Poor customer service invites a crisis

As we near the half way mark of our 28 day review of corporate crises, the diversity of incidents and issues is striking. From corruption to IT failure, from product safety to management bust ups, from regulatory enquiries to NGO protests, organisations have been managing a whole range of crises. But there’s one category of crisis that is almost entirely preventable, but causes more problems than any other: customer service. In our study, we’ve witnessed a range of customer service issues that have come to the attention of national media, often fuelled by social media. Get your customer service right and you reduce your potential for crisis.

See below for three organisations in crisis management mode today:

American Express: financial services; anti-competitive practices

Opel/General Motors: automotive; factory closure with loss of 1,200 jobs

Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre/Home Office: policing; resignation of CEO over its future direction