The article in the url below demonstrates the value of transparency in business, combined with authenticity:
"Andrew Benin wrote the email in a few hours and didn't bother proofreading or showing a draft to anyone before he sent it to 35,544 people. He was unusually eager to say the most dreaded word in business: sorry."
Specifically:
"Mr. Benin is the chief executive of Graza, a startup that has turned squeezable bottles of extra-virgin olive oil into hot kitchen staples, delighting people who never knew they could have strong feelings about healthy liquid fat. But some of those customers were disappointed when their holiday gifts arrived late and badly packaged, and Mr. Benin felt that he should apologize. To all of them. So he contacted everyone who had ordered Graza's olive oils in the previous 60 days to ask for a second chance."
There is something powerful in apologizing, voluntarily and unreservedly. It reminded me of a crisis communications seminar I sat through recently. A valued part of the event for participants was hearing from guest speakers in the industry who, let's say, are paid to make problems disappear. The lasting impression for me, though, was that the professionals do this via distraction – they are playing a game. That is, the goal is to wait out the media, make sure they do not get the information they are seeking; delay long enough until the next crisis comes along and the journalists move on to that story. Concepts such as right/wrong, fault and accountability seemed irrelevant – don't lie, but don't say anything interesting, either.
In contrast, I favor standing for something, for being 'interesting' – putting your values into action to achieve an outcome that, from your perspective, makes the situation better than it otherwise would have been. To me (and to anyone seeking to implement strategic CSR), that is the way to secure lasting, trust-based relations with key stakeholders, who will be more likely to remain loyal, in return. My sense is that Mr. Benin sees business that way, too:
"The mea culpa from a one-year-old company with the subject line 'Learning from our mistakes' was just about the opposite of a typical corporate response. It explained in plain English and candid detail what went wrong and why. It took accountability for those errors and offered a discount on future orders. It was raw, transparent about uncertainty and messy with typos and misspellings. It was also oddly entertaining and strangely charming."
The result:
"Mr. Benin watched the replies come back within minutes. First one, then another, then 866 more. 'Thanks for your honesty,' wrote one. 'I wish more businesses did the same.' 'I won't be using the discount,' wrote another, 'but I will be reordering.' 'These messages go a long way,' wrote someone else. … The average open rate of Graza's regular marketing emails was already exceptionally high at 58%. This one reached 78%."
The key takeaway for anyone looking to lead in business, in my opinion (with a note to those who would sooner rely on A.I. to bail them out – the 'average of the internet' is usually not very impressive):
"'All you need to do is dig deep, reflect on all the things in marketing and brand communication that piss you off, and do the exact opposite,' Mr. Benin said. Corporate statements about falling short and vowing to do better are so formulaic that most of these apologies could be written by ChatGPT."
Take care
David
David Chandler
© Sage Publications, 2023
What Happened When the Olive-Oil Startup Apologized
By Ben Cohen
January 12, 2023
The Wall Street Journal
