CRISIS!!!
Yesterday my wife was looking at a brochure she had designed for a company that sells dental supplies. All of a sudden, her jaw dropped as her eyes noticed something. The piece, which had already been printed (thousands, that is) was missing a late change that had been requested...a change that could spell big time embarrassment for the company if not corrected. And this was a new client!
Panic, followed by frustration, and then despondency.
"What do we do now?" she cried out. The issue arose because a short power outage had undone the change she had made. To pay the re-printing cost out of pocket would have been quite a difficulty for our design and marketing company. One person's advice was that she just leave it, as the company possibly would not notice it. My concern was that if they do notice it and get upset, it would put us on the defensive and the explanation of what happened would sound like an excuse. I decided that she should contact the company outright, explain what happened and ask them what they feel the direction should be. Come out and be candid; let them know our concern is for their image, not our bottom line.
You know what? In the end they downplayed the whole thing and dismissed the possibility of us incurring the re-printing charge. At this point, the decision hasn't been made as to what they will do, but they are happy to have been alerted to the issue and have options.
I have a feeling that we will have a long relationship with this client.
RSS Feed