I’ve had two experiences in the past few days where things have gone off the rails in my life. One involved a restaurant, the other a hotel. They were both handled by front line employees and each had a different outcome. One involved a local restaurant that will remain nameless and the other involved the Hampton Inn hotel chain.

Makes me wonder what would have happened in similar circumstances in my office. I’d rather bury my head in the sand, sometimes, rather than find out. But that’s not an option. We’ve got to plan for the mistakes – the misaddressed envelopes, the documents sent to the wrong client, the lost phone message, the forgotten email and all the other mistakes that are, unfortunately, inevitable. It’s not the mistake that matters, it’s our response to the mistake that will make or break our relationship with the client.