Business Mistakes: How To Fess Up When You Mess Up

Every business makes mistakes. Businesses are run by people and, due to human nature, we’re prone to errors and poor judgement every single day of our lives. Whilst it’s an inevitability that we’ll mess up from time to time, though the majority of us always strive towards perfection, at the very least, that doesn’t mean we shrug shrug our shoulders every time we make a mistake.
This lesson is perhaps even more important in the business world than it is in our everyday personal lives. If you make a mistake around family or friends, it’s usually a learning lesson for you and no big deal to them. If you make a mistake in the business world, it’s a learning lesson for the company, but it might come at the cost of your business’ reputation if you don’t strive to fix the issue rapidly. There’s a certain way to handle making mistakes, and it involves a level of honesty, professionalism and desire to clean up your mess.
First of all, just fess up.
Yes, it’s as simple as that. The first step to overcoming the mistake or mistakes your business may have made, on this particular occasion, is to simply own up to whatever your company did wrong. When it comes to successful public relations, the most professional companies know that people crave accountability and admittance when an individual or a group of people have done something wrong. It might have only been a minor mistake, but your client is more likely to respect your company at a higher level if you simply admit to the error and apologise. A company which doesn’t admit to its mistake is one which loses the respect and trust of its clients. These are two very important traits your business should be projecting.
Don’t dig yourself a hole.
You’ve made a mistake, but that doesn’t mean you should make it any worse. Your goal should be to cut off whatever project or decision lead to the error or mistaken judgement on either your part or the part of one of your employees. You might want to consider indemnity insurance, in case you’ve offered advice to a client and it ended up backfiring. It’s important that your business protects itself through whatever means necessary, as you’ve already suffered initially through making the mistake; don’t let the aftermath lead to a sequence of further mistakes.
The key to growing and improving as a business is to see each mistake as another round of experience under the belt. Don’t ignore that gut feeling on your next project, and be cautious with the service you provide to consumers. Remember, every interaction your company has with other businesses or clients is either another rung up and down the ladder for your business’ reputation.
A good service can lead to your brand becoming well known as trustworthy and reliable, but even the most trivial of slip-ups can become a black mark against your name in the form of a bad review or discontinued partnership with an important, respected and valuable client to your business. You must always consider the consequences of your company’s actions, and strive to deliver the optimal service every single time.