‘It’s Better This Way’

The customer ordered a specially crafted, expensive product, providing very detailed specifications. The company assured her that they understood and would meet every one of her requirements, insisting that the product could be “tailored to meet the needs of the customer” (the sort of phrase we hear a lot lately). The contact person sounded downright proud of his company’s flexibility and professionalism.  

In practice? After a long wait, the customer received a perfectly fine product – just not at all what she asked for.  

Of course, she let the company’s contact person know about it. She may even have sounded angry.  

Very angry.  

The contact person knew full well that the product was not “tailored to meet the needs of the customer.” Perhaps he even anticipated the high-velocity invectives that came his way once that fact became apparent.  

He did not get excited, nor was he apologetic. Instead, after listening serenely to his infuriated client for a while, he said: “It’s better this way.”  

“Excuse me?” the customer said.  

“The way we did it. It’s better.”  

And then he began explaining exactly why the customer’s demands were superfluous, foolish and much less clever than what the company provided. He also let her know that she’d do well to adapt to the new product. In fact, she should thank the company for providing something even better than what she initially thought she wanted.  

It is true that sometimes we won’t meet a client’s expectations. It could be a lack of clarity, a misunderstanding or simple human error, but it happens. 

While for most of us it won’t be quite as costly as the $100 million Millennium Tower fiasco in San Francisco, the consequences can be unpleasant nonetheless.  

I assume it’s crystal clear to most of my readers that “It’s better this way” is not the brightest of moves in such a situation. Aside from being a disrespectful dig at the customer for not “getting it” and a botched attempt at saving face, it’s also stupid from a business perspective.  

Instead of an argument, an excuse or a confrontation, it’s much better to take responsibility. Admittedly, not everyone can pull off what KFC did in the UK, but apologizing and immediately investigating what can be done to rectify the unfortunate situation is the sound approach.  

First of all, it’s the honorable thing to do. Secondly, it serves your interest – possibly even more than the client’s – because it demonstrates accountability and honesty. A client who is treated with respect and feels that you are being up front with them is more likely to become a returning client and a promoter.  

Of course, prevention is better than remedy.  

One measure adopted by many successful companies and service providers to preempt such situations is documenting everything – I mean everything – and getting the customer to sign off on it. Most especially, they strive for extra precision in describing any unique tailored details in the order or project.  

Even with the best preparation, though, mistakes can happen or expectations may be misaligned, with the customer left dissatisfied. What happens then?  

As any contract lawyer will tell you, the breach clause is a basic element of any agreement. What constitutes a failure to deliver? Who decides? When? What can each side do about it? What are the potential remedies?  

It may be that a full-blown contract of this sort is not feasible (or desirable) for every short-term project. But it is important that these issues are clarified as much as possible before anything untoward happens.  

The bottom line is that clarity is often preferable to agreement, because it shapes expectations – and it’s conflicting expectations that lead to dissatisfaction. This plays out even after a screw-up. If we admit our error and address the issue, we are essentially validating the customer’s expectations and confirming our commitment to meeting them – even if we may have faltered along the way.