Our company made its biggest mistake in its 7 year history…we didn’t turn up at a client to run their training workshop.
I called the client who, when she found out we weren’t turning said “Are you aware , we have 29 lawyers waiting for you?”
What do you do? What do you say?
I could have come up with lots of lies, damn lies and half-lies but you know what? I told the truth and said we had got it wrong.
“You mean no-one is coming?” she said.
All I could do is apologise, say I will compensate her and talk tomorrow when emotions have settled down.
What are we going to do?
NO BLAME even though some mis-communication has gone wrong. We need to ensure we put it right with the client and find out why our so called robust sytem broke down.
More to follow.
What would you have done?
Wonderfully honest Will. A mistake is only a mistake after the event, up until that point its a correct descion.
I love your hands up approach. Do let us know if you do manage to smooth things over.
We have been rebooked1 Why? Becuase we sais ‘sorry’ in an approriate way.
1 We offered to do the training again for free
2 We sent flowers
3 We reimbursed the client for their out-of-pocket expenses which they had unnecessarily incurred.
IT’S NOT THE MISTKAES WE MAKE…IT’S THE WAY WE PUT THEM RIGHT.