Face it, everyone makes mistakes – we’re humans. While I strive to be the best I can and avoid errors, it does happen.
Very early on in my VA career I made a big mistake. I booked the client’s flight, forwarded the information to her and thought all was good. Well, it wasn’t ….. While the flight number and time checked out I had erroneously booked her a day early. Luckily, she realized the mistake just 2 days before her travel and called me in a panic – I was away on vacation on our boat …. It never fails, does it? You can just imagine how I felt.
When taking on a new client, it is important to talk about the “what if anything goes wrong” scenario and how this should be handled. There is to be no blame or finger pointing in my client relationships. A mistake is made and as soon that is realized, your VA will either fix it immediately or if that’s not possible, connect with you with possible solutions so you can determine the best path.
I owned the mistake and was able to fix it, but the bill was hefty and totaled almost $500, which I had put on my own credit card; after all I had made the mistake. I told the client. At our next weekly check-in call she insisted that we split the damage as she felt responsible too – she hadn’t checked the ticket either. An outcome like this doesn’t happen often; it represented the commitment and trust we both had in our relationship.
If your VA owns a mistake made and stands up for it, in the end your relationship will be even stronger.
When a mistake is made how do you handle it? And if you are in a VA partnership, how do you handle those types of mistakes made by someone else? Please share.