If you have to apologize, do it right

In July, NBC Nightly News made a serious error when its graphics department apparently wiped New Hampshire off the map, literally.  On a map displayed behind the newscaster, Vermont looked like it annexed New Hampshire and New Hampshire was nowhere to be found.  Viewers, including a United States senator, were quick to point out the error and were, no doubt, justified in doing so.

The news program responded with a rare, lengthy apology.  They didn’t just tack a quick sentence onto the end of the newscast.  Instead, they explained how the error happened (graphic design), but they “made it right” by broadcasting a light-hearted list of all the things that make New Hampshire a great state.  They could have just said, “Sorry,” but instead NBC chose to 1) admit their mistake 2) explain how it happened and 3) offer “compensation” by way of broadcast airtime. Now that’s customer service!

Any business with the potential to have committed errors with their customers could learn a thing or two from this video. By turning what could have been a standard-issue apology into an over-the-top response, a business could easily make a customer for life, or at least prevent that customer from migrating elsewhere.