Skype Makes The Right Call
This summer, millions of people around the world who rely on Internet telephony provider Skype found themselves facing a service outage. The company’s August system failure could have dealt a crippling blow to a VoIP industry struggling for legitimacy. But Skype pulled through, staying focused on its customers while fixing the problem.
Throughout the crisis, Skype pushed its door open wide to share information with their customers—as the situation developed—from deep within the organization. The company’s blogs allowed employees working on the problem to issue frequent updates and entertain questions from customers. Employees that appear on the blog have Skype icons next to their photos that allow customers to contact them instantly via the Skype service.
Adding to this openness, the company apologized, in many ways the ultimate act of transparency.
August 16, 2007
Employees use the Skype blog to notify users of a serious failure in its technology. The company offers a possible explanation, provides an estimate of the time it will need to restore service, and gives users suggestions as to how they can cope in the meantime.
With a tone of voice that is authentic and sincere, Villu Arak, PR Manager, adds this: “We’d like to thank everyone who has taken the time to send us their thoughts, concerns and good wishes. It means the world to those working so hard to resolve this thing.”
10 PM: Further updates on the problem are given, along with assurances that the company’s teams are on the job. In addition: “The Skype system has not crashed or been victim of a cyber attack. We love our customers too much to let that happen.”
August 17
2:15 AM: Villu Arak contributes additional comments to the blog, offering late night reassurances.
4:00 AM: A employee identified as Sten has this to say on the blog: “Be sure that the Skype family as a whole will not retire before you can get back to all the Skype conversations you want, need or just feel like having. Sorry for keeping you split that long.”
Villu Arak and Sten continue to offer frequent, reassuring posts throughout the night as the problem is addressed, including personal notes to users.
August 18
11 AM: “Hello friends, Take a deep breath. Skype is back to normal. On Monday, we’ll provide a more detailed explanation of what happened. Until then, we’d like to apologize and thank you. Precisely in that order. We know how difficult and frustrating the past two days have been. And still, your good wishes kept flowing in. Thank you for the amazing patience, trust and support!”
August 20
Mr. Arak returned to the blog with a more formal, crafted message about “what happened on August 16.” As time passed, additional notes were posted to clarify possible misunderstandings of this statement. All the while, Skype resisted speculation, even holding onto confirmed information until they were sure it would benefit the customer. In the end, Skype learned that Microsoft had issued a routine security patch just prior the crisis, and the outages were caused by a previously unidentified inability in the Skype system to handle widespread simultaneous reboots by Windows users.
August 22
All customers are sent a notice informing them that bonus time will be credited to their accounts. Even users who were unaffected by the problem receive a credit.
Through all of these actions, Skype showed remorse over the service failure and demonstrated their concern and commitment to their customers. That is what an apology is all about. An apology makes a connection to a person. It is the first step in the process of healing, and without it, the parties involved cannot move forward.
In this situation, Skype allowed itself to be guided by its values. This approach allows a company to move quickly. No cost-benefit analysis is required to do the right thing, no back-and-forth with the legal department. Skype’s corporate culture shone through, revealing caring, competent and enthusiastic employees.
An appropriately-rendered and sincere apology makes a strong connection, and in a hyperconnected world, those who make the most connections win.
Last 5 posts by Dov Seidman
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