If you’ve been in business for any extended period of time, you know that you’re not going to satisfy every customer. Occasionally, a customer is going to get ticked off at you. They might threaten to stop doing business with you, or they may go online and say some nasty things about your company. The situation might have been caused by a mistake you or someone at your company made. Or it could have been caused by something that was totally out of your control.

While I don’t subscribe to the theory that the customer is always right, I do believe there are many instances where your best play is to apologize and try to smooth things over with the customer. And because you only get one chance to apologize (and you can’t apologize for a bad apology, Larry David), you have to make sure you get the apology right.

Here are some helpful tips for apologizing to a customer.

• Don’t blame others—Customers hate it when companies try to pass the buck. Even if you’re not directly responsible for the mistake, you need to take full responsibility and give a sincere apology. Playing the blame game will only upset the customer more.
• Don’t add a “but”—You can’t say “We apologize, but…” and expect the customer to accept your apology. Swallow your pride, apologize, and move forward. A half-hearted apology is often worse than no apology at all.
• Be prompt—Don’t wait until it’s too late to apologize. You have to take swift action when a customer is angry at your company. The longer you wait, the angrier they get and the harder it gets to win the customer back.
• Make sure you actually apologize—Apologizing means using words like “sorry” and “apologize.” Too many times, people are afraid to fully apologize because they think that admitting guilt will harm their reputation. But the reality is that you have to fully apologize in order for the customer to get over their anger and resentment toward your brand. An effective apology can restore that relationship.

Have you ever had to apologize to a customer? How did you handle it?

No company is immune to the risk of a PR crisis. From BP to Toyota, we’ve seen some major brands take huge blows to their reputations over the past few years. While you might not find yourself facing a crisis that garners as much attention as those previously mentioned, your brand’s reputation could still take a serious blow that puts your company’s future at risk.

Here’s what you need to do when the worst happens.

• Act swiftly—The longer you wait to respond to the crisis at hand, the worse it will get. You can’t just bury your head in the sand and pretend nothing is wrong. You have to jump on the problem immediately to minimize the damage and gain control of the situation.
• Admit fault—Why do so many people hate corporations? It’s because corporations rarely take responsibility for their actions. They point fingers at others any time a problem arises, killing any goodwill they might have had with their customers. There comes a time where you just have to swallow your pride, step up to the plate, and admit you made a mistake. A sincere apology can go a long way to recovering your reputation.
• Correct the problem and take measures to prevent it from happening again—Just saying your sorry isn’t going to cut it if you make the same mistake again and again. You have to identify the source of the problem and take major steps to correct it and keep it from ever happening again.
• Go above and beyond to make things right—It’s important that you take the necessary steps to make things right with anyone you may have wronged. But rather than doing just enough to make it right, go above and beyond what’s expected to show your commitment to rebuilding the relationship.
• Don’t give up—Repairing your reputation is going to take time. Think about it like this. When someone you know does something horrible to you, do you repair that relationship overnight? Not usually. It takes time for them to win back your trust. The same goes for when your company gets caught in a scandal. You have to keep working to win back the trust of your customers. Just look at BP. They’re still running ads trying to recover from damage done to their brand after the oil spill disaster.

What other tips would you add? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

One of the biggest ongoing battles your company will fight is winning the trust of customers. Consumers have become more skeptical of companies than ever before. They know that the web is full of shady businesses, so their first instinct is to call “B.S.” on any company they aren’t familiar with.

What can you do to gain the trust of customers? Here are some tips to help you gain the upper hand in this never-ending battle.

• Ask your satisfied customers for testimonials—Customers don’t trust you, but they do trust your customers. If they see that other consumers have had positive experiences when dealing with your company, they’ll feel more at ease doing business with you. But you can’t always expect your satisfied customers to brag about your company. You need to be proactive and ask them if they’d be interested in submitting a testimonial about their experience.
• Encourage customers to review you—Many customers now turn to independent review websites, like Yelp and Angie’s List, to research companies before doing business with them. These websites can make or break your reputation, so you need to kindly encourage your customers to review your company. Remember, you can’t bribe them to submit reviews or tell them to leave a positive review. Just ask them to leave honest feedback about their experience.
• Display your credentials proudly—If you have strong credentials and professional affiliations, your credibility will instantly increase. Post these affiliations and credentials prominently on your website and marketing materials.
• Never promise what you can’t deliver—If you lie to a customer only once, they’ll likely never trust you again. Never promise what you can’t deliver. If you tell them you’re going to do something, do it. In fact, go above and beyond what you promise so they’ll take notice and tell others.
• Be transparent and authentic—People trust people, not companies. That’s why it’s important that you build personal relationships with your customers. Be open with them. Be yourself. Connect with them on social networking websites, and make yourself available to talk to your customers. This will earn you that trust you desire.

What are some other tips you have for companies looking to earn trust from their customers?

I’ve been a freelance copywriter for about 3 or 4 years now, and I’m still learning valuable business lessons on a regular basis. Last year, I learned a number of important lessons that have helped me grow my business, better serve my clients, and be better at everything I do.

Here are the 5 biggest business lessons I learned in 2011. After you’re done reading them, I’d love for you to comment and share some of the important things you discovered last year.

1. Even the most satisfied clients require nurturing—Customer relationship management is very important to running a successful business. It’s so much easier and more profitable to keep your current clients happy than it is to try to find new clients. When you think about keeping clients loyal, it’s only natural to focus your attention on strengthening your weakest relationships. However, you have to remember that a client who is happy right now may not be happy one month from now. Every client needs attention. Even the ones who you think will never leave you.
2. Giving up control can be a good thing—When it comes to my business, I’ve always been something of a control freak. I’ve been wary of turning to others for help, outsourcing certain menial tasks, or letting go of any power over my business. But I finally had a revelation. If I want my business to grow, I’m going to have to give up some control and trust others to help me. I started doing so in the latter half of 2011 with some great results.
3. It’s about value, not price—Will there always be price shoppers? Of course. But for the most part, price isn’t that important. It’s the value you provide. Your products and services can be more expensive than the competition’s as long as you do a clear job of showing what they’re still a better value at that price point.
4. Some clients will never be happy—Let’s face it. There are certain clients who just want to complain. No matter how far backwards you bend over for them, they’re still going to be angry. Avoid doing business with this type of client at all costs.
5. The competition is always improving—Your competitors are always getting better. Their services are improving, and they’re always adding new services and features. That means you have to keep getting better too. You have to always be pushing forward, finding new ways to improve the quality of the services you provide for your clients.

What business lessons did you learn in 2011?

Look, you might never find yourself in the middle of a PR crisis as bad as the ones faced by the likes of BP and Toyota, but just because you’re a small business doesn’t mean you’re immune to controversy. You never know when you could find yourself in hot water, and if you don’t respond properly, the problem will worsen and your credibility could be irrevocably shot to pieces.

Here are a few of the mistakes companies often make during a PR crisis that can cause their customers to stop trusting them.

1. Take too long to issue a response—Waiting too long to issue a response during a PR crisis looks suspicious. You can’t just stay silent and hope that the problem will magically go away. It won’t It will only get worse because your customers will assume that you’re hiding something, and  since you’re not out there telling your side of the story, they’ll have no other choice than to believe what they’re hearing about you.
2. Lie or conceal the truth—Unfortunately, the general public has been trained to believe that most companies can’t be trusted. Too many corporations flat out lie or try to hide the truth. Be better than that. If you’ve made a mistake, admit it and issue a sincere apology.
3. Not offer a plan for fixing the problem—The public can be more forgiving than you might think, but they need to be reassured that you won’t make the same mistakes again. If you want to keep their trust, you need to have a clear plan for resolving the issue and preventing it from happening again.

Have you ever found yourself in the middle of a PR disaster? How did you handle it?

In most cases, press release distribution consists of sending the press release to a list of reporters and publishing it on a few directories across the web. You might be surprised to know that there are many more things you can do to get more from your press releases.

Here are just 3 easy ways to repurpose and spread your press releases even further.

1. Post them on your website—If your company has regular news updates, you may want to create a dedicated news room on your website. Not only will this keep customers and prospects up to date, but it also creates a place where reporters can come to learn more about your company.
2. Spin them into articles—Is article marketing as effective as it used to be? Probably not, but when used in conjunction with other online marketing strategies, I still believe it has something to offer. Most press releases can be spun into articles fairly easily, requiring only a few slight tweaks.
3. Send them to your clients and prospects—Show your clients and prospects that your company is relevant and in the news by sending them your press releases via email (newsletters) and direct mail. As John Jantsch notes in Duct Tape Marketing, “With the blur of information coming to us everyday, people can no longer keep track of what they saw where. Over time, your press releases will become media coverage to your readers.”

Do you still use press releases to get attention for your company? What are some of your best press release tactics?

I believe there’s no information more integral to a company’s success than customer feedback. Every business can benefit by taking the time to listen to its customers, so they can discover what their customers really care about and how they can do a better job of satisfying them.

Unfortunately, most businesses only seek out positive feedback from their customers…the type of feedback they can use as testimonials on their marketing materials…they type of feedback they can use to pat themselves on the back and stroke their egos.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s important to get positive feedback from your customers. You need to know what it is about your company that truly appeals to your target audience. That’s valuable information.

But the more important question to be asking your customers is “What did you not like about your experience with our company?”

To me, negative feedback is the most valuable information there is. That’s the kind of feedback that keeps you growing. That’s the kind of feedback that lets you find your company’s weaknesses so you can work on turning them into strengths. That’s the kind of feedback that your company can use to turn itself into a powerhouse that crushes the competition.

Remember, every part of the customer’s experience matters, and while they might not make a fuss about your company’s billing process being confusing or your hold times on the phone being longer than they’d like, it still influences how they feel about you. It’s all part of your branding and marketing efforts, and by digging to discover what things customers don’t like about your company—no matter how big or small—you can constantly improve the experience they have with your brand.

So, next time you start to seek feedback from your customers, don’t forget to ask them “What did you not like about your experience with our company?”

And more importantly, don’t forget to act on that information.

The About Us page is essential for every business website. It allows customers to learn more about your company, which is a key part to gaining their trust and, in turn, their business.

But let’s face it—most About Us pages suck. They’re filler pages, serving no true purpose. It’s like they were put together and thrown on the website as an afterthought.

Why do most About Us pages suck? Here are 3 common problems I see.

1. They lack personality—It’s painful how boring and stiff most About Us pages are. They read as if they were written by the company’s legal department (read: robots) rather than by an actual human being (nothing against you legal types). Your About Us page should let people see the human side of your company. It should reflect your passion and personality.
2. They’re thinly-disguised sales pitches—Customers aren’t reading your About Us page because they want to read another advertisement. They want to know about your company. They want to know who you are and what your story is.
3. They ignore the customer—Yes, your About Us page is the place you can talk about yourself. But don’t be so focused on your company that you forget about the customer. Everything needs to be presented in a way that engages the customer and reminds them what’s in it for them.

Take a look at your About Us page. Does it do a good job of capturing what your company is really about?

I firmly believe that a sound public relations strategy should be a part of every company’s overall marketing efforts. Yes, it’s important to invest time and money in online (and even offline) marketing, but you shouldn’t ignore the value of getting press coverage for your company, whether it be an interview on a blog, a quote in the newspaper, or a feature on the news.

Here are 5 good reasons your company needs to spend more time and energy on PR.

1. It costs very little—PR yields an amazing return on investment when you think about. Compare the cost of distributing a press release that lands you coverage in a magazine or on a blog to the price of buying ad space in the same publications. However, don’t think that simply sending out a press release one time will get you a load of media coverage.
2. Press coverage builds credibility—People have grown resistant to advertising and marketing. They just don’t trust what companies say, but when they see your company getting positive coverage from the media, they’re likelier to believe the claims are true.
3. You build deeper connections with your target market—A good news story about your company allows customers to connect with your company on a deeper level than they can with traditional advertisements. It puts your company in a different, more personal light.
4. It’s good for SEO—PR and SEO go hand-in-hand. And I’m not just talking about publishing press releases on various directories. Getting coverage on blogs and other websites can be helpful for building links and improving your search rankings.
5. Reusable marketing content—You can often repost and repurpose media coverage your brand has received. You might even be able to use “As seen on (insert media outlet here)…” in some of your marketing and advertising materials to further boost your credibility.

How much time and energy does your company put into PR?

A constant mistake I see companies make is over-tinkering with their brand. Companies are always coming up with new reasons that they need to change their brands. The market is changing. Customers expect something different. Or…it’s just been a long time since we’ve done anything with the brand.

The truth is that brand shouldn’t change. Yes, times change and it’s important that your brand stays relevant, but that doesn’t require a complete overhaul. Brands should only be tweaked slightly to maintain relevance in the current marketplace. Their basic characteristics and message behind the brand shouldn’t change significantly.

Why?

Because consistency is how brands are built. Your customers can’t connect with your brand if it’s always changing. They won’t know who you are or what you stand for. And more importantly, a brand that’s always changing will never earn the customer’s trust.

Think about it like this. You meet a new person. The two of you get a long great. You like the same things, stand for the same values, etc. Then, you go to hang out with the same person a week later, and they’re completely different. They look different, talk different, believe different things…they’re not the same person. You wouldn’t feel the same about them anymore, would you?

Successful brands aren’t built overnight. They take years, even decades to build. And they’re built through consistency. Through years of consistent messaging, customers start to connect with brands and build relationships with them.

Consider Lexus. The brand has been a leader in luxury vehicles for years. Their branding hasn’t changed significantly the entire time. They’ve always stood for luxury and innovation. The endless pursuit of perfection.

It might seem boring that the brand has stayed the same, but that’s what works. When consumers want a luxury vehicle, they’re going to likely at least consider getting a Lexus.

If Lexus were to suddenly start releasing cheap cars for the average person, their brand would be diluted. Consumers would be confused, and the Lexus brand would inevitably suffer.

Consistency is the key to building your brand. Never forget that. And never change just for the sake of changing.