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Fred Sarkari, author of How the Top 5 per cent Think, will be offering Kelowna residents tips on how to forward their business relationships.
By Fred Sarkari
After all these years, I finally faced one of my fears in this business.
I just had a conversation with a colleague about a situation with one of my clients. I woke up at 2:48 am with a twist in my gut that I had made one of the biggest errors with a client.
Booking a wrong date in my industry is quite frowned upon. I have done everything possible, implemented every system I could muster up to ensure I avoid this embarrassing situation. At the same time, knowing it will only be a matter of time until a human mistake is made. Today was just that day.
I booked a session in one province for the same date I was supposed to be in a different part of the world. Talking to my colleague for advice in how to handle this situation, I was surprised by the solutions they suggested; consisting of every possible situation except admitting the error. So I consulted others, and again, to my surprise, I heard every scenario except telling the truth.
As nerve wracking as it was, I decided to go the route which seemed less traveled – tell the truth.
I called up Barry, my client, and told him exactly what happened, and as I hoped, he was very understanding of the situation and we rearranged our schedules. After everything was confirmed, I offered some free books and CDs for his staff.
Keep in mind that our clients do know we are human and human mistakes are to be expected at times. The main concern that our clients have, is how will we handle situations that do not run the path of expectations?
By being up front and honest with Barry, I have also increased my level of trust with him.
Sell with honesty.
