A customer interaction or purchase is not an isolated incident in a bubble; it should instead be a short chapter in a much longer story.

Recently, a customer made a purchase online that was delayed, which isn’t uncommon given the current national situation. However, when it arrived at the customer’s home, the box looked as though an elephant sat on it. To no surprise, the item was damaged.

This isn’t a story about a damaged item, as that can happen even with the best of intentions. Rather, this is a story of how one negative experience can prevent future sales. If the business had taken steps to not only make amends for the broken item, but also provided the customer with peace of mind regarding future purchases, the customer would have felt more comfortable ordering from this organization again. But the organization didn’t make the customer feel as though they would make things right for this purchase or for any other order. 

Buying anything online requires a bit of trust and if, through a negative situation, you’ve destroyed that trust, then the customer will more than likely order from someone else.

Any customer interaction or purchase is not merely about a sale, instead, it’s laying the groundwork for potential future sales.