The Right Way to Make a Mistake
When my accounting firm dropped a ball, my loyalty to them increased. Yet when the firm I used before them dropped a ball, and I fired them for it.
How can one goof earn my ire and the other my admiration? It’s all in how the goof is handled.
When my prior accounting firm missed a commitment, they lied to cover their tracks. When I caught them — it wasn’t hard — they tried to pass off the lie as a “miscommunication.”
When my current firm missed a commitment, I called and asked my representative why. After a moment’s pause, he said, “I am so sorry. The reason is that I’m an idiot.” Then he knocked money off of my bill, mapped out a plan for fixing the error — no charge to me, of course — added other services for free, and later followed up to report on the fix, plus describe steps the firm had taken to ensure this particular oversight didn’t happen again.
Everyone makes mistakes. True professionals own them, fix them — and learn from them.
—Steve Cuno
When my accounting firm dropped a ball, my loyalty to them increased. Yet when the firm I used before them dropped a ball, and I fired them for it.
How can one goof earn my ire and the other my admiration? It’s all in how the goof is handled.
When my prior accounting firm missed a commitment, they lied to cover their tracks. When I caught them — it wasn’t hard — they tried to pass off the lie as a “miscommunication.”
When my current firm missed a commitment, I called and asked my representative why. After a moment’s pause, he said, “I am so sorry. The reason is that I’m an idiot.” Then he knocked money off of my bill, mapped out a plan for fixing the error — no charge to me, of course — added other services for free, and later followed up to report on the fix, plus describe steps the firm had taken to ensure this particular oversight didn’t happen again.
Everyone makes mistakes. True professionals own them, fix them — and learn from them.
—Steve Cuno
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