When Support Services Go Wrong

Communication is key in small business.  A recent post by Brett Snyder at Intuit's Small Business Blog highlighted one small business owner's struggle with their virtual phone system.  The virtual phone service provider made a key mistake -- omitting to inform its customers of a system change which would affect their service -- that led to significant consequences:

Our service provider decided to “update” its system, and the new version decided to stop interpreting our custom settings properly.  That meant incoming calls weren’t being routed to the right people at the right time.  Sometimes, they were even going straight to voicemail, even calls to our urgent line.

What can we learn from this as providers of business support services?

• Broadcast changes in service well in advance
• Troubleshoot foreseeable errors but
• Respond quickly and graciously to unexpected errors
• Own your mistakes

For those looking to separate the cream from the chaff of phone services, we found this list at Small Biz Trends that might be helpful.