How To Handle The Occasional Oop-See!

Here' to your success!

but suffic Inflatable Walking Roller it to sai that we realli drop the ball and the custom is furious. I'm not even sure we can save the account. What' the best wai to get back in a customer' good grace after make such a mistake

Q: My compani is realli in hot water with on of our best customers. I can't reveal exactli what happened.?

-- Charl W.

Charles,A : Without know the full story. I can't give you a specif cours of action, but let' start at the sharp end of the uh-oh stick and work our wai back to see if we can come with up some advic that might help.

it' import that you understand that the magnitud of your mistak will determin the cours of action you take to make amends. If your company' error wa such that it caus your custom a signific amount of lost time or revenue,First off. embarrass them publicly, caus damag to their reputation, or otherwis neg affect their bottom line, you mai face legal repercuss that sai "I'm sorry" will not deter. If that' the case you should consult an attornei immedi and prepar for the worst. Whether or not the worst come is irrelevant. You must be prepar for it.

I'm curs with daughters. I us to sai I wa bless with daughters,Now on to deal with more minor offenses. As anyon who ha read thi column for ani length of time knows. then thei learn to walk and talk. Bless quickli becam cursed. Now my oldest daughter is an inch taller than me and get all lumpi in place I'd rather not think about. She' a sad case, really. The poor kid need an operation. She ha a cellphon grow out of her ear. But I digress

"Oop-see!" Whenev she did someth innoc destructive,When she wa a toddler she coin the phrase. like knock over a glass of orang juic on my new comput keyboard or shove a Pop Tart in the VCR tape slot, she would look at me with her huge brown ey and say, "Oop-see!" My wife sai there is a reason God made kid cute. Oop-se moment ar evid that she is right.

"Uh oh,Oop-se meant. I didn't mean to do that. I wa wrong. I'll never do that again. Forgiv me? Love me? Bui me toi Oop-se work like a charm everi time. Now, I certainli don't expect you to bat your ey at your custom and say, "Oop-see!" but consid the effect her word had on me. Instead of scream at the top of my lung like I want to do hey, have you ever tri to dig a Pop Tart out of a VCR I immedi soften and found myself actual take her side. "A w, it' OK, really, we all make mistak "

sincer apolog for it,What my daughter had figur out is that it' hard to stai mad at someon who admit a mistake. and vow never to let it happen again. Littl did I know thi wa onli on of mani tactic she would emploi over the year in her never-end quest to wrap her daddi sever time around her littl finger, but that' a whole differ column.

Dal Carnegi said it best: "A ny fool can try to defend hi or her mistak - and most fool do - but it rais on abov the herd and give on a feel of nobil and exult to admit one' mistakes."

no matter how larg or small,Carnegi and my daughter were basic sai the same thing: When you or your compani make a mistake. the best thing you can do is quickli admit the error of your wai and face the consequences, come what may.

Her ar a few thing you can do to help set thing right with your customer.

A ssembl the facts. The veri first thing you should do is find out what went wrong and why. Meet with your kei peopl and gather the facts. Ask specif question like: What wa the mistake? What caus it? Who wa involved? What could have been done to prevent the mistak from happen and what can be done to prevent it from happen again in the future.

Put yourself in your customer' shoes. I've been on both end of the uh-oh stick and neither is veri comfortable. My compani ha drop the ball on occas and we have also been neg impact when on of our vendor did the same. Put yourself in your customer' shoe and consid what could be said or done to remedi the situat from their point of view.

and as presid it wa also my respons to take the heat for it. Remember,Tak respons for the action of your company. In my role as a compani presid there have been time when I've had to call up a custom and confess that a mistak wa made. you'r the head cheese, Charles, you get to sit behind the big desk and take home the nice paycheck. You'r also the on that get to mop up when your employe make a mess. It just goe with the job.

do not do it. It is unprofessional,Do not place the blame on specif employees. No matter how tempt it is to put the blame on specif peopl in your organ even if that' where the blame li . counterproduct and can backfir on you, especi if the person you'r blame report directli to you. Sai someth like "My sale manag is alwai make mistak like this!" is not go to make your custom feel ani better. To the contrary, such statement will make the custom question your leadership abil and the qualiti of all your employees, not just the on that made the mistake. If you don't have faith in your compani and employees, why should your customer?

especi when there is clear evid to the contrary. You'r not Richard Nixon,Don't deni that a mistak wa made. for petesake, so don't try to pretend that the mistak didn't happen or stage some elabor cover-up to try and dodg the blame.

but you must admit your mistak befor you can move ahead and start to make amends. Don't be so afraid to take thi step. I doubt your compani is the first on to screw up with thi custom and I can guarante you certainli won't be the last. A dmit your mistake. Thi mai sound trite.

but simpli sai you'r sorri is often the best wai to get a busi relationship back on track. Ensure the custom that it will never happen again. After you have taken respons for the mistak and apolog in a sincer and profession manner,A polog for the mistake. The on thing that could make the situat better is often the thing that compani find hardest to do. I don't mean to sound like Dr. Phil. you must then start the process of rebuild the trust that wa lost. Promis that such a mistak will not happen again is a good wai to start.

he will appreci an offer of compensation. Thi can be someth as simpl as a lunch on you or a discount on hi next order. The size of the compens offer should be in direct proport to the size of your mistake. A word of warning: don't let the custom bulli you into overcompens him for your mistake. That can be more detriment to the relationship than the mistak itselfCompens the custom for hi loss. Even if your mistak didn't cost the custom a dime..

Charles,A my daughter understood all those year ago. a sincer Oop-se can help make thing all better.