troubles on their own network corrupted their system - A (points off for describing them as 'network events'
- Assurance that steps have been taken to prevent the problem in the future - B (no specifics offered
- An offer of 30% off future purchases in recognition of the problem - F
Here's the text:
As a result of this disruption, you will receive 30% off any new product or renewal.* This offer will be available to you for the next 7 days. Simply place source code Apology4a in your cart or mention the code when you call 480-505-8877.
Why F? Well, as any GoDaddy customer knows, this company has turned the art of 'bundling' and add-on sales in a high art. I have grudgingly had to admire how well the not-so-subtle upsell is handled. And, we often get marketing emails offering us discounts on future purchases.
But. to simply offer yet-another-incentive-program - (with a 7 day limit!!!) while apologizing for a very significant failure, is in our opinion, far worse than not offering any consideration at all.
I have no insight into the corporate culture at GoDaddy - like most people, I just see their ads on TV. But to essentially go from "please forgive us" to trying to pass off normal marketing incentives as part of the apology is, in our opinion, a badly bungled bungle-recovery.
I wouldn't advise them to have offered a 30% fee reduction in perpetuity for current service recommendations, or other drastic things. But the apology and offer should fit the mistake. A percentage off the current billing cycle when the even occurred would certainly have taken more work to put together and manage, but it would have shown the desire to take responsibility on what occurred. That alone usually suffices to re-build consumer confidence.
As trusted advisers we are often asked to pass judgement. However, we also believe in redemption. I would urge GoDaddy to reconsider the consideration in its apology, and would encourage other customers to urge them as well.
Effectively Yours,
CTG
