#‎HatsOff‬ to this excellent service recovery email from flipkart.com. You guys know exactly what to do. All the best. This is a gold standard for many MNCs to learn from. When you apologize do it truly from the heart.

1. APOLOGY FOR #BIGBILLIONDAYBLOOPERA GOLD STANDARD INDEED
RAJESH SOUNDARARAJAN
@RAJESHSOUNDSG.LINKEDIN.COM/IN/RAJESHSOUND/

2. BACKGROUND
THERE WAS A SERVICE FAILURE FROM @FLIPKART ON THEIR BIGGEST DAY - #BIGBILLIONDAY ON OCTOBER 6, 2014
MOST COMPANIES FAIL TO RECOVER FROM SUCH PR DISASTERS
FLIPKART’S RESPONSE TO SUCH A PR NIGHTMARE IS COMMENDABLE. THIS HEARTFELT NOTE FROM ITS FOUNDERS SACHIN AND BINNY CONTAINS ALL THE COMPONENTS REQUIRED FOR A SERVICE RECOVERY –A CLEAR APOLOGY, EXPRESSION OF REGRET, ACKNOWLEDGMENT THAT EXPECTATIONS WERE VIOLATED, EMPATHY ON THE FULL IMPACT OF THEIR ACTIONS AND A REQUEST FOR FORGIVENESS.
KUDOS @FLIPKART TEAM

3. IT ALL STARTED THUS

4. RESULTING IN
US$ 100M SALE IN 10 HOURS
1 BILLION WEBSITE HITS IN 10 HOURS
300,000 ORDERSIN FIRST 6 HRS
500,000 UNITS SOLD IN EACH BEST- SELLING CATEGORY - MOBILE AND FASHION
BEST DEALS’ WIPED OUT IN 15 MINUTES
500: INTERNAL SERVER ERROR

5. SACHIN AND BINNY
“THE #BIGBILLIONDAY IS AN UNPRECEDENTED DAY FOR US AS THIS IS THE BIGGEST SALE EVER IN INDIA. WE GOT A BILLION HITS ON OUR SITE TODAY AND ACHIEVED OUR 24 HOUR SALES TARGET OF $100 MILLION IN GMV IN JUST 10 HOURS”

6. AND THEN –A PR NIGHTMARE WITH MILLIONS OF DISSATISFIED USERS

7. HOW DO YOU MANAGE ANGER OF MILLIONS OF DISILLUSIONED USERS?
FLIPKART HAD TO ACT AND ACT FAST. THIS WAS SOMETHING THEY POSSIBLY NEVER EXPECTED. THE BACKLASH WAS ALL OVER SOCIAL MEDIA AND MAINSTREAM NEWS

8. THIS IS POSSIBLY EWHERE FLIPKART SET A GOLD STANDARD
They sent an apology note to all its users in less than 24 hours, titled –exactly that – “Apologies from Flipkart”

9. DISSECTING FLIPKART’S APOLOGY NOTE

11. COMPONENTS OF A GOOD APOLOGY
1.A CLEAR 'I'M SORRY' STATEMENT.
2.AN EXPRESSION OF REGRET FOR WHAT HAPPENED.
3.AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT THAT SOCIAL NORMS OR EXPECTATIONS WERE VIOLATED.
4.AN EMPATHY STATEMENT ACKNOWLEDGING THE FULL IMPACT OF OUR ACTIONS ON THE OTHER PERSON.
5.A REQUEST FOR FORGIVENESS.
SOURCE-HTTP://LIFEHACKER.COM/THE-KEY-COMPONENTS-OF-AN-EFFECTIVE-APOLOGY- 1484393156

12. 1: A CLEAR 'I'M SORRY' STATEMENT.
DEAR CUSTOMER, YESTERDAY WAS A BIG DAY FOR US. AND WE REALLY WANTED IT TO BE A GREAT DAY FOR YOU. BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, WE KNOW THAT YOUR EXPERIENCE WAS LESS THAN PLEASANT. WE DID NOT LIVE UP TO THE PROMISES WE MADE AND FOR THAT WE ARE REALLY AND TRULY SORRY.

13. 1A: SHARE THE PERSPECTIVE (OPTIONAL)
IT TOOK ENORMOUS EFFORT FROM EVERYONE AT FLIPKART, MANY MONTHS OF PREPARATION AND PUSHING OUR CAPABILITIES AND SYSTEMS TO THE LIMIT TO BE ABLE TO CREATE THIS DAY. WE WERE LOOKING AT FULFILLING THE DREAMS OF MILLIONS OF INDIAN CONSUMERS THROUGH DEALS AND OFFERS WE HAD PAINSTAKINGLY PUT TOGETHER FOR MONTHS.

14. 2: AN EXPRESSION OF REGRET FOR WHAT HAPPENED.
AND THOUGH WE SAW UNPRECEDENTED INTEREST IN OUR PRODUCTS AND TRAFFIC LIKE NEVER BEFORE, WE ALSO REALIZED THAT WE WERE NOT ADEQUATELY PREPARED FOR THE SHEER SCALE OF THE EVENT. WE DIDN'T SOURCE ENOUGH PRODUCTS AND DEALS IN ADVANCE TO CATER TO YOUR REQUIREMENTS. TO ADD TO THIS, THE LOAD ON OUR SERVER LED TO INTERMITTENT OUTAGES, FURTHER IMPACTING YOUR SHOPPING EXPERIENCE ON OUR SITE.

15. 3: AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT THAT SOCIAL NORMS OR EXPECTATIONS WERE VIOLATED
AN UNPRECEDENTED 1.5 MILLION PEOPLE SHOPPED AT FLIPKART YESTERDAY. WHILE WE STAND HUMBLED BY THE SHEER FAITH THAT SUCH A LARGE NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS HAVE SHOWN IN US, WE ARE UNHAPPY THAT WE WERE UNABLE TO LIVE UP TO THE EXPECTATIONS OF MILLIONS MORE WHO WANTED TO BUY FROM US YESTERDAY.
AND THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE TO US.

16. 4: AN EMPATHY STATEMENT ACKNOWLEDGING THE FULL IMPACT OF OUR ACTIONS ON THE OTHER PERSON.
DELIGHTING YOU, AND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF OUR CUSTOMERS, IS ABSOLUTELY THE TOP MOST PRIORITY FOR FLIPKART AND WE HAVE WORKED VERY HARD OVER THE LAST SEVEN YEARS TO EARN YOUR TRUST. YESTERDAY, WE FAILED THAT TRUST. WE HAVE LEARNT SOME VALUABLE LESSONS FROM THIS AND HAVE STARTED WORKING DOUBLY HARD TO ADDRESS ALL THE ISSUES THAT CROPPED UP DURING THIS SALE.

17. 5: ADDRESS CONCERN#1-A REQUEST FOR FORGIVENESS.
PRICE CHANGESAS WE WERE PREPARING VARIOUS DEALS AND PROMOTIONAL PRICING IN THE LEAD UP TO THE SALE, THE PRICING OF SEVERAL PRODUCTS GOT CHANGED TO THEIR NON-DISCOUNTED RATES FOR A FEW HOURS . WE REALISE THAT THIS BREAKS THE TRUST OUR CUSTOMERS HAVE PUT IN US. WE ARE TRULY SORRY FOR THIS AND WILL ENSURE THAT THIS NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN.

18. 5: ADDRESS CONCERN#2 -A REQUEST FOR FORGIVENESS. OUT-OF-STOCK ISSUESWE RAN OUT OF THE STOCK FOR MANY PRODUCTS WITHIN A FEW MINUTES (AND IN SOME CASES, SECONDS) OF THE SALE GOING LIVE. FOR EXAMPLE, MOST OF OUR SPECIAL DEALS WERE SOLD OUT AS SOON AS THEY WENT LIVE. WE HAD ENSURED AVAILABILITY, ANYWHERE FROM HUNDREDS TO A FEW LAKH UNITS FOR VARIOUS PRODUCTS, BUT IT WAS NOWHERE NEAR THE ACTUAL DEMAND. WE PROMISE TO PLAN MUCH BETTER FOR FUTURE PROMOTIONS AND ENSURE THAT WE MINIMISE THE OUT-OF-STOCK ISSUES.

19. 5: ADDRESS CONCERN #3 -A REQUEST FOR FORGIVENESS.
CANCELLATIONSWE HAD LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE BUYING SPECIFIC PRODUCTS SIMULTANEOUSLY. THIS LED TO SOME INSTANCES OF AN ORDER GETTING OVER- BOOKED FOR A PRODUCT THAT WAS SOLD OUT JUST A FEW SECONDS AGO. WE ARE WORKING ROUND-THE- CLOCK TO ENSURE AVAILABILITY OF ADDITIONAL UNITS FOR THESE PRODUCTS AND WILL DO OUR LEVEL BEST TO ENSURE THAT WE MINIMISE ANY CANCELLATIONS.

20. 5: ADDRESS CONCERN #4 -A REQUEST FOR FORGIVENESS.
WEBSITE ISSUES WE REALISE THAT THE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE FOR MANY OF YOU WAS FRUSTRATING DUE TO ERRORS AND UNAVAILABILITY OF THE WEBSITE AT TIMES. WE HAD DEPLOYED NEARLY 5000 SERVERS AND HAD PREPARED FOR 20 TIMES THE TRAFFIC GROWTH -BUT THE VOLUME OF TRAFFIC AT DIFFERENT TIMES OF THE DAY WAS MUCH HIGHER THAN THIS. WE ARE CONTINUING TO SIGNIFICANTLY SCALE UP ALL OUR BACK END SYSTEMS SO THAT WE DO A MUCH, MUCH BETTER JOB NEXT TIME.

21. REGAIN TRUST AND FAITH BY REITERATING I’M SORRY
EVERYTHING THAT WE HAVE ACHIEVED AT FLIPKART IS PURELY ON THE BASIS OF OUR CUSTOMER'S TRUST AND FAITH. THIS IS WHY WE COME TO WORK EACH DAY AND CONTINUE TO REMAIN EXTREMELY PASSIONATE ABOUT BUILDING THE BEST POSSIBLE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE FOR INDIAN CONSUMERS. WE FAILED TO LIVE UP TO THIS PROMISE YESTERDAY AND WOULD LIKE TO APOLOGISE ONCE AGAIN TO EVERY SINGLE CUSTOMER FOR OUR FAILURE.

22. HUMBLE PERSONAL SIGNOFF – SEE THAT IT IS SIGNED AS FIRST NAMES WITHOUT FANCY TITLES
THANK YOU. SACHIN AND BINNY

23. TIME WILL TELL
With such high stakes, it is highly possible that they will really fix these the next time around. Till then… their apology note holds gold standard.

24. STAY TUNED, TILL THEN
Great Job! @Flipkart

25. RAJESH SOUNDARARAJAN@RAJESHSOUNDSG.LINKEDIN.COM/IN/RAJESHSOUND/
IF YOU LIKED THUS FAR,
PLEASE SHARE, SPREAD THE WORD. YOU CAN FOLLOW ME ON

26. APOLOGY FOR #BIGBILLIONDAYBLOOPERA GOLD STANDARD INDEED
RAJESH SOUNDARARAJAN
@RAJESHSOUNDSG.LINKEDIN.COM/IN/RAJESHSOUND/