Recently, a MarketingProfs colleague called his cable company with a request to stop service at his address. When asked for his reason, he explained that he was a highly satisfied customer, but he was moving to an area the company didn't serve. It seemed simple enough.

Later that week, however, he received an email with a curious subject line: "How can we make this right?" Despite his verbal assurances to the contrary, the company seemed to think he'd left in a huff—and the message within included line after line that made this mistaken belief agonizingly clear:

• We'd like a chance to understand and make things right.
• We want to earn your business back!
• How can we make everything right for you?
• We hope we can earn back your business and look forward to discussing a new option that's just right for you and fixing your problem—whatever your needs.

And there was more. Under the headline "Let us fix it" was a link to a brief survey with this explanation: "Tell us what we've done or failed to do. Once we know the specifics of your issue, we're sure we can provide the solution." As if the copy didn't sound desperate enough, there was this plaintive request: "Please be as honest as you can."

The Po!nt: Get your facts straight. When you're wooing former customers, you'd better know why they left. Otherwise, they'll wonder whether you ever knew them at all.

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