How to communicate the AWS outage to your customers

Warning signs for Amazon Web Services (AWS) users started appearing early on Monday morning from the US; and then, rapidly, businesses and organisations around the globe reported problems.

The outage was caused by a Domain Name System (DNS) error, which is a common issue. However, because of the use of AWS as the scaffold for so many businesses, the impact was huge.

While today will see some big questions asked by SME owners across the UK, they will also be sending press releases to customers to offer both apologies and reassurances.

How the outage unfurled

Many small businesses and startups will have been alerted to the AWS outage when customers were unable to access their logins to get onto their app or platform. This would have meant an immediate barrage of concerned (and frustrated) emails.

SME owners may also have already noted issues when they tried to use their bank – with Bank of Scotland; Halifax and Lloyds Bank all affected – or if they use services like Square for PoS; Trello for productivity or Slack for company comms.

For business owners across all sectors from ecommerce to hospitality, this meant a disruption in service that went on all day.

How to communicate in a crisis

There have been, unfortunately, plenty of situations like this before, which can provide a blueprint of what to do – and what to avoid.

The most notable was last year’s CrowdStrike software incident, in which a faulty channel file caused the “blue screen of death” for 8.5 million Windows devices globally.

The flaw was catastrophic with airlines; airports; media organisations; rail operators; the London Stock Exchange and retailers all hit. Microsoft has since tied employee pay to security to lessen the risk of such a devastating outage happening again.

However, CrowdStrike’s CEO, George Kurtz’ response to the crisis – and the criticism that followed – is really useful for business owners.

As Karen Tran, Principal Analyst at Forrester wrote in February: “While…Kurtz issued a specific, fact-based statement within hours of learning that there was a major outage caused by a bad software update, he faced criticism for not immediately offering an apology.”

She encourages business owners to be first with the news if possible by sending a fact-based email to customers to alleviate fears. She argues that social media will quickly fill information vacuums so “…in the absence of communications from the company itself, audiences will make assumptions — usually for the worse.”

Business owners can even prepare Q&A documents for specific situations, for example a service outage; which give key details. There should also be a specific crisis lead appointed to avoid confusion; and ensure the business communications can be agile.

Just say you’re sorry

While the AWS outage is not any SME owners’ fault; the response to Kurtz’ narrative on the CrowdStrike disaster suggests that it is always best to be empathetic to your customers. The outage will have been inconvenient for some and potentially financially negative for others.

As Tran writes, this doesn’t need to be an admission of guilt but rather an acknowledgment that “a crisis has caused inconvenience, suffering, harm, disruptions, etc.,”. By doing this, the company is showing that it cares about its customers.

However, this could also be the time to deploy some ‘surprise and delight’ tactics to ensure the outage doesn’t affect loyalty. These are marketing tactics that exceed your customers’ expectations on a regular basis and therefore create a positive emotional reaction. These are also just what a customer might need after a day of frustration thanks to the outage.

As a study conducted by Air Miles Corporate (formerly Loyalty One) revealed, 94% of customers who received a surprise gift or special recognition felt more positive about the company. More than a third of respondents added that this led them to give the company more business.

Among the surprises could be time-limited offers or gifts; and “delightful” offerings could include personalised recommendations and exceptional customer service.