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Business Apology Tip #6 - Take responsibility
By Lauren | May 8, 2009
Continuing with our Friday series of tips on business apologies, let’s talk about a step that many people find especially difficult: taking responsibility. Once you’ve said, on your own or your company’s behalf, that you’re sorry, it’s important to tell your unhappy client or customer that you recognize and accept responsibility for your mistake. This can be tough to do. Admitting to error can be embarrassing, and many people would just as soon avoid it if they can.
This is also the step that can send your lawyer into orbit, and with good reason. If your customer decides to sue you, it’ll be up to her lawyer to prove that you did something wrong. If you take responsibility for your mistake, your attorney will probably worry that you’ve conceded an essential element of the other attorney’s case. That’s why it’s important to have your lawyer help you decide what to say before you apologize if there’s a significant risk that your unhappy customer will sue.
Recognizing the legitimacy of your lawyer’s concerns, you’ll still need to accept responsibility for your actions or those of your company if you want your apology to be effective. Skipping this critical step may well leave your customer feeling dissatisfied and wondering whether your apology was truly sincere. So talk to your lawyer if you need to, then square your shoulders, take a deep breath, and admit that you made a mistake. It may be painful in the short run, but eventually you’ll be glad that you did.
Topics: Apologies, Business Ethics, Personal Ethics, business communications, customer relations, ethics |
May 14th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
[...] presents Business Apology Tip #6 - Take responsibility posted at The Business Ethics Blog, saying, “Apologies mean little if they remain as simple [...]