Under the assumption you have the pull to make and/or suggest exceutive decisions, here is what I suggest:

"Mr./Mrs. X,

It would be an understatement to say I was caught off-gaurd by your reply.

Ever since my arrival in _____ my firm has achieved ______ with outstanding results, success, and client feedback. Your current dissatisfaction with our prior application has become a priority concern for our new team.

In an effort to learn more about your unsavory expierence with our previous team, I would like to schedule a meeting to discuss what happened in 1999 so we can devise the appropriate rememdy.

"Your company name" strives for excellence and will do anything within our means to resolve the issue, and negotiate a comparable agreement with your firm in order to continue serving you with the quality of service you deserve.

We look forward to meeting with you in the very near future.

Kind Regards,

___________"

What do you think?

Of course, the level of resolve depends on the size of the account and their influence in the niche in which they reside.

I hope this helps!

Wow, Dennis, this is tough!

You MUST respond to this customer, even if there's little chance of getting business from him. I agree with Blaine about being honest to start with: Tell him that you were caught off guard by the message, and that you'd like to understand more about the situation.

Was this an email message?

If so, I wouldn't get into a lengthy email reply. Just ask permission to make a phone call to hear more. The only promise you should make in the email is to keep the conversation limited to 15 minutes.

If he agrees, you should use the call to listen, listen, listen. Ask a few questions. Make notes. Prompt the customer to tell as much as possible, even if getting dumped on doesn't feel very good. Say things like, "Wow. Gosh. Really? What else can you tell me? Who else should I talk to?" Do NOT get defensive, don't overapologize, just gather information. Periodically paraphrase what you hear (like, "So, the database wasn't designed to meet the functional spec."). Close the conversation with a short summary (for example, "So you invested $10,000 building an application that was useful for less than a year.") and ask if you can get back in touch after reviewing the situation with your team. Again, no promises.

He might say no at that point, but at least you'll have given that customer the opportunity to be heard. And you'll learn something.

If he agrees to the next step, come back here and post Part Two of the saga! It's pointless for me to conjecture until the drama unfolds further...
¤ Shelley ¤

Den E V,

It's been five years since this client has been left out in the cold and it's easy to see that they are singing the song ("Where Is The LOVE, that you said would be mine all mine, till the end of time, was it just a line...Where Is The LOVE").

The biggest challenges you have besides convincing the client that you are willing to go the distance to get their business back is also that you must now do the following.

1.) convince the client that you are at least making an effort to get them full credit toward the project from 99. (This is only if you believe that the client may have been mishandled). You're probably not sure this is the case. But the client is not going to open the door to even consider talking unless you are making a good faith effort in their case. If you can prove that you are making an honest effort on the clients behalf they may tell you more just because of your effort and passion to attempt to do so. You might want to inform the client you are doing so. Another thing they could personally care less about the fact that you were not with the company. But if you communicate effectively your client may consider the fact that you were not around (but there are no Guarantees this will cause them to listen)

2.) You must communicate with the heads of your organization about the clients lack of faith in your organization due to what the client perceives as your company error. Here the challenge is communicating to your own organization that there is always the possibility that your company may have mishandled the client. This should be presented with kid gloves.

Either way both could back fire. The sad part of being a customer advocate is that there will be some clients you just don't have enough leverage internally to convert. Your company will decide if it is worth their continued efforts. On the flip-side you may not have enough leverage to even get the client to consider talking about the problem without hiring someone who can facilitate this for you. But that will cost you money and there is no promise that the client will be converted. I have handled a few cases like this and welcome talking further about it with you. Just send me an email you can get off of my customer profile.

Finally you may have to just consider that there is no way to regain the client. Close the door on this unproductive saga, pat yourself on the back and FIND SOME NEW Customers who you can love with all the Passion you tried to win back this hurting client. Also present this case to your company to make sure this never happens again. Unresolved issues should be settled immediately. four to five years is a long time to reclaim a lost client. Thanks. Is there anything else I can do for you?

Your Servant, Deremiah, *CPE (Customer Passion Evangelist)