JUNE 2015
2
A mistake is an opportunity
When a customer has a bad experi-
ence with a company, the custom-
er's opinion of the company (and,
presumably, the customer's busi-
ness) naturally declines. However,
research shows that if the company
fixes the error, it can not only win
back a person's good opinion, but
improve it.
We accept that companies screw
up, but we hope—but we don't
always expect—that the company
will fix things. So the companies
that do fix things tend to get more
of our loyalty than if they hadn't
messed up in the first place.
Case in point: Recently, one of
my clients hired a delivery service
to send me a package. For some
reason, the driver didn't know my
address so he didn't deliver the
package. The client's shipping per-
son called me and double-checked
my address. She said she had given
the delivery service the address,
and she would give it to them again
so the package could be delivered
the next day. I told her not to worry
about getting my signature—if I
wasn't home, the driver
could leave the package
on my porch.
The next day, I got
a strange email from a
neighbour about 20 hous-
es down from me. It said
that when she'd gotten
home from work, she
found a delivery tag
with my name on
it, on her front
door. It seems
that the deliv-
ery service
had simply
picked a random
house to deliver my
parcel to.
The note the driver left
said that I would have to travel
to the company's depot (with
appropriate identification) to
pick up my package. So the next
day, I boarded a bus to go and
get my package, a package that a
delivery service had been paid to
deliver.
When I got to the depot, I told
the woman who gave me the pack-
age what had happened.
Now here's where she could
have recouped my good opinion of
the company—and perhaps even
surpassed it. And here's where she
did not.
Administrative Assistant's Update
is published once a month by
Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd.
EDITORIAL OFFICE
v joycegrant@sympatico.ca
S (416) 656-7796
U Joyce Grant, Editor
Administrative Assistant's Update
Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd.
1 Corporate Plaza,
2075 Kennedy Road
Toronto, ON M1T 3V4
CUSTOMER SERVICE
S (416) 609-3800 (800) 387-5164
T FAX (416) 298-5082 (877) 750-9041
v carswell.customerrelations@
thomsonreuters.com
Contents copyright. All rights reserved.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd.
Contents may not be reproduced without
written permission. Brief extracts may be
made with due acknowledgement.
Annual subscription: $189.
Publications Mail Registration No. 40065782
GST# 897176350
UPDATE
Administrative
Assistant's
F R O M T H E E D I TO R
Joyce Grant
Credit: Maryna Pleshkun/Shutterstock
Continued on next page
Good-bye
It is with very mixed emotions that I sign off as editor of Administrative
Assistant's Update newsletter. After more than 18 years, this is my final
edition. The publication has changed a lot over the years, as has the
profession—the future is very bright indeed. I leave AAU in capable
hands; it will continue to be the high-quality admin resource you have
come to rely on. I wish you all the best in this wonderful profession!
