I posted a while ago about the importance of communicating with customers about both product strategy and product issues, and wanted to share this example I received from XMarks–
I like this communication for a few reasons:
- Proactive communication to users about issues/mistake
- Description of issue(s)
- Solution to issue(s)
- Apologize
- Asks for feedback from abandoning users
Problems happen with software. Don’t pretend that they don’t or try to hide that they do. By making customer satisfaction a priority and keeping your customers and users up-to-date on issues (and the fact that you are aware of them and working to resolve them), you bridge a significant gap that often leads to users seeking a competitor’s solution.
It’s better to admit your own faults than to have someone point them out to you.