When visiting one of the holiest places on earth, one can’t help but to reflect on their own life’s meaning, their choices, and their purpose.
At least that’s how I felt standing next to King David’s tomb on Mount Zion in the old city of Jerusalem during my last trip to Israel.
The belief is that his body is buried deep below the tomb that we see, but I can say that the presence of his soul was undoubtedly felt among all of us.
As Israel’s second king, (and although praised for his courage, divine leadership, and exploits as a warrior), King David was an imperfect king. He made many mistakes. No different than you or me, he was a good person who tried to do what was right, and at times, he made mistakes along his journey through life.
What sets him apart, is how he handled those mistakes.
He owned up to them. He took ownership. He acknowledged his mistakes, and he asked for forgiveness.
My wife and I raised our kids to always tell the truth, and to take accountability. Yes, there may be consequences, but telling the truth and owning your mistakes is what creates character and integrity.
In the business world, how you handle a mistake can make the difference between keeping or losing a client.
A mistake can be something concrete, like shipping product to the wrong address, or missing an appointment. Mistakes can also be more abstract in nature, like an error in judgment, or a miscalculation of important details.
Your relationship with your clients and your internal team is based on mutual trust. No matter what industry you’re in, or the size of your organization.
The best thing you can do for your client and for your team is to maintain that trust especially when a mistake is made.
An article in the Ivy Business Journal breaks honest mistakes into 4 categories:
- Chance Occurrences
These are mistakes that are attributed to unfortunate probability or bad luck.
2. Actions of Others
This category of mistakes refers to those that originate primarily because of someone else’s actions.
3. Attention Deficit
Mistakes caused by a lack of attention due to situational factors (workload strain, time pressure, new staff, or brand new processes).
4. Well-Intentioned Mistakes
Mistakes that employees committed out of a good purpose (meant for customers’ convenience, but deviated from standard processes).
Early in my career, I made probably one of my biggest business mistakes.
I was trying to land a huge new client that was using our biggest competitor at the time.
I made it my “standard” practice to do as much opposition research I could, so that I can focus on what I can offer over my competitors.
In this particular case, I had done such a thorough job, even this prospective client was impressed that I knew more about the company he was working with then their own sales rep did.
That was all I needed to get a “leg up” and for him to give me a chance to pitch him with an opportunity to change his mind and do business with me and my company.
After our meeting, I jumped in my car and made a five hour drive back home so I could get him a proposal by morning.
Tired from the drive, but full of adrenaline, that evening I put together a spreadsheet based on the pricing we had discussed.
I finished up and hit ‘SEND’.
The moment I did, I realized that I had made a huge mistake…I had sent him the company’s COST sheet along with what our profit margins would be instead of the proposal!
I was mortified and needless to say embarrassed. I called this prospective client immediately to do damage control.
No answer. I called again. No answer.
My mind was spinning but I knew I had to get through to him and head this off at the pass.
Finally, he answered. I explained my mistake and pleaded with him to delete the email I’d sent. At the very least, ignore it and give me a chance to send over the proper spreadsheet, as I truly felt I would lose my job.
But it was too late.
He’d already seen it.
He kindly agreed to delete it. I assumed that would be the end of it and I thanked him for his time and I apologized for putting him in that position.
But he stopped me before I could hang up the phone. He told me that, though he wasn’t happy with my mistake, he was impressed by my honesty and expediency.
In fact, he said that my honesty and my willingness to own my mistake made him feel that I was someone he could trust.
And the fact that he saw my costs and profit margins, gave him the confidence in me to always be truthful if we were to work together (I was honest with him about how little we would make, should he choose to work with us, but we were willing to do this because of the volume he would provide). He said, “Wow, you really told me the truth. I usually don’t believe sales people, but you proved me wrong.”
By the end of the next month, that huge client had ended his business with my competitor and signed on with me and my company and they became a multi-million dollar client.
True, not every mistake will have a happy ending. But hopefully this example shows that owning your mistakes and owning them quickly and honestly, could result in a great payoff.
Bear in mind, this isn’t just about damage control.
It’s about character and trust.
These days when a mistake is made with a client, the way we handle it pretty much remains the same across the board.
The first thing I (and we do as a company) once a mistake has been made, is…
You guessed it… Own It.
Immediately.
Owning your mistake and doing whatever it takes to rectify it, sends an important message to your client and your team.
And the sooner you can convey the message, the better.
I always want the client to understand that mistakes are out of character for us, and it's not how we choose to operate.
If a mistake were to happen, we apologize for the mistake and work quickly with the client and our team to come up with a solution and a plan of action to show we are taking all the necessary steps to ensure it is rectified with an understanding that it won’t happen again.
Passing the buck, playing the blame game, or trying to solve the issue without being forthcoming, will do irreparable damage to your relationships.
No one wants to hear excuses.
People just want the issue addressed and solved.
They want to feel confident in knowing this was an anomaly, and won’t occur again.
Be humble, be honest, and stay positive and solution oriented when a mistake occurs.
Always remember that exceptional client service is everything.
Salesforce Research says that 78% of consumers will return and continue to do business with a company after experiencing a mistake, if they received great customer service to rectify it.
Mistakes are inevitable, and we ALL make them. Knowing how to handle them with integrity makes all the difference in the world.
To your success,
David
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