Recently, an interesting piece of mail arrived at my home, and both the envelope and the contents are pictured here.

If you can’t tell from the picture, a piece of our mail had been damaged and lost (frustrating).

However, what struck me most was the U.S. Postal Service decided to send us our torn, empty piece of mail in a larger white envelope which says the following:

WE CARE

Dear Valued Postal Customer,

We are aware how important your mail is to you. With that in mind, we are forwarding it to you in an expeditious fashion.

It goes on to say:

• The Postal Service handles over 202 billion pieces of mail a year, and that mistakes happen.
• They’re constantly working to improve their methods.
• I should do my part to help them by addressing my envelopes correctly.
• They appreciate my understanding, and sincerely regret any inconvenience.

Signed…“YOUR POSTMASTER” (No actual name, but printed in caps in the same blue ink as the rest of the text)

To be clear; this is not a whining bash on the Post Office. I appreciate the impressive volume of mail they handle, and the scale of their business. I know mistakes happen, and truthfully, I can count on one hand how many times in my life I’ve dealt with lost and/or damaged mail.

Here’s my point; nothing about this pre-packaged response felt anything like the “WE CARE” headline the Post Office chose to print. No contact information listed, not even the name of my Postmaster, let alone my mail carrier. What if I had a question? No luck.

Somewhere in a Post Office near me, there are boxes and boxes of these pre-printed envelopes for just such an occasion. Broken mail goes in apology envelope, envelope goes to customer, problem solved, unhappy customer tended to.

What it feels like, is a calculated response to a customer service issue that puts the company first, not the customer. (C’mon Mr. Post Office, you’ve got more tools to let me know you ‘care’ at your disposable than ever before.)

So I ask you:

• What systems do you have in place in your business to address customer concerns, or problems?
• Are they designed for your benefit, or for the benefit of your customers?

How much emphasis are you putting on the total ‘Experience’ your customers are having with you, regardless of whether they love you, or if they have a problem?

Make no mistake; ‘experience’ has never been more important in business, given our increased level of connection. Your customers are going to let you know what they think of you, whether you’re ready for them to or not.

Wouldn’t you prefer to have that conversation within the framework of your brand?
Wouldn’t you prefer the experience your customers have with you to be the standard by which your competitors are measured?

You can prove to your customers that you really ‘care’ first and foremost, by being accessible.

Times are only going to get tougher if you’d rather just have some printed apologies on file for when you screw up.

P.S. - What are some examples of a fantastic customer experience that you’ve seen or been a part of? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below here.