Sometimes it isn’t easy to take the steps when you need to apologize. But, as an entrepreneur, you must apologize many times in your entrepreneurial career.
As human beings, we can make mistakes. Your business as an open system contains humans that doing a different everyday job can make mistakes.
Sometimes, mistakes can be because of external factors as our suppliers, partners, and even customers. But, sometimes, it is only the customer’s perception about what you need to do.
For example, you can find yourself in a position where your customers think you must apologize for something, and you think you mustn’t. That can be a giant collision between you and some of your customers.
Here, I want to show ten different situations when you need to apologize, regardless of who is right and wrong. Sometimes, apologies can be a driving force for your business because people know how hard it is to make such a step. Let’s go on.
#1 When you are making a mistake.
I don’t think that we can find a person that can’t make a mistake. As human beings, we made different mistakes every day. For some of them, we are aware, but for some, we are not. However, they are here.
Whenever you or your business make a mistake, you will need to apologize.
#2 When you are not delivering on a promise.
Your business is built on the promise that your core value and offer give to your customers. When you can’t deliver on that promise, you will need to apologize regardless of the reasons for that.
For example, if you promise delivery in 24 hours, and because of some reasons, you can’t deliver some of your deliverables in that time frame, you will need to apologize and explain to your customers why that’s happened.
#3 When you don’t have what your customers want.
You can’t have everything for everyone. That means you can’t satisfy everyone. But, you will have potential customers who will want something more that is not a part of your current offer.
On the other side, that’s very useful information about your business’s future, because you can use that information to rebuild or improve your current offers and your business overall.
But, the fact is that you can’t deliver that currently. In such a situation, it is best to apologize and tell that you will include that request into consideration for future offers.
#4 When you are criticized.
As an entrepreneur, you’re not safe from criticism. You can be criticized by your employees, your customers, your partners, your suppliers, etc.
Because of that, you will need to manage critics who come to you and your business as a whole. It is not the best solution to act nervously on the critics. Some critics will be fair critics you will need to take into considerations to improve your business. But, also there will be critics without any right reasons.
On each critic, you need to apologize and tell the criticizer that you will consider them to improve your business.
#5 When you’re late on delivery.
Sometimes you can’t deliver your products and services on time. There can be different reasons for that.
In such a case, you will need to apologize and explain why that’s happened.
#6 When something went wrong.
Many times something will go wrong, differently than you have planned. When we make our plans, we try to make assumptions about that future. But, many times, that assumption will not be in alignment with our reality.
You need to apologize when something went wrong.
#7 When your employees screw up something.
It doesn’t matter who screw up something in your business. You, as an entrepreneur, is the only representative person in your business, responsible for each decision and action step that you will implement from your business, that means and your employees.
If the employees screw up something, you are the person that will need to apologize about that.
#8 When your suppliers make a mistake.
Sometimes some of the mistakes will be based on the mistakes of your suppliers. But, the fact is that your customers didn’t care about your relations with your suppliers. You are responsible for everything to be as it needs to be.
Because of that, you will need to apologize to your customers, not your suppliers. They are not having a relationship with your customers.
#9 When you think that you need to apologize.
Sometimes you can feel that you need to apologize for something. When you are in such a position, it is better to take that step and explain what you think and what you will make about that.
#10 When you are thinking that you don’t need, but your customers expect from you to apologize.
Also, you can find yourself in a position when you think that even with your customer’s expectations, you don’t need to apologize. Your customer is always right, even if he is not. It is better to take that step and talk with them more openly about each of the possible problems.
