Can you spot the change?

by Blair Warren

Occasionally, I hear from a customer who has had trouble downloading one of my products.

I used to respond with a note like this:

Hi X,

I apologize for the trouble.

I have reactivated the download link.  Please try it again and let me know if you’re able to download it successfully.

If not, I will try an alternative method ASAP.

Again, I apologize for the trouble and appreciate your patience.

Blair

While this usually solved the problem and left my customer happy, every so often it didn’t.  Even if the new download link worked, I could tell the customer was put off for some reason. 

Not good. 

I wondered what I was doing wrong.

Eventually I changed one sentence in my response and have noticed a dramatic improvement in the way my customers respond when these problems occur.

My new response is something like this:

Hi X,

I apologize for the trouble.

I have reactivated the download link.  Please let me know if the file downloads successfully for you.

If not, I will try an alternative method ASAP.

Again, I apologize for the trouble and appreciate your patience.

Blair

Again, I changed just one sentence.  But the change is more than mere words; it’s a change in the overall message I’m communicating.

What is it about the second message that sits better with my customers?  Any ideas?

Posted on Monday, November 17, 2008 at 08:15 AM

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