On my way home from a weekend in New Orleans—where one of the highlights was The National WWII Museum—I stopped to eat at one of my favorite fast-casual restaurants. I love this place because the food is always fresh and flavorful and the service is quick.
I ordered one of my go-to dishes and sat down. After a weekend away, I was rested and relaxed and content to play on my smart phone while they prepared my food. Some 20 minutes later, I realized that my food had not arrived. This was odd because it was mid-afternoon and there were only a few other people dining there. A busy lunch rush clearly wasn’t the reason for the delay.
I was about to get up and check on my food when the manager rushed over with my meal—and sincere apologies for my wait. There had been a mix-up with my order, she explained. She was upset about it and offered me a free dessert or side dish. I took her up on a cup of soup, partly because the soup here is very good and also because I wanted to give her the opportunity to correct the situation.
I actually was delighted with her response: It was our mistake so you benefit. They had not simply forgotten about me, and I truly appreciated the delicious gesture of apology.
A few minutes later, the manager came over again with a piece of paper. She had credited my card for the meal. Talk about owning the problem! This was impressive! Whatever frustration I had felt about the long wait for my food dissipated. I was left with a positive feeling about my experience and genuine admiration for the staff.
Truth is, we all make mistakes—in business and in life. I know I’ve made plenty of them. It’s what you do after you make a mistake that really matters.
We can get it right after we got it wrong, or we can make it worse.
A client called me recently with a moral dilemma. His company had been paid $15,000 in advance for services and had completed $8,000 worth of work for their customer. Then that customer hired a new team that didn’t want to work with my client. That left $7,000 of advance payment still in my client’s bank account, and he didn’t want to return it. “There’s nothing in the contract that says we have to,” he told me.
I told him: It doesn’t matter if you did have that stipulation in the contract, you should give them their money back and do it now. You didn’t earn it, so it’s not yours, I said.
You have to think long-term, I told him. You want to be known as a company that is authentic and does things aboveboard. Give the money back and make it easy, quick and friendly.
You gotta do what’s right, I told him, all the time, every time.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a simple mix-up with a meal or mistakes involving sizable amounts of money. Own the problem and fix it. And do it quickly. As the saying goes, “There is no right way to do the wrong thing.”
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