No one likes it when bad things happen. That is true for me as well.

I recently lost a client due to a “perfect storm”. And to say that it was not my fault would be an untruth. It was a comedy of errors, so to speak. It was not “my fault” but a series of them.

Let me start at the beginning.

I left for a convention in Orlando, Fl., Be the Change Event with Suzanne Evans. I left confident that I had informed all of my clients that I would be out of the loop for a few days, but staying in touch via email.

What I did not know, was that a new client was doing a launch and had a number of technical items that needed to be done while I was gone. I did not find this out until I was in FL. So, I put my husband on task. He is my business partner and his area of expertise is exactly what the client needed.

BUT wait, not exactly……to make a long story short, there was formatting, testing, etc. that needed to get done that he was not familiar with and although I did try to talk him through it via phone and online, it just didn’t work. At this point, what I should have done, was put on the brakes, contacted the client and stopped the whole process until I returned and could really dive into it.

To add insult to injury, I got delayed in FL. due to the tornadoes that rampaged through Dallas and that is where I was flying through on my way home.

Needless to say, it was a disaster. Client very unhappy, husband very unhappy and me, well, extremely unhappy.

So, what to do about it. 

At this point, there really is nothing we can do. The mistake happened, the client was embarrassed as were we.

This is what I did. When I spoke with the client, I expressed my apologies and offered to “fix” whatever I could. I also emailed my apologies and send an Amazon gift card. The client felt that I “got it”. She felt validated and of course, the gift card went a long way in helping that as well. 

You know, when you make a mistake, own it. That is the most important part. Owning what is yours and letting the rest go.

Yes, I felt bad. I have clients that have been with me for over 10 years and yes, I have made mistakes along the way. I have also learned from those mistakes.

I stand behind our services 100%. No doubt about it. She may come back and again, she may not. I did everything I could to make it better and although the mistake could not be fixed, the relationship was.