Why blaming your customer is a bad idea (Yes, I actually have to explain this to CafePress)

This is a rant disguised as PR advice.

I presented CafePress.com with a problem, and they responded with their policy. That’s poor PR and a pet peeve from my perspective. Alliteration aside, here’s what went down and what we might learn from it.

I have a store at CafePress that sells my awesome framed pictures. :-) Just the other day, CafePress congratulated me on a sale, but I noticed it was at a lower price than I’d offered. A quick search revealed that I had the same product in two locations, one at my price and another at a lower price. Guess which one was selling? (No, the problem isn’t my pricing. I choose not to give my work away.) 

I asked CafePress ‘what gives?’ Here’s a synopsis of the response I received from Crystal R:

CafePress started a new marketing structure that takes shop owners' products and sells them in a different part of the site for less money. Naturally, we’ll earn the commission on the lower-priced sale.

Here’s the part that got me: Crystal “apologized if I missed the notice that was sent to all shopkeepers when this policy change was implemented.”

I was dutifully accepting my chastisement for not reading my emails when I found this nestled deep in the new policy:

“We realize that different pricing for the same product in the Marketplace, and in your shops, could cause customer confusion. We are working on a solution for customers to quickly see, within the Marketplace, other designs and products you offer. Look for these changes in the upcoming months.”

There's the problem, Crystal!!! (I hate exclamation points, but I had to...cuz I’m actually screaming) It’s not that I missed your notice, it’s that your policy created the problem. Shouldn't you have found a solution BEFORE you rolled out your new Marketplace?

In all fairness, Crystal did open her email by apologizing for any confusion they caused... before sending me the policy that acknowledges the policy could cause confusion.

It’s like my other pet peeve -- businesses that put you on hold and apologize that you called when there is a high volume of calls. The problem isn’t high volume, it’s inadequate staffing. If you know that there is a high volume of calls between 12-2, hire enough employees to handle the surge. I don't care when anyone else calls.

Ok, enough with the rants. What can we learn from them?

As a PR practitioner, I often found myself drafting responses to disgruntled customers. Here are a few principles I picked up along the way.

1) Answer the question. I asked why the same item in my store was selling for two different prices on the site. I’m sure I received a blanket response that they send to every similar complaint. I remember doing the same thing when I was in her shoes. I’d march my extremely well-written response (I thought) into my boss and wait for her obvious kudos and approval. She’d then ask, ‘what was the question, Lynford? Did you answer the real question?’

The question isn’t always explicit. You sometimes have to dig beyond the words to find the real pain point. My complaint wasn’t with CafePress’ change in policy. I was annoyed because they lowered the prices of my products and left it to me to opt out of their decision. A response that doesn’t address the real customer problem won’t be satisfying. You'll check the box but miss the opportunity to solve the problem.

2) Customers don’t care about YOUR policies; we care about OUR problems. I’m sure you’ve studied the complaints, identified trends and implemented a new solution. When you present it, always remember to frame it in the customer experience. That is how we relate to your product and services. Policies should be for internal use, not as a shield for poor decisions.

3) Don’t make customer opt out of important decisions. Haven’t we learned this from Facebook and AOL yet? If it affects my money or my privacy, let me make the decision to opt in. You earn no loyalty from sneaking me into a situation I would not have chosen.

Bottom line: if you create a policy that pisses me off, I don't care that it's your policy. I don't care that I missed the email, and I certainly don't care that you apologized for something *I* did.