Stuff Happens — And That’s Your Opportunity to KEEP the Customer
If you think your customer relationship is going to run smoothly every single day, you are 100% wrong. Even the best, most well-run companies experience hiccups. Stuff happens—and customers know it. What they don’t tolerate is a company that ignores issues, hides them, or handles them poorly.
Here’s an example.
I spent many years in National Sales for a major foodservice distribution company that prided itself on a remarkably high level of service. And they deserved the praise. They were excellent at what they did. But excellence doesn’t eliminate errors.
When you’re dealing with more than 10,000 SKUs, multiple temperature zones (dry, fresh, frozen, refrigerated), and a customer base ranging from restaurants to hospitals to long-term care facilities, mistakes are inevitable.
My national account customers placed orders weekly, sometimes twice-weekly, with 60–80 line items and up to 200 cases of product. With 20–30 hand-picked orders going out every day and each one passing through four different sets of hands, order entry, picking, loading, and unloading, the margin for error was real.
Even with an impressive 98.5% accuracy rate, a single order could still contain 3–4 mistakes. Some we discovered before delivery. Some only surfaced once the truck doors opened. In either case, the customer had the same expectation:
Fix it—quickly, correctly, and completely, and that’s what they deserve.
This is just one industry example. Every organization, large or small, faces its own version of these challenges. The key isn’t perfection. The key is how you respond. Your response determines the stability of the relationship and whether you keep the customer for the long term.
Customers understand that “stuff happens.” They don’t care what happened or how it happened, and they most certainly don’t want to hear excuses. What they really care about is that you can solve it.
So What Are the Steps to a Satisfactory Resolution?
Below are the five steps that separate companies that keep customers from companies that lose them.
1. Do your due diligence. Get the full story first.
Before you make the call, understand exactly what happened. Verify the facts, trace the error, and determine the fastest, least disruptive solution. Customers want clarity, not excuses. When you do the work up front, you come to the conversation prepared, professional, confident, and ready to resolve the issue with minimal inconvenience.
2. Understand how the issue impacts the customer
An error can affect your customer in many ways. It affects operations, schedules, labor, inventory, and ultimately their customers. When you take a moment to consider the impact, you communicate empathy rather than indifference. Customers can feel the difference instantly. Understanding their reality positions you as a problem solver, not a victim.
3. Contact the customer immediately—full disclosure, no surprises
Nothing destroys trust faster than hiding a mistake or waiting for the customer to discover it. Calling proactively, even with bad news, as difficult and uncomfortable as it is, builds confidence. It tells the customer you’re accountable, transparent, and committed to protecting their business. Full disclosure isn’t just appreciated, it’s remembered.
4. Listen fully and understand their perspective
When you contact the customer, give them room to respond. Don’t rush. Don’t interrupt. Let them vent if needed. Listening demonstrates respect. More importantly, it helps you understand what matters most to them in that moment. Listening turns a complaint into a conversation, and conversations build relationships.
5. Agree on the solution—and then make it happen
Present your solution. Once you both align on the fix, deliver it exactly as promised. The follow-through is where trust is truly earned. A resolved issue becomes proof of reliability. And reliability is the foundation of long-term loyalty. When you handle a problem quickly and professionally, you become a reliable partner. It’s like anything else in sales: you must do it better than your competitor. Customers will often become more loyal than they were before the issue occurred.
Problems Are Opportunities
Most salespeople run from problems. They see complaints as landmines. But the reality is the opposite:
- Every problem is a chance to prove your value.
- Every complaint is a chance to build trust.
- Every hiccup is a chance to KEEP the customer.
Stuff happens, that’s a fact. But how you respond determines whether the customer stays or walks away. Long-term relationships are built in the good and difficult moments when you show your professionalism, your integrity, and your commitment to their success.
Solve the problem promptly, effectively, efficiently, and openly, and you’ll keep your customer.
