How to deliver bad news and stay alive?

In many customer situations, our ability to deliver what was promised or is expected becomes limited. We then need to re-set customer expectations and to make sure that all stakeholders adapt to the new reality. The way we communicate this to the customer and to the field will have a large impact on the way in which it's received.

While the essence of the news may be negative ("bad"), we can use the following tools to make the communication easier for us to convey and for the customer to digest:

Live Medium - either in person or over the phone

Although it may appear easier to send an e-mail, a live medium allows us to:

? Answer any questions the customer may have.

? Adjust our message dynamically according to their feedback.

? Provide additional information that could be misinterpreted in writing.

? Show more genuine empathy and care regarding the impact the news has on the situation.

Note: After communicating via a live medium, we should follow-up with a written summary of the new reality. Using phrases like:

"Following our discussion" or "As we agreed" changes perceived "Bad News" to just being "News".

"Bad news isn't wine. It doesn't improve with age. "

Colin Powell

Timing – "Bad news early is good news"

? Communicate the news as soon as we can (once we have done sufficient prep work).

? By 'marketing' the fact we are communicating the news as soon as possible ("we just found out", "I wanted to inform you as soon as possible"), we indicate a high level of partnership and increase trust.

Share information

There is usually a reason/explanation behind the change in plans. If we show a certain level of transparency, most customers appreciate this (especially if this is to the customer's advantage) and respond in a reasonable manner.

New Action Plan + Communication Plan

To maintain control of the situation, we should be proactive in creating and communicating a clear ACTION PLAN moving forward.

Including what the current and next steps are to be done, by who and by when. Together with this, we should create and share a COMMUNICATION PLAN, which suggests when we will next update the customer and with which communication channel. (It is usually advised to slightly increase the communication plan compared to before (more frequent, closer channel etc).

Stakeholders first

Internal stakeholders (sales, account team, etc.) are usually 'closer' to the customer, in culture, geography and relationship. By engaging them early in the communication we could benefit from:

? Their backing and support.

? Additional information about impact and priorities.

Sense of Urgency

When plans change in a negative direction, customers want to know that the situation is being addressed with the right level of attention. We can maintain trust by conveying the following:

? Escalation – we have engaged/involved senior management.

? Resources – additional resources have been assigned, a task-force has been appointed.

? Priority – this is a top priority, we are fully committed to resolution etc.

"The Good news is…"

In some cases, the 'bad' news can come with good news. Look for good news to share in parallel:

? This delay will allow additional functionality.

? Certain services will be provided at a discounted rate.

? We have already found the root cause of this issue and are working on a fix.