Mea Culpa Management

The Sprocket Report

Sometimes bad things happen to good companies and their clients suffer. It could be a planning mistake, a less-than-stellar employee, a misplaced email or any number of small-to-huge errors that wreak havoc on business relationships. No one wants to look incompetent. But not owning up to a mistake makes you look deceitful, which is far worse.

Sprocket had the opportunity to practice some Mea Culpa Management last month. On February 22, unrelated issues crashed Samsung Galaxy 3S devices and messed up Facebook’s page reach reports. Also, Sprocket’s servers went offline for about an hour. 

The number of folks affected by our server problem may be miniscule compared to Samsung’s and Facebook’s numbers, but those people were mighty important to us. We immediately employed Facebook, Twitter and email to let our clients know that we were aware of the issue and working on a repair. We kept them updated as time passed and alerted them when the fix was made. Later, we sent an explanation of the problem, an apology for inconveniencing them and a plan to prevent this problem in the future.

Mistakes happen every day in million and billion dollar corporations. But small- to mid-sized businesses can be especially shaken when mistakes happen in their organizations because owners are so closely involved. Admitting to failure can feel like admitting to “little guy” stature. But refusing to dodge a problem while rolling up their sleeves to fix it is the true measure of a company’s stature.

“To acknowledge a mistake is to assert secure leadership; to take responsibility and prescribe a corrective course of action is wise management,” writes Linda Stamato of the Ivey Business Journal.  Certainly none of us look forward to the opportunity to practice Mea Culpa Management.  But instilling a company culture for handling failure and creating a plan to support it will make a huge impact on customer relationships when the worst happens.

We do take our client relationships personally and we love helping folks achieve success through their websites. If you’re ready to move on to the next level, contact us today to discuss the latest ways to make your website can work for you. We’re always happy to help!

Kate GingoldKate Gingold

I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.

Other posts by Kate Gingold

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Full biography

I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.

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