It’s happened to us all. The solution we so proudly represent rolled over and died, and left the customer’s mission critical system in ruins. Rome is on fire, tech support dropped the ball, and you have been called in to face the music. How do we recover and save face?

There is a nice structured approach to regaining lost credibility called the 6 A’s.

A 1) Accept Responsibility. The first three steps are very important in conveying empathy to the customer. Empathy is a critical component in establishing credibility, in this case re-establishing credibility. A customer needs to know that you, personally, are leading the charge to resolve their crisis.

A 2) Admit the Problem. Admission goes a long way in conveying empathy. It breaks down any perception of defensive posturing. If we don’t admit the problem, we are at risk of getting caught in a lie. If we do admit the problem and then later find we weren’t at fault, then we are the better for having taken the high road to begin with.

A 3) Apologize For It. A “we’re sorry” also goes a long way in conveying empathy. Right on the heals of falling on our sword we then say, “and we want to make it right.”, which is Step 4.

A 4) Act Quickly. Immediately and mutually create a get well plan. You and the customer must walk through this crisis together – get their “skin in the game”. Define specific goals, dates, and milestones. You will need the customer’s time, resources, and general assistance to resolve the crisis. Set proper expectations, and don’t over promise. Hedge your bets and develop a Plan B and Plan C.

A 5) Amend. Fix it. Execute the plan hand in hand with the customer. Become personally involved in providing the resolution. Become the “project manager” for the resolution. Provide frequent status reports to the customer’s appointed owners.

A 6) Attend. Stay on top of it. Get feedback. Show you care. Follow through to ensure long term satisfaction and success. Mutually define a plan with the customer to prevent such a crisis from occurring again, and define procedures to follow should another crisis occur. Setting these expectations goes a long way toward approaching the next crisis in a more rational manner.

Very often, once the crisis has passed, that customer will become a great reference for you. How great is it when a customer says, “You know, we had our issues, but they were there for us and got us through a rough patch.”