Written by: Vickie Sullivan | December 18, 2014
How Market Leaders Fix Mistakes
True story: client asks web designer to change text on a page. He does so, but leaves out the critical “learn more” button. She’s on the road; looks at the text, and approves via her phone. Later discovers the missing button and asks web designer to put it back in. His response: you approved the page so I’m charging you extra for fixing the mistake I originally made. Her head explodes.
This conversation is not uncommon. The web designer calls her request scope creep; the client calls his response an unwillingness to stand behind his work. The result at 30,000 feet: lack of trust. This story will stick with her. She will be skeptical. This is how the “cover all scenarios” contract is born.
It’s situations like these that gives professional service firms a bad reputation. This is why our buyers don’t believe what we tell them. It’s why they are scared to hire any of us. Here’s an idea: let’s go beyond the details. Stop being “right” and ask: in the big picture, what’s the real cost of doing the best thing? And then do it. This five-minute fix could’ve created a great relationship.
Trust is built one misunderstanding at a time.
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