Minimize the Cost of a Mistake by Preparing
You need to believe in your professional self. That means you need to know that the quality of your work is well worth the price you charge. This is a tenet of the Top 10 Principles for Successful Website Creators, as proposed by Ray Access in October 2019. And while perfection is the ideal in any endeavor, particularly in your professional work, it’s largely a pipe dream.
The cost of perfectionism is actually far worse than the cost of a mistake. According to an article in Psychology Today, being rigid and unforgiving leads to a host of personal and professional complications, including:
- Reduced problem-solving skills
- Depression
- Anger
- Insomnia
- Procrastination
- Anxiety
- High blood pressure
Stress Not
Stressing out over the cost of a mistake violates the first tenet of the Principles of Success philosophy: Take care of yourself first. While the cost of a mistake may hit you financially, the cost to your health, overall well-being and ability to carry on despite setbacks is far worse. As novelist Anne Lamott beautifully says:
Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor.
Setting extraordinarily high expectations for yourself and your employees — or for that matter, anyone in your life — only leads to eventual disappointment. Humans are fallible and will make mistakes. The key to a healthy lifestyle and a successful business is not to let cost of a mistake stress you to the point of illness, but to find the lesson in the error. Learning how to handle a mistake is far more important than avoiding mistakes at all costs.
Get ‘Er Done
Perfectionists too often end up putting off important projects or missing deadlines because they stress about achieving that loftiest of goals. As a result, nothing gets done or it takes twice as long to complete. Instead of falling into this trap, try to temper your need for perfection. Minimize the cost of a mistake by taking positive steps to admit and correct an error, honor your promises to clients and learn from the process.
Part of never missing a deadline is about knowing when your work is good enough. That doesn’t mean you can skimp on quality; it means you must keep your deadline in mind as you work. Meeting a deadline, despite small potential mistakes, is more important than keeping a client waiting.
Expectations in American Culture
Being a perfectionist is wrapped up in the American culture. And while the cost of a very large mistake may cost you a client, you can save the client relationship by learning how to handle a mistake, large or small. This tactic may help the future of your career as well.
Pride and ego often are the first to feel the blow when you’re caught with a mistake. And those often are the main culprits behind handling the situation poorly. But your clients and staff don’t really care about your ego and care even less that it’s been damaged. They care about results. As professor Brené Brown said:
Perfectionism is not the same thing as striving to be our best. Perfectionism is not about healthy achievement and growth; it’s a shield.
Make It Right
The cost of a mistake doesn’t have to mean the end of the world as you know it. It doesn’t have to translate into failure. The cost doesn’t even have to mean the end of a relationship. In fact, the strongest professional relationships are based on honesty and trust. Your best clients know that you’ll always do your best and take care of errors quickly and effectively.
Granted, it’s always best to take every precaution to avoid costly errors. Ray Access, for example, employs a stringent editing process before sending a finished project to a client. But instead of wallowing, giving up or beating your breast, take steps to rectify your error and reduce the cost of a mistake by:
- Admitting your mistake and taking responsibility for it
- Apologizing for the error
- Allowing your client to vent without getting upset yourself
- Giving your client time to think about a response
- Listening to that response without getting defensive
- Taking immediate action to fix the error — never at a charge!
Keep your clients happy. Let them know they can trust that you’ll do what you say. And make sure to follow up quickly when you make a mistake. Follow the sage advice of Benjamin Franklin to:
“Never ruin an apology with an excuse.”
Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business to succeed. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters, and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.
