Monday, January 12, 2009

Profit from your Mistakes, Honestly!

Every once in awhile, I would print 50 copies of a sales promotion for my staff and then in our sales meeting discover a typo. Instead of throwing away the stack of papers, I told my staff that if they presented the offer to a client and they could spot the typo, they would get an extra discount, or extra ads. It was one way to make sure the clients read the offer and profit from my mistake.

This came in my email recently:

Turning Lemons Into Lemonade


Dear Scott,

You will never be the perfect entrepreneur. No matter how hard you work to avoid catastrophes... at some point, disasters will happen. At times, you will look bad, and your reputation will be injured. But, that doesn't mean you or your company have to suffer long-term repercussions because of it.

Here are some steps for embracing your own humanity, and turning "bad" situations into incredible, marketing situations.

Step 1- Laugh at yourself and your mistakes. (Getting upset about the situation won't fix things. Look at this as an opportunity instead.)

Step 2- Fix the disaster, tenaciously.

Step 3- Offer the injured customers or prospects even more than they expect. (If done properly, these individuals may become your biggest fans.)

Step 4- Use the situation to fix your current systems. (Making a mistake is alright. Repeating that mistake can be devastating.)

Step 5- Freely share these experiences in marketing messages, blogs, webinars, or as a "reason" to have another sale or promotion.

People are generally more forgiving than they seem. If you are willing to "expose" your weaknesses, your contacts will feel your honesty and sincerity. The harder you try to be the "perfect" small business owner (and hide your errors), the more detached from your contacts you become. And, the more likely they are to mistrust you.

Enjoy your imperfections and learn to use them to your advantage!


Sincerely,

Clate Mask
President, Infusionsoft



Infusionsoft
2065 W. Obispo Ave.
Suite 103
Gilbert, AZ 85233

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