Mistakes Happen – What to Do When it Happens to You

Nobody is perfect.

We live in an imperfect world. We are human. We make mistakes and we are fallible.

When you own a business, it may seem that your mistakes are magnified. When something goes wrong it affects you, your client, your schedule and sometimes your reputation.

In the virtual assistant industry, mistakes happen all the time:

• A missed typos in an document
• A critical link is broken on a website
• Missing a deadline

…the possibilities are endless.

The longer you are in business, the higher the possibility to make mistakes. While it does not excuse you from making mistakes, it helps to have a healthy attitude about the mistakes you make and learn from them. But, mistakes should not happen because we’re not paying attention to the details, pressed for time, or because we don’t have a strong ethic.

When you make a mistake, there are 3 THINGS YOU MUST DO IMMEDIATELY:

1. Admit the mistake: don’t try to cover up anything. Don’t blame anyone else and don’t make excuses. This will only make a bad situation worse. Instead, take ownership of the mistake and the steps to resolve it.
2. Keep your client informed: failing to keep your client in the loop about the error will have damage your relationship. Open communication, honesty and integrity are everything in a virtual relationship. In essence, if you don’t tell your client what’s happened, you are lying to them which does not support the foundation of trust you need for a productive, long term relationship.
3. Apologize: After you have made the mistake and it has been resolved, make sure you apologize to the client and let them know what steps you have taken to ensure it doesn’t happen again. For the most part, clients are very understanding when something goes wrong if you are upfront with them. Most people will respect an individual who owns up to a mistake, fix it and take steps to avoid the situation happening again. By assessing the situation and learning from it, you demonstrate that you are committed to excellence in your business and you care about your client and the work you’re doing with them.

Sometimes mistakes are unavoidable, there can be circumstances out of your control and you are forced to make the best decision given the situation. Even if the mistake is technically not your fault, you still need to go through the 3 steps above to demonstrate that you are being proactive and taking responsibility for a positive outcome. Your client wants to know that you have their best interests at heart.

Remember, when your client chose you as their virtual assistant, they made a big decision. They have invested time, money and trust in you. They want to make sure they are getting a return on their investment. How you handle mistakes is a good indicator if they’ve made the right choice.

Have you made a mistake recently? How did you communicate the error to your client? What is the relationship like now? Share your thoughts with me on the blog!